SPIRITS WITH SCALPELS: THE CULTURAL BIOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS HEALING IN BRAZIL“The first time I witnessed a Spiritist surgery, a young man named Jose Carlos Ribeiro inserted a used scalpel taken from a tray that I was holding, and plunged it into the eye of an elderly man. The patient did not move....” Decades of fieldwork later, Sidney Greenfield presents a riveting ethnography of the complex world of religious healing in Brazil that challenges readers to grapple with the most fundamental concepts of anthropology and cross-cultural experience. In a major contribution to cultural biology, he analyses the complex social, economic, and political landscape of Brazil to understand dramatic healing practices that seem to defy medical explanation. This engrossing and provocative book will put students and scholars alike on the edge of their seats. |
Contents
Prologue with Warner Bloomberg Jr | 7 |
Surgeries and Other Healing in KardecistSpiritism 21 223 | 21 |
Spirit Surgeries in Recife | 35 |
Copyright | |
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activities African African-derived Afro-Brazilian Allan Kardec anesthesia anthropology Antonio asked assistance behavior belief system body Brazil Brazilian Brazilian religions Candomblé Canindé Casa Catholic Celestina century chapter church Cícero clinic converts cultural cured deities disincarnate disobsession doctor Edson Edson Queiroz explain eyes Fatima Fortaleza Fritz Greenfield healer human hypnosis illness imagery immediate-early genes incarnate individual José Carlos Kardec Kardecist Lacerda learned Mãe Edna mãe-de-santo Marco Antônio Maria Mauricio medicine medium million needles observe offered orixás pain Palmelo paradigm participating patients Paulo Pentecostal percent performed pilgrims popular Porto Alegre Portuguese practice problems Recife religious groups Rio de Janeiro ritual Rossi saints São Paulo scalpel scientific sessions shrine slaves social specific spirit world Spiritist center Spiritist healer-mediums Spiritist healing supernatural symptoms syncretized terreiros therapy tion told took tradition trance transduced treated treatment turn ultradian Umbanda University waiting