Possessing Spirits and Healing Selves

By: Rebecca Seligman

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Synopsis: Spirit possession involves the displacement of a human's conscious self by that of a powerful other - a spirit, god, or demon - who temporarily occupies the human's body. To many, spirit possession is quintessentially exotic, a novelty, an example of the ways in which "others" are fundamentally different. In this book, Seligman shows that, far from being exotic and "other," spirit possession mediumship represents a privileged site for understanding a number of fundamental aspects of human experience - especially those involved with interactions among meaning, embodiment, and subjectivity. Using a diverse set of ethnographic, psychological, and biological data gathered during fieldwork among spirit possession mediums of the Candomble religion in Northeastern Brazil, she explores how everyday and religious practices and meanings shape and interact with the bodily experiences and psychophysiological states of Candomble mediums, both before and after their initiations, and how such interactions shape their experiences of selfhood. "

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9781137409614
Publisher:: Palgrave Macmillan
Date of Addition:: 03/25/17
Copyrighted By:: Springer
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Health, Mind and Body, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.