John of God
The Globalization of Brazilian Faith Healing
Published on 26. January 2017
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-19-046670-1 (ISBN)
Description
This book is the first ethnographic account of the global spiritual movement headed by John of God, a Brazilian faith healer. Renowned for performing surgeries using rudimentary tools such as kitchen knives and scissors, without anesthetics or asepsis, John of God is allegedly inhabited by "entities," or spirits, and goes into a trance-like state in order to heal his visitors and afterwards, when he regains consciousness, does not remember the operations. Visited by thousands of the desperately ill; the wealthy; celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Ram Daas, Wayne Dyer, and Shirley MacLaine; and an increasing array of media, John of God has become an international faith healing superstar in just over a decade. Books about him have been translated into several languages, from Russian to Ukrainian to Japanese; ABC, the Discovery Channel, and the BBC have made documentaries on his healing center; tour guides advertise package trips; and John of God himself travels to conduct healing events in the US, New Zealand, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, and many other countries.
More recently, a transnational spiritual community has developed around John of God, comprised of the ill, those who seek spiritual growth, healers, and tour guides, and according to followers, even spirits whose powers transcend national boundaries. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork in Brazil, the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, Cristina Rocha examines the social and cultural forces that have made it possible for a healer from Brazil to become a global "guru" in the 21st century. Rocha explores what attracts foreigners to John of God's cosmology and healing practices, how they understand their own experiences, and how these radical experiences have transformed their lives.
More recently, a transnational spiritual community has developed around John of God, comprised of the ill, those who seek spiritual growth, healers, and tour guides, and according to followers, even spirits whose powers transcend national boundaries. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork in Brazil, the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, Cristina Rocha examines the social and cultural forces that have made it possible for a healer from Brazil to become a global "guru" in the 21st century. Rocha explores what attracts foreigners to John of God's cosmology and healing practices, how they understand their own experiences, and how these radical experiences have transformed their lives.
Reviews / Votes
It is a joy to watch important intellectual agendas develop across a scholar's body of work. John of God continues Cristina Rocha's project of recalibrating our understanding of transnational religion by showing "that global flows do not emanate solely from the Global North". It should be required reading for scholars of new religious movements, especially those attentive to their transnational dimensions. The book's ideal setting would be graduate anthropology and religion classes...But excellent writing and clear argumentation ensure that undergraduates will be able to follow any assigned chapters. The book is a remarkable achievement. * Justin Michael Doran, Middlebury College, Novo Religio * An important account of the Brazilian spiritual healer. Bringing great impact and extreme relevance to the field of religious globalization ... The methodological discussion is another highlight of Rocha's work ... The author indeed accomplished through the chapters what she proposed in the introduction: the importance of globalization and transnationalism in the shaping of new ideas and spiritual practices in late modernity. The book revealed, through a veryprecise methodological work, a complex cartography of religious globalization * Suzana Ramos Coutinho, International Journal of Latin American Religions * Rocha's book is richly detailed and persuasive... [H]er ability to integrate a variety of relevant concepts and theoretical frames into her analysis is exceptional. The book is clearly written and engaging, and the analysis is original and valuable. Highly recommended for specialists, for libraries, and for students and scholars of religion interested in Latin American religions, religious healing, spirit incorporation traditions, and/or the globalization of religions. * Steven Engler, Religion * This book does what all good ethnographies do: it tells gripping stories. Rocha has a gift for taking simple moments between people and showing how complex they really are, informed by a range of philosophies and belief systems as well as a global political economy. But fundamentally, this book is a deeply respectful account of people's beliefs that never reduces them to a placebo effect or false consciousness, even as it shows the structures underpinning their pilgrimages. * L. L. Wynn, Australian Journal of Anthropology * This is one of the most insightful and engaging accounts of spiritual healing in recent years. By focusing on one of the most intriguing spiritual healers of our time, Joao de Deus, Rocha illuminates the enduring relevance, despite significant secularization in the West, of curing through faith. This book belongs on the top shelf of everyone interested in 21st-century religion, spirituality and globalization. * R. Andrew Chesnut, author of Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
593 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-046670-1 (9780190466701)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/2017
Oxford University Press Inc
€57.10
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
12/2016
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€24.99
Available for download
E-Book
12/2016
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€18.99
Available for download
Person
Cristina Rocha is Associate Professor, Australia Research Council Future Fellow, and Director of the Religion and Society Research at Western Sydney University, Australia.
Content
List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Ch 1: Meeting John of God: an Uneasy Beginning
Ch 2: "How does He Get His Magic?"
Ch 3: Re-enchanting Healing
Ch 4: Abadiania as a "Touristic Borderzone"
Ch 5: Spiritual Tourism, Cultural Translation, and Friction
Ch 6: Flows into the Global North: Building a Transnational Spiritual Community
Ch 7: Localizing Flows: Healing the Land of its Suffering
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Ch 1: Meeting John of God: an Uneasy Beginning
Ch 2: "How does He Get His Magic?"
Ch 3: Re-enchanting Healing
Ch 4: Abadiania as a "Touristic Borderzone"
Ch 5: Spiritual Tourism, Cultural Translation, and Friction
Ch 6: Flows into the Global North: Building a Transnational Spiritual Community
Ch 7: Localizing Flows: Healing the Land of its Suffering
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index