Dialogues With Gods.

“Dialogues with Gods. Possession in Middle Indian Rituals” contains a range
of articles – all of them with a sound ethnographic grounding – that explore
and analyse various forms of communication with the divine. All
authors conducted extensive field research in different parts of Middle India,
particularly in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, that is in a region
where dialogues with gods, but also spirits or ancestors are frequently
encountered, even though they occur in different contexts and at different
times in the annual cycle. Many case studies presented in the volume
relate to Adivasi communities (indigenous people or “Scheduled Tribes”
as administrative category) with a rich tradition of possession and trance
rituals, but are in no way limited to them alone.