Research Catalog

Title

Possessing spirits and healing selves : embodiment and transformation in an Afro-Brazilian religion / Rebecca Seligman.

Author

Seligman, Rebecca

Publication

New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiv, 209 pages; 23 cm.

Summary

"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"--

Series Statement

Culture, mind, and society : the book series of the Society for Psychological Anthropology

Uniform Title

Culture, mind, and society

Alternative Title

Embodiment and transformation in an Afro-Brazilian religion

Subject

• Spirituality
• Religion and Medicine
• Magic
• Black People
• Medicine, African Traditional
• Candomblé (Religion) > Brazil
• Black people > Brazil > Religion
• Spirit possession > Brazil
• Spiritual healing > Brazil
• Healing > Brazil
• Ethnology > Brazil
• Ethnobiology > Brazil
• RELIGION / Spirituality
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs & Traditions
• Candomblé
• Besessenheit
• Geistheilung
• BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Spirituality / Paganism & Neo-Paganism
• RELIGION / Comparative Religion
• Brazil > ethnology
• Brazil
• Brazil > Religious life and customs
• Brasilien

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Introduction: Stepping Into "This Supernatural World" of Candomble -- 2. Reflections on the Challenges and Rewards of Integrative Research -- 3. Sometimes Affliction is the Door: Healing and Transformation in Narratives of Mediumship -- 4. Looking inside: Biological Mechanisms and Embodiment in Candomble Trance and Possession -- 5. Healing the Embodied Self in Candomble -- 6. Conclusion: Stepping Back.

ISBN

• 9781137409591
• 1137409592

LCCN

• ^^2014009195
• 40024209768

OCLC

• 881655910
• SCSB-12285718

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library