The Mystical Geography of Quebec

Reviews / Votes

"Who would have thought so much could be going on under the religious radar of Catholic Quebec? This volume exposes a whole array of spiritual and religious movements whose beliefs can test our credibility and whose practices range from saintly devotion to gruesome murder. Palmer, the senior editor, paints a particularly vivid picture of the scene and the other contributors back up her claim that Quebec is a uniquely fascinating location. This is a book written by scholars, but pretty well anyone could enjoy reading it on a long journey." (Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus of Sociology of Religion, London School of Economics UK)

"Unbeknownst to foreign visitors, who may still believe Quebec is a monolithic Catholic region, a record number of new religious movements and alternative spiritualities exist and prosper in the belle province. For the first time, a team of genuine experts lead readers into a magical mystery tour of the surprisingly rich and diverse new religious landscape of Quebec. A book that will satisfy the most demanding scholars and entertain the simply curious." (Massimo Introvigne, Managing Director, CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions), Italy)

"This book challenges the popular assumption that Quebec has rapidly disengaged from religion since the Quiet Revolution. It provides evidence that, while the Roman Catholic Church has undoubtedly lost momentum, its vacated spiritual territory is now occupied by a striking variety of new spiritual groups. Most interestingly, the Catholic tradition lives on in several "heretical" Quebecois schisms. Quebec scholars describe The Army of Mary, the "Beret Blancs" (and others), analyzing the originality of their heterodox revisions of Catholic traditions and belief. Quebec's radical approaches to gender and sexuality are present in the "church" of famous abortion pioneer, Dr. Henry Morgentaler, and in the homoerotic Temple of Priapus. Valuable new data and theories on Quebec's two infamouslyviolent "cults" - the Solar Temple and Roch Theriault's Ant Hill Kids - are a welcome resource. The authors place their study of each group within the history of religions in general and of Quebec and Canada in particular. This is an important book that will contribute to our understanding of the ongoing process of religious revitalization - perhaps most visible in countries where the doxa claims they have retreated." (Bernadette Rigal-Cellard, Bordeaux Montaigne University, France)