ABSTRACT
The connection between psychopathology and magical thought is twofold. First, observing a mentally disturbed person may give rise to the idea that the disturbance has been caused magically. The idea is based on the reification of subjective processes and includes supernatural attributions. Disturbed persons are seen as no longer in control of their faculties and are instead controlled by external, possibly evil forces. A disturbed person may exhibit a wide variety of symptoms, any of which may be seen as evidence of such external control. Depending on place and time, a person exhibiting such symptoms may be described as possessed, bewitched, hexed, having lost his soul, or otherwise affected by powerful magical forces.
