ABSTRACT
Spirit Possession and Communication in Religious and Cultural Contexts explores the phenomenon of spirit possession, focusing on the religious and cultural functions it serves as a means of communication. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of philosophers, anthropologists, historians, linguists, and scholars of religion and the Bible, the volume investigates the ways that spirit possession narratives, events, and rituals are often interwoven around communicative acts, both between spiritual and earthly realms and between members of a community. In this opening chapter, I introduce readers to the key themes and content of the volume. Summarizing the work of previous researchers, I first discuss the challenges of constructing a suitable definition of spirit possession. As I have discovered, this is no easy task, given the complex, contextual, and ever-changing nature of this global and historical phenomenon. I then explain in more detail the volume’s thematic focus of spirit possession and/as communication, noting the provenance of this analytical approach in previous studies of possession. Finally, I offer a short summary of each chapter, explaining how authors engage with the themes of possession and communication in unique but interconnecting ways.
