Spirit Possession and Trance: New Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Continuum Advances in Religious Studies, 6)

"Spirit possession is a phenomenon that often elicits a response of fear, particular in those who are ignorant of its meaning and role within its particular religious and cultural traditions. Possession by divine beings (such as spirits or gods) is, however, a key practice in religions worldwide. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of this practice in its cultural context before trying to develop a wider theory about it. This fascinating book contains several case studies that present new interpretations of spirit possession worldwide. The authors show the diversity of possible interpretations and methodological approaches that provide a new insight into the understanding of possession and trance."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Introduction / Lucy Huskinson and Bettina E. Schmist Animism rather than shamanism : new approaches to what shamans do (for other animists) / Graham Harvey Possession and self-possession : towards an integrated mind-body perspective / Geoffrey Samuel Spirit possession, seduction, and collective consciousness / Louise Child Analytical psychology and spirit possession : towards a non-pathological diagnosis of spirit possession / Lucy Huskinson Possessed women in the African diaspora : gender difference in spirit possession rituals / Bettina E. Schmist Somali Aaar in the era of social and religious change / Marja Tiilikainen Taking possession of Santo Daime : the growth of umbada within a Brazilian new religion / Andrew Dawson Spirit attacks in Northern Namibia : interpreting a new phenomenon in an African Lutheran context / Kim Groop Divine possession and divination in the Graeco-Roman world : the evidence from Iamblichus's on the mysteries / Crystal Addey Waking the entranced : reassessing spiritualist mediumship through a comparison of spiritualist and shamanic spirit possession practices / David Gordon Wilson To perform possession and to be possessed in performance : the actor, the medium and an other / Sarah Goldingay On the transformation of the spirit possession film : towards rouch as emergent method / Sair Maty.
Spirit possession is a phenomenon that often elicits a response of fear, particular in those who are ignorant of its meaning and role within its particular religious and cultural traditions. Possession by divine beings (such as spirits or gods) is, however, a key practice in religions worldwide. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of this practice in its cultural context before trying to develop a wider theory about it.

This fascinating book contains several case studies that present new interpretations of spirit possession worldwide. The authors show the diversity of possible interpretations and methodological approaches that provide a new insight into the understanding of possession and trance.

4e de couv.: Spirit possession is a phenomenon that often elicits a response of fear, particular in those who are ignorant of its meaning and role within its particular religious and cultural traditions. Possession by divine beings (such as spirits or gods) is, however, a key practice in religions worldwide. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of this practice in its cultural context before trying to develop a wider theory about it. This fascinating book contains several case studies that present new interpretations of spirit possession worldwide. The authors show the diversity of possible interpretations and methodological approaches that provide a new insight into the understanding of possession and trance Offers insights into the understanding of possession and trance based on case studies from around the world. This book contains several case studies that present fresh interpretations of spirit possession worldwide.