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Spirit Possession and Trance: New Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Publisher:
, 2011
ISBN: 9781441191359
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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.
New and invaluable insights into the understanding of possession and trance based on case studies from around the world.

Provides an understanding of spirit possession in its cultural context by challenging misconceptions and negative stereotypes.
Helps to understand the ongoing debate about possession, ecstasy and trance.
Explicates a timely overview about new interpretations of possession and trance.

Introduction: Problems of Understanding Possession and Trance Lucy Huskinson and Bettina E. Schmidt (Bangor University, UK)
1. Animism Rather than Shamanism: New Approaches to What Shamans Do (for Other Animists), Graham Harvey (The Open University, UK)
2. Possession and Self-Possession: Towards an Integrated Mind-Body Perspective, Geoffrey Samuel (Cardiff University, UK)
3. Spirit Possession, Seduction, and Collective Consciousness, Louise Child (Cardiff University, UK)
4. Analytical Psychology and Spirit Possession. Towards a Non-Pathological Diagnosis of Spirit Possession, Lucy Huskinson (Bangor University, UK)
5. Possessed Women in the African Diaspora: Gender Difference in Spirit Possession Rituals, Bettina E. Schmidt (Bangor University, UK)
6. Somali Saar in the Era of Social and Religious Change, Marja Tiilikainen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
7. Taking Possession of Santo Daime: The Growth of Umbanda within a Brazilian New Religion, Andrew Dawson (Lancaster University, UK)
8. Spirit Attacks in Northern Namibia: Interpreting a New Phenomenon in an African Lutheran Context Kim Groop (Abo Akademi, Finland)
9. Divine Possession and Divination in the Graeco-Roman World: The Evidence from Iamblichus' On the Mysteries, Crystal Addey (Bristol University, UK)
10. Waking the Entranced: Reassessing Spiritualist Mediumship Through a Comparison of Spiritualist and Shamanic Spirit Possession Practices, David Gordon Wilson (University of Edinburgh, UK)
11. To Perform Possession and To Be Possessed in Performance: The Actor, the Medium and an 'Other', Sarah Goldingay (Exeter University, UK)
12. On the Transformation of the Spirit-Possession Film: Towards Rouch as 'Emergent Method', Saër Maty Bâ (University of St Andrews, UK)
Bibliography


Index

"Is possession by spirits a global phenomenon or do the differences in different cultural conceptualisations preclude world-wide comparison? Can one distinguish clearly between possession by spirits and trance? Are shamans possessed? Are mediums charlatans or are they really shamans in Western dress? How do modern New Age shamans compare with tribal masters of the art? All these and other questions are addressed by the contributors to this collection of essays on spirit possession across time and space. The range of ethnography is a particularly important and unusual feature; the ethnographic details provide rich material for these important debates. A comprehensive introduction by the editors sets the theoretical context. An important contribution to thinking on this intriguing phenomenon." - Professor Jean La Fontaine, The London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Spirit Possession and Trance is one of the most captivating contributions to the field published in the last years...The volume succeeds in discussing trance and possession as a living reality, and at the same time it provides fresh methodological reflections for future analyses. Trance and possession are explored as polyphonic texts and debated as a cultural reality that defines and is defined by contextual history and local stories, micro- and macro-geography, classic and vernacular literature, music, media and politics...The many and diverse examples of trance and possession described and discussed in this book also show how individual and collective experiences lead to the affirmation, consolidation and transmission of forms of power...the book proves to be an excellent and much needed resource for any reader interested in trance possession, either a student or a teacher.

Bettina E. Schmidt is a cultural anthropologist and Senior Lecturer in Study of Religions at Bangor University, UK.


Lucy Huskinson is Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion at Bangor University, UK.

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