This book offers a broad framework within which to understand spirit possession. Schmidt brings together a number of different disciplinary approaches, and provides a fresh examination to studies in this fascinating field. This is a valuable book for undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as for those looking for a way to understand spirit possession that bridges older and recent perspectives and puts them into a model useful for research into this fascinating topic. I highly recommend the book.

Nova Religio

Provides a detailed theoretical discussion and analysis of concepts within possession studies, combined with an innovative approach to fieldwork … the book provides a welcome development within the academic study of spirit possession which will, no doubt, foster serious discussion about the future of the field.

Reading Religion

Spirits and Trance in Brazil is one of the best empathetic depiction of spirit possession I ever read.

Anthropos

From beginning to end, Spirits and Trance in Brazil shifts the cutting edge of studies of religions and cultures onwards in exciting directions. It greatly improves engagement with the key words of recent scholarship, especially those associated with “turns”. In particular, it does so by focusing on them together rather than separately. It is, then, a book about more than spirit trances, it is also expert about corporeality, ontology, ritual, cognition, gender, experience, theory, method, charisma, agency, hierarchy and more.

Graham Harvey, Professor of Religious Studies, The Open University, UK

Spirits and Trance in Brazil is the result of a competent and fascinating field research of spirit possession competently analysed with recourse to the relevant international academic literature including recently defended Master and PhD-thesis of Brazilian scholars. Although Bettina Schmidt focusses on Afro-Brazilian Religions and Brazilian Spiritism she is aware of the more general presence of spirit possession in the sense of a common denominator of the eclectic religiosity of the Brazilian people. Hence, her book offers not only essential insights into a particular religious subfield but also familiarizes her readers with generally neglected characteristics of the country with the largest Catholic population in the world.

Frank Usarski, Professor of Religious Studies, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil