Talking with the spirits: Mediumship and possession

Speakers discuss material from their book Talking with the Spirits: Ethnographies from Between the Worlds – a collection of a dozen ethnographic studies of trance possession cults and mediums from around the world.

The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness salon presents:

Talking with the spirits: Mediumship and possession

Jack Hunter & Dr David Luke

Anthropologist Jack Hunter and psychologist David Luke will be discussing some of the material from their new edited book Talking with the Spirits: Ethnographies from Between the Worlds – a collection of a dozen ethnographic studies of trance possession cults and mediums from around the world.

Talking With the Spirits: A Brief Introduction to the Anthropology of Spirit Possession

Jack will give a brief overview of the historical development, and contemporary state, of the anthropology of spirit possession, exploring the many theoretical paradigms that have been applied (not always satisfactorily), to this perplexing human phenomenon.

Psychedelic Possession: The growing incorporation of incorporation into ayahuasca use – David Luke

Shamans the world over use mediumistic techniques and commune with the spirits of the dead, and many use psychedelic plants, but strangely rare is it that anyone ever uses psychedelics and spirit possession together. David will explore why that may be, and why this unique practice is now growing in parts of the world.

Jack Hunter is a PhD candidate in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol. His research takes the form of an ethnographic study of contemporary trance and physical mediumship in Bristol. In 2010 he established Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal, to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue on issues relating to paranormal beliefs, experiences and phenomena.

Dr David Luke, psychologist, is a lecturer, researcher and writer focusing on anomalous experience and altered states, especially transpersonal psychedelic experiences. He has published over 100 academic texts in this area, including co/editing and co-authoring four recent books. He also co/organises various events such as the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, Breaking Convention and Psychic Lysurgery.

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