Title: The mind possessed : the cognition of spirit possession in an Afro-Brazilian religious tradition /
Authors: Cohen, Emma, 1979-
Publisher: Oxford University Press,
Year: 2007
Subjects: Psychology, Religious.; Spirit possession Brazil.; Afro-Brazilian cults.; Discernment of spirits.; Spirit possession Brazil Belém Case studies.; Psychology, Religious Brazil Belém Case studies.; Afro-Brazilian cults Brazil Belém Case studies.; Parapsychology and anthropology.
Abstract: Illustrated mainly with hypothetical or anecdotal examples, this book considers in detail how the psychological systems undergirding spirit concepts are activated in real-world settings and, specifically, how those concepts can give rise to trance and spirit-possession phenomena.
Contents: Introducing possession -- Historical and ethnographic setting -- The research community -- Describing, interpreting, and explaining spirit possession -- Medicalist, physiological, and sociological explanations -- Spirits as concepts -- Observing possession -- The social relevance of spirits -- Explaining distributions of spirit concepts and spirit possession.