Cultural and group differences in mediumship and dissociation: exploring the varieties of mediumistic experiences

Autor(es)

Maraldi, Everton de Oliveira ; Ribeiro, Ricardo Nogueira ; Krippner, Stanley

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LATIN AMERICAN RELIGIONS; v. 3, n. 1, p. 23-pg., 2019-06-01.

Resumo

The mental state of mediums has often been explained in the anthropological, psychological, and psychiatric literature in terms of dissociative trance. Even though mediumistic experiences involve, by definition, many of the elements of experiences referred to as dissociative, there is some controversy about the role played by dissociation in mediumistic practices and there are few cross-cultural studies on the phenomenology of mediumship. Despite its influential contributions to elucidating the clinical and neurophysiological correlates of dissociative experiences, the biomedical model has been criticized for its emphasis on psychopathological aspects of experience and the superficial consideration of cultural and psychosocial factors at the origin of mediumistic experiences, particularly in non-clinical contexts. In this paper, we review the evidence pertaining to a series of psychiatric and anthropological investigations of mediumship carried out in Brazil and abroad in order to illustrate how group and cultural differences impact the phenomenology, definitions, and meanings attributed to mediumistic experiences. To do so, we explore the differences that exist (1) between mediums from the same religious affiliation, (2) between mediums from different affiliations, and (3) between mediums from different cultural contexts, focusing on a comparison of cases from Brazil and the UK. We argue that mediumistic experiences and beliefs are highly variable across (and even within) cultures to support a single and monolithic classification. Based on multiple evidentiary sources, we challenge the pathologically oriented biomedical model of mediumship by pointing out the complexity and diversity of these experiences and mediumship's many cultural interpretations and phenomenological variations. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the studies reviewed for the definition of mediumship in terms of dissociation and trance. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 15/05255-2 - Estabilidade temporal e efeitos contextuais em medidas de dissociação e trauma: o papel da crença e da persuasão
• Beneficiário: Everton de Oliveira Maraldi
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado