Dear Wilco,
    So sorry to hear about the evil posession troubles you're having with your poor banjo. I had a similar problem with my Bodhran. Golly, I spent a bundle of dough re mi on the thing! Hey, it's a tunable! I even went to a Bodhran workshop & have been recognized as a rather enthusiastic Bodhranist at more than one session! Sometimes I would actually choose to play Bodhran over my Feadogs! (see penny whistle threads for medical descriptions of WhOA, or whistle aquisition disorder) Till one day, it was becoming rather scary. I actually tipped that drum regularly & fondly. Finally I realized that the acusations of posession of the poor drum by evil creatures was a possibility. I tried the Vatican thing, but, not being Catholic, it didn't work. So, since I am of Choctaw/Cherokee/Irish descent, I called my local Medicine Man (shaman). I took the drum to him, out in the wilds of the wild west (I do live in Kansas, you know), and he had quite a time with it. That Bodhran gave quite a fight, but, finally the Medicine Man was able to cast out most of the evil creatures. The secret, he told me, was all in the wrist, a technique quite commonly preferred by most modern Medicine Men & Women. However, every now and again, the drum does act up a bit, so I have to take it to a pow wow for a little pick-me-up. I suggest you look in the yellow pages under "professional exhorsists" or the white pages listing of your local "Medicine Men & Women's (aka Shamen's) Union."                Good Luck!   Kaleea