Transgressing Boundaries: Digital as a Space for Esoteric Practices

My doctoral dissertation, which I defended at the Institute of Ethnology at the University of Heidelberg, is on the topic of “Zar Ritual and Expression of Gender Identity in Hormozgan Province, Iran.” In Hormozgan, Zar is a general term for all spirits that attack people for various reasons and a method of treating a possessed […]
On Knowing and Not-Knowing Spirits in Indonesian Borneo

“You never know when it comes to spirits,” the renowned Luangan shaman (belian) Kakah Ramat once told me. “You don’t know whether it is Bongai, Bansi or Tentuwaja who is guilty of causing an illness.” “That’s why you need to bring offerings to all of them,” he continued. While it may be particularly difficult to […]
Relational Ontologies of Illness, and the Nigerian Sahel

I recently gave a talk titled “Relational Ontologies of Illness, and the Nigerian Sahel.” I explored conversations of religious healers with spirits about how, when, and where shifting ecologies of the Sahel are affecting human and spirit movements, and lafiya, a Hausa term for health, well-being and balance. I also suggested ways that human and non-human beings […]