Possession in the simplest of terms, is a loss of control to a particular kind of "other", an "other" that is outside one's sense of a unified self. Who we think we are, usually is not who we are. Possession in this sense is not the same as the Christian, or any other kind of religious/spiritual, understanding of possession. Possession is not a loss of control to some demonic entity. To illustrate what I mean by possession lets look at being-in-love. When in love, you are possessed by it. Everything you do and think is tainted by it. You see differently than you normally would. You feel differently than you normally would. In other words, your sense of self is altered. Lived reality is changed. Ontological and epistemological alterations are made to one's lived reality. Furthermore, once ultimate-for-the-sake-of-which, or one's ultimate purpose or being which directs one's activities is altered, but not necessarily changed. In this sense, one is possessed by love.

Contrary to what many might say, one's sense of self is not unified. We are constantly being pulled and dragged in multiple directions by way of a multiplicity of possessions. These possessions are all the different things that make one, one, e.g. the work you do, the people you talk to, etc... The self then is a collection of possessions, and one's performance of the daily activities that are directed by one's ultimate purpose, are in constant flux and as if playing to a certain melody played by those possessions.