Health and Religious Rituals in South Asia

Preface Fabrizio M. FerrariPart 1: Introduction 1. Possession in Theory and Practice: Historical and Contemporary Models Frederick Smith 2. Is Possession Really Possible? Towards a Hermeneutics of Transformative Embodiment in South Asia Aditya MalikPart 2: Possession from the West 3. Possession in an Islamist valley: Spirits, Islamists and Love in Chitral, Northern Pakistan Magnus Mardsen 4. Sikh Controversies concerning Punjabi Pilgrimage Sites used for Healing and Possession Ron Geaves 5. Ancestors, Demons and the Goddess: Negotiating the Animate Cosmos of Jainism Anne VallelyPart 3: Possessions from the North 6. Disease, the Demons and the Buddhas: A Study of Tibetan Conceptions of Disease and Religious Practice Ivette Vargas-O'Bryan 7. Shamanic Healing: A Jhankri in the City Deepak Shimkhada and Adam D. Pave 8. Calculating Fecundity in the Kasyapa Samhita Anthony CerulliPart 4: Possessions from the East 9. The whisper of the spirits. Shamanic kinship and the cult of the ancestor among the Lanjia Saoras of Orissa Stefano Beggiora 10. In the Shadow of the Devil: Traditional Patterns of Lepcha Culture Reinterpreted Davide TorriPart 5: Possessions from the South 11. Gumez, Wizarishn & Tan-drustih: Affliction and Healing in Zoroastrianism Rastin Mehri 12. Possession as Protection and Affliction: the Goddess Mariyamman's Fierce Grace William Harman 13. The Obsolescence of the Demons? Modernity and Possession in Sri Lanka Eva Ambos 14. Conclusion Fabrizio M. Ferrari