Okay, after watching the show "Paranormal Witness" and having seen the movie "The Possession", I couldn't really ignore that there was this 'Dibbuk Box' and that it came from my own home town of Portland, Oregon. Therefore, it was really necessary for me to do some research, find the truth, and also post the facts.
First off, I find it really important to write exactly what a Dibbuk is. A Dibbuk is a malicious spirit that has the ability to possess people and create over all havoc. It is believed to be the wandering soul of a dead individual that did not find peace in death. 'Dibbuk' is an abbreviation of 'dibbuk me-ru'aḥ ra'ah' which translates to 'a cleavage of an evil spirit'. It is said to leave a body it has possessed only after accomplishing it's goal or being helped (exorcized). The concept of a Dibbuk, formally named by that term, first appeared in 16th century Hebrew writings. Since then it has become a prominent scare tactic for Jewish children, and a villain in horror films. But a Dibbuk is nothing to be joking about.
A 'Dibbuk Box' is a box, commonly a wine cabinet or container, that is used to seal away a Dibbuk so that it can't do any more harm. To seal away the Dybbuk, one must give up something very personal to put into the box. Generally giving up a personal item, something you are connected to, lends a lot of power to a ritual because it holds on a lot of intent and aura. Then a Rabbi must perform a ritual to cleanse you of the spirit, and seal the Dibbuk away. It stays in the box until it is opened.
However, as we know, curiosity is in human nature. And if a person is told not to open a box.... well the box is opened fairly quickly. So demons, or malevolent spirits, contained in something are bound to somehow break free. I would like to briefly touch upon some more famous cases involving a Dibbuk box.
First is the well known Dibbuk box that originated in Portland, Oregon. An antique shop owner had gone to an estate sale and bought a lot of antiques. Among the lot was a wine cabinet. When he picked it up, a woman said "So you bought the Dibbuk Box." He was Jewish, knew what a Dibbuk was, but didn't pay much mind to her. When he got to his shop, he broke the lock and opened the box. Inside he found a host of odd items: a lock of blonde hair bound with a cord, a lock of black hair bound with a cord, two pennies dating back to the 1920s, a small statue engraved with the Hebrew word "Shalom", one dried rose bud, a single candle holder, a small golden wine goblet and four octopus-shaped legs. Apparently these are all important to Jewish lore in that they ward off evil. Thinking it was unusual, he put it aside for the moment and went on a business run. He left his employee, Jane, in charge of the shop. Allegedly, while he was gone, the salesperson in his employ experienced lightbulbs breaking, voices, and electronic failure. The door to the exit had locked, leaving her helpless. When the shopkeeper arrived after receiving a frantic phone call, she was inconsolable, the place smelled of cat urine though animals were not kept in the building, and every bulb in the place had been shattered. The employee never returned. The man was not sure what the think, but blamed the incident on her because that was the only logical explanation with the locked door. Following that incident, he gave the box to his mother as a gift. After interacting with the box, the woman said she felt an evil presence and suffered a stroke. Still unsure of what to think of the box, the man kept it in his possession. He suffered from severe night terrors filled with a hag like evil entity, and woke up with bruises. Scared, he tried to get rid of it. Every time he sold it in his shop, it was promptly returned with a message that it had darkness within. He decided to sell it on ebay, and list all of his experiences so that a person who bought it would not go unaware.
(Pictures of the Dibbuk Box and it's contents, though it seems to be a replica)
A College student bought it, thinking that it was a hoax. He decided to log his experiences in a blog. Curiously, he experienced nothing until he opened the box. Then sprees of electronic failure throughout the dorm occurred, bug infestations in huge numbers, and hair loss. The events escalated until he also was forced to sell the box on ebay.
The last reported owner of the box was a museum curator. He had it sent to his workplace, and was examining it. He found the items inside odd, and found wax on the door of the cabinet like it had been used in a ritual. Finding nothing else of interest, he went on with his work. However, lightbulbs around the box began bursting, computer failure occurred, and his coworkers complained of exhaustion and sickness. He was forced to take the box home. There things just got worse. He had the same nightmares the antique shopkeeper had reported, and it kept him up through the night. He began coughing up blood, as well as his wife. When he and his son were watching a movie in the living room, they saw a black flame-like mass. Most alarmingly, he started to vomit up a gelatinous mucus-like substance and his wife got "weeping" blisters (bleeding blistered rashes). Realizing the seriousness of the situation, he got in contact with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper went to the house where he had purchased the box from. At first he was turned away, but then a woman named Sophie wished to talk. Apparently she was the cousin of the woman who died, Havela, and knew the origins of the box. They were both Jewish Holocaust survivors from Poland, and at the time seances where popular in Europe. Havela had made a homemade ouija board and they did a ritual. They knew whatever they had come into contact with was evil, and suspected a Dibbuk. So Havela came up with a plan to seal it in the wine cabinet where it stayed until her death. She had warned her children and grandchildren never to open it, and kept it out of reach. She even requested to be buried with it, but since it was against Jewish beliefs, that request was unfortunately not heeded.
With this new information, the museum curator then found a Rabbi that sealed the Dibbuk back in the box, and kept it in his possession. The location of the box is kept secret, and he refuses to sell it for any price. He even wrote a book about his experiences.
(The cover to the book written about the museum curator's experiences.)
The story of this box became quite popular, and got a lot of press. This led to a man asking the owner of the box if he could make a movie off of the story. This is what led to the 2012 movie "The Possession". Now, things about the movie were greatly embellished to create a fear factor, as with all large horror films. The owner of the box offered to give it to the team, but they declined in fear of it. That's not to say that they were safe. Speaking the name of any demon, like they did in the movie multiple times, draws it to you. They had lightbulb combustion, electronic failure.... in fact, 5 days after they finished filming, the entire set burned to the ground, as well as the replica box.
(The leading girl, with the "Dibbuk Box" in the 2012 movie "The Possession.)
This post is a warning. It is never good to intentionally mess with the spirit world. Names hold great power, to repel or to draw. If you have to immerse yourself in something like this, do research and go about it with knowledge behind you. I would also like to mention, that although research tries to hint at there being only one Dibbuk Box, there is more than one. Some boxes are sealed with wax or glued shut. But all contain various personal items and religious items to seal the Dibbuk away. Just because this box is famous doesn't mean that it is a unique anomaly.
In the spirit of "The Possession", let's talk about how you can spot a person possessed by a Dibbuk. Look for a person out of sorts who is experiencing psychosis and extreme sadness. They would talk about things they would normally not know, speak a language they never learned, detail a crime they had no part in, or tell you what you dreamed of last. To exorcize a Dibbuk you must find a Rabbi who is familiar with Kabbalah and able to perform the ritual, gather 10 people in a circle around the possessed, recite Psalm 91 three times while a Rabbi sounds a rams horn, ask the Dibbuk why it possessed the person, and encourage it to leave the body. It's a very complicated and religious ritual, and I'm sure there are many other solutions from various religions. It would be wise to seal the Dibbuk in a box with personal effects to bind it there.
I hope this was informational for you, and that you enjoyed! I try to create a factual, and true, article for whatever I research. And I do a LOT of research before I post. If you are interested in the Dibbuk box, I highly recommend watching the eye-witness testimony in Paranormal Witness, and reading the book. I will see everyone again soon with a new post!
