supernatural possession, but maybe they could have been something as simple as someone over taken with grief, who needed to hear the right words to bring them comfort?
right, yeah ... I can't really picture that this "demon possession" that seems to have been so common at the time is something we would have no knowledge of whatsoever any more.
I guess, unless Jesus cast demons out so utterly from the world that it just doesn't happen any more?
But that's not really my impression.
I suspect sometimes they were referring to what we would now call mental illnesses, and other cases as you say could be grief, depression ... maybe epilepsy?
The "unclean spirit" of the man in the synagogue - I wonder if that was Tourette's syndrome?
(hope you had fun at the parade!
)