Living Folk Religions

Sravana Borkataky-Varma is a scholar of Indian religions focusing on esoteric rituals and gender, particularly in Hindu Goddess Tantra. She is the Instructional Assistant Professor at the University of Houston. At present, she is a Center for the Study of World Religions fellow at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University. Aaron Michael Ullrey is a Historian of Religions focusing on magic and the religions of South Asia, especially tantras associated with Śaivism and Jainism. He teaches Religious Studies at the University of Houston and is a Sanskrit language instructor at Naropa University.

Introduction: Three Little Words Aaron Michael Ullrey and Sravana Borkataky-Varma Part 1: What is Folk Religion? 1. Interrogating the Folk-Classical Divide in the Study of Indic Religions through a Local Bengali Ritual Performance Frank J. Korom 2. The Sādhū that Came for Lunch: Revising Tropes of Disconnection in the Jain Diaspora Tine Vekemans 3. What Makes Folk Buddhism? Alyson Prude 4. Why a Folk Religion May Not Exist Among Followers of an Abrahamic Faith: The Case of Sunni Egypt Hasan El-Shamy Part 2: Spirit Beings and Deities 5. Goddess Trees in the Forest of Bliss: Local Place and Translocal Space in a City of Pilgrims David Gordon White 6. Bhairava, Hanumān, and the Deified Dead: A Material Study of Vernacular, Official, and Folk Registers of Living Hinduism in Vārāṇasī, North India Seth Ligo 7. There is Something in Me: Narratives of LGBTIQ+ Sangomas (Traditional Healers) in South Africa Rachel Schneider Part 3: Performance and/or Ritual Praxis 8. Sufi Festivals in Contemporary Morocco: Authorizing and Performing Folk Religiosities John C. Thibdeau 9. Mantras for "Every God and Goddess": Vernacular Religious Ritual in the Literature of Sabhapati Swami Keith Cantú 10. Observing Buddhist Precepts by Divination: Practices According to ZhanchajingXingyi Wang 11. Spellbinding Skalds: Music as Ritual in Nordic Neopaganism Mathias Nordvig and Padraic Fitzgerald 12. Cremating the Body Politic: Mapping the Materiality of the Indo-Caribbean Mortuary Ritual Corpus Keith E. McNeal Part 4: Possession and Exorcism 13. Talking to the Other Side: Spiritualism as "Vernacular Religion" in Central Ohio Hugh B. Urban 14. Becoming a God: Spirit Possession Practices at a South Indian Temple Julie Edelstein 15. Post-Christianity and Esotericism: A Study of a Satanic Exorcist William Chavez 16. Controlling the Lore: A Survey of UFO Folklore in the United States Diana Pasulka Part 5: Health, Healing, and Lifestyle 17. Indigenous Revitalization, Rock Music, and the Holy Spirit: The Religious Logic of Healing at Lake Junaluska Jason E. Purvis 18. The Triple Goddess: Examining Maiden, Mother, Crone in Wiccan-Witchcraft Traditions Jason Mankey 19. Lifestyle Brands That Rock Your Soul: Wellness Culture as Folk Religion in North America Anya Foxen. Index