Possession is a fact with legal effects.
From the Latin possessĭo , possession is the act of possessing certain things, whether material or incorporeal . The verb to possess, on the other hand, refers to having or knowing something. For example: «This house is the most important possession I have» , «The man was walking along the stream when he was deprived of all his possessions by a group of criminals» , «The only possession I want to leave to my son is the love of my neighbor» .
In the legal field, possession is a factual situation, and not a right (as property is). Property, therefore, is a consequence of possession through prescription.
Possession requires the thing itself (the corpus ) and the intention of the person to behave as its owner (the animus rem sibi habendi ). In short, it is a fact with legal effects that is protected by law so that the possessor is not obliged to prove his possessory title every time an individual tries to interrupt said possession.
Types of possession
Within the legal and juridical field, we would have to establish that there are various types of possession. However, for example, in the case of Spain it is common to speak of two types of possession:
• Civil possession . This term refers to the possession that a person has over something material or a legitimate right of ownership, which allows that person to carry out the acquisition of the property or the ownership of the same through what is known as usucapion . In turn, within this type of possession would be that of the concept of owner or that of a concept other than owner.
• Natural possession , which is the possession that someone has as well as the enjoyment of a right without the intention of being an owner or legitimate holder.
In addition to all of the above, we should also mention that it is common to use the term "to take possession" . This is a verbal expression used to refer to someone taking charge of a position that they are going to perform or of material goods in the exercise of their right. Thus, for example, we can say "The young man took possession of his new position as minister" or "The heir took possession of his new office".
"The Exorcist" is a film that revolves around a possession.
The concept in religion
For religion , possession is the taking over of a person's spirit by another spirit that acts as an internal agent and is linked to it. It is common to associate such possession with the presence of the devil, who takes over the subject's body and disrupts his behavior.
Convulsions, the development of diseases without cause, access to previously hidden knowledge (such as a foreign language), changes in voice, supernatural strength and aversion to the sacred are some of the symptoms attributed to the possessed. Possession can be reversed through a ritual known as exorcism.
There are many films that have dealt with the subject of possession by the devil. Among them, "The Exorcist" stands out, made in 1973 by filmmaker William Friedkin , which has become a classic of the horror genre.