Communicating with the Spirits

Gábor Klaniczay is University Professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University.Éva Pócs is Professor emeritus at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Pécs, Hungary.

• List of Illustrations Introduction by Éva Pócs and Gábor Klaniczay Part I. Discernment of Spirits and Possession Nancy Caciola, Breath, Heart, Guts: The Body and Spirits in the Middle Ages Renata Mikolajczyk, Non sunt nisi phantasiae et imaginationes: a Medieval Attempt at Explaining Demons Moshe Sluhovsky, Discerning Spirits in Early Modern Europe Sophie Houdard, Mystics or Visionaries? Discernment of Spirits in the First Part of Seventeenth Century France Éva Pócs, Possession Phenomena, Possession-systems. Some East Central European Examples Part II. Contacts with the Other World Wolfgang Behringer, How Waldensians Became Witches: Heretics and Their Journey to the Other World Tok Thompson, Hosting the Dead: Thanotopic aspects of the Irish Sidhe Roberto Dapit, Visions of the Other World as Narrated in Contemporary Belief Legends from Resia Part III. Divination, Shamanism Christa Tuczay, Trance Prophets and Diviners in the Middle Ages Peter Buchholz, Shamanism in Medieval Scandinavian Literature Rune Hagen, The King, the Cat, and the Chaplain. King Christian IV's Encounter with the Sami Shamans of Northern Norway and Northern Russia in 1599

"This volume offers essays dealing with demonic possession, visionary experiences, trance states, and shamanism... the volume effectively demonstrates the range of work being undertaken that can usefully brought together on topics of demonology, magic, superstition, and witchcraft."