Description
Book SynopsisEvokes and contrasts two forms of firewalking and religious healing. This book includes the Anastenaria, a northern Greek ritual in which people who are possessed by Saint Constantine dance dramatically over red-hot coals, and, American firewalking, one of the more spectacular activities of New Age psychology.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1991 "As a contribution to postmodernism, it reveals the possibilities and paradoxes inherent in that movement. As a contribution to the ethnography of ritual healing, the book confirms the basic theory and provides comparative data."--American Anthropologist
Table of Contents*Frontmatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. ix*List of Illustrations, pg. xi*Preface, pg. xiii*Introduction, pg. 1*I. The Festival of Saints Constantine and Helen, pg. 10*II. The Interpretation of Religious Healing, pg. 50*III. The Anastenaria, pg. 64*IV. From Illness and Suffering to Health and Joy, pg. 84*V. History, Folklore, Politics, and Science, pg. 132*VI. The Celebration of Community in a Changing World, pg. 168*VII. A Full Moon Firedance in Maine, pg. 214*VIII. The American Firewalking Movement, pg. 253*IX. Contemporary Anthropology in a Postmodern World, pg. 289*Bibliography, pg. 307*Index, pg. 327
