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The Animistic Turn：Implications for the Anthropology of the Anima
Edith Turner
In the anthropology of the 1950’s if researchers “went native”，it might doom them academically. Victor Turner and I spent two and a half years among the Ndembu of Zambia. The people believed in spirits，and like many researchers we merely studied their beliefs. Anthropologists were reducing the phenomena of spirits to what they termed “a social construction of reality”. They were denying the people’s co-evalness with them whenever the events they witnessed were concerned with the spirit world. The people，nonetheless，extended their gift to Turner and myself—the gift of their vision and ritual. Now a wider change has intervened. The academic denial has nearly gone. Now as an anthropologist I could share the spiritual experiences of the people with whom I lived，realizing how spirituality was real，an aspect of people’s life-world. I could take it seriously. This would leave me free to undertake a fruitful interweaving with that world. Accordingly I joined the world of the Inuit of Alaska for a year. Here I give some of the ethnography of Inuit spirits in depth，listening to what they are trying to tell me.
Hidden in this change there are obviously some implications for the philosophy of anthropology，a reversal of one’s perspective on fieldwork. It is now necessary to make a study of “anthropology itself”—venturing into radical reflexivity. We are uncertain about how this matter affects getting jobs and there is great puzzlement about the semi-magical effects of healing. But now we can call ourselves “radical empiricists，” as the anthropologist Michael Jackson designated himself，faced with people in Sierra Leone，West Africa，who had been given a spirit world.
As far as we can see，the anthropologists of consciousness and religion are often right inside their subjects’ own experiences，and their publications show it. This is obviously because anthropologists do fieldwork. They have been having the experience of religion. They have been in situations where they have been praying，singing，chanting，or healing along with their people in trouble. This is a vast turn-around. Putting it shortly，to study ordinary human experiences of spirituality and changes of consciousness，certain of us have had to shift our own personal invisible，real spiritual life into a position to the front and have it changing in us，so that our fieldwork is the creation of our friends as well. They are working upon us. This is in one sense the same thing as perspectivism：the discovery of the looseness of fit of the world view of people who accept each others vagaries and what is more，their spiritual experiences. These，then，will be practicing “sharing and empathy”. This，as Swanscutt （2013） points out，it has now been expounded by Vivieros de Castro，working in Amazonia. （1992）. We are in a new paradigm already. As Swanscutt says，“the soul” or “spirit” of the shaman is not separate from his or her body，but interdependent with it，and every being’s perspective is thus “part of an overall totality of the self，” comprised of the shared soul substrate and different bodily affects （Swancutt，2007：238）.
And here we can even take a further step back from America’s inveterate individualism to say with Swancutt，quoting （Willerslev，2007：238） and his Siberian people—instead of placing personhood at the root of sociality，Willerslev proposes that sociality be viewed as constitutive of personhood in the perspectival context. We receive ourselves through others. （2007：2）.
Thus，the study that the anthropology of the anima requires is a different fieldwork method. This cannot happen through mere reading，or noting psychological reactions in people，or even by means of the comparative method. （2007：3）.
Fieldworkers in a new society leave behind everything，they have climbed the hill where their new people are living，and look out through their eyes. The view for them is different. They are different. They will get new workmates in everything. Their soul，that anima，will blend with those other spiritualities，blending like the organic new members that they are. These are stronger commitments than those that the religions themselves often require. Therefore，we need to write down this material，intimately. The method is gradually being taken up in part by the Societies for the Anthropology of Consciousness，by Humanistic Anthropology，and，sometimes，the Anthropology of Religion，and this material is evidence：it is the nitty-gritty. Theory will have to work with this，not “theory on theory”—not as if theory were an existing mathematical theorem. On the contrary，what is real here is nature，the spontaneous working of humanity. This methodology is necessary not only for the understanding of the soul，but also the sense of communitas，of collective joy，of religion，of spirituality，and of most of the arts.
It is of course based on the anthropology of experience. Fieldworkers are always audiences to events. On one hand as the field people’s experiences occur to researchers，as they literally work side by side with those they study—through literally embodied feeling，or on the other hand when the affect is conveyed in stories of a variety that arouses our recognition，so that we and they reach “intersubjectivity” which the African philosopher Tchiamalunga Ntumba （1985） from Kinshasa simply called We-ness. （Quoted in Turner 2012：158. This was also heard from Nelson Mandela，when he and Desmond Tutu established the term Ubuntu，literally “humanness，” the well-known religious sense of unity. Victor Turner constantly termed it communitas. When anthropologists do finally convey “affect” to the public，the result has sometimes had all the character and flavor of the researcher along with that of the people in the writing—their nature，and their very soul—and this is not merely what psychology finds at its Freudian depth，but what is commonly recognized as the very breath of the life of a person，for instance by Roy Wagner，Paul Stoller，Stephen Friedson，and Robert Desjarlais，and was once by Margaret Mead herself.
In the case of communitas，stories can build to a point where it is impossible not to recognize its existence，even in its most “fuzzy” form，full of inversions，and an irresistible force of its own，as in Communitas：The Anthropology of Collective Joy （Edith Turner 2012）.
The experience of communitas makes one wonder where it came from. “Communitas” is not led by a charismatic figure. People have no ranking here. The person that participates does not have to “give herself away to another”—Leaders in communitas are already lost in the fun of across-the-board friendships. Such an experience goes quite simply along with the sense of the presence of energy. It is accompanied by the intention to do something with “us-all”，and we do it. It is easy to experience—simply in a musical choir，playing in a band，or being in a participating audience，and in ritual. Moreover it is irresistibly attractive，often too far gone to change.
Healing and the Humility of its Affect. Why are we interested in the study of healing？
Somewhere across the length and breadth of humanity，someone is sure to need healing. One feels drawn to it. Healing is mysterious，the determined crawl of human flesh back into firmness and health. It is mysterious but real，and everybody knows it is good. In Islam，for instance，God says healing is the only really good thing we do. The good sage Barkat Ali Shaykh Hakim Moinuddin Chishti （1985，pp. ix-x.） said，in The Book of Sufi Healing：
Not even the highest degree of dedication to worship may earn anybody the claim of divine forgiveness or recompense in any other form，yet there is one thing that everybody should make sure of，which shall not go unrequited under any circumstances by Allah the Almighty，and that is selfless service to ailing humanity.
Spiritual healing is supposedly like magic，but depends for its working on the healer’s communitas—her fellow-feeling with the patient，on the healer’s alignment with the patient，on her attentiveness，her attention，the healer’s hold on the healing act，her purchase on it. Then the prayer. Then the breath in and out，the sigh of the patient and the healer at the same time，signaling that the deed is accomplished. All of this is the token of its sacredness. We can sometimes sense that everything that exists is already framed to seek what is good，and always did seek it，of necessity. All things are included in this，presupposing the very simple fact that all things，including God and spirits，are the We.
The conception is illustrated here by ethnography：the recognition in the hands of the Inuit healer. Some might suppose that the healer’s hands were magical. But the sense goes a different way，“Different，” as my healer friend Claire told me at our first meeting in Alaska. She is a beautiful woman，and she was sun-tanned from the previous summer，and very much aware. She was one of those people who had a gift of the kind that they could not but fulfill，she had been drawn to it. Her creative acts poured out of her，unquenchably. The healers feel the motion，the magnetic pull toward their talent.
The place where Claire and I first met was Point Hope，on the coast of northern Alaska，facing the North Pole. The coast has many inlets，favorable for the hunting of whales，a dangerous task，but the beasts were needed for the people’s food，which was formerly stored in ice cellars. The people had good healers. Claire who，even as a toddler，had a grandma who lay down and begged the baby to crawl on her back and work on the aching places. And the baby healed her. Claire said she inherited the skill from her own mother，and then immediately she would deny that and say，no，she was simply given it....
Claire repeatedly experienced certain four-day dark-spells，when all her strength and her gift seemed undone. Then the gift would come back，“better than ever，” she said. What was going on？ This was a mystery that cannot be interpreted. It was “ineffable.” It was therefore inherent to the body，which is its only manifestation，and it has no explicable meaning. What I am going to say about what passes between healer and sufferer is not to be seen under the microscope any more than a Chinese meridian，the path of energy in the body，called “Q” in Chinese，is seen. These things exist，though. They are mysteries. They have power in their own right. They can be respected and recognized. And in that spirit，they can be studied.
Watch the Inuit healer，Claire.
She is in the process of healing old Auntie Laura，who fell off a snowmobile and hurt her shoulder. This was distantly caused by the fact that when Laura was a child she had lost a finger. Bees had been discovered feeding upon her hand. But the child had never been treated.
Now there was something fascinating going on between Laura’s presently suffering body and Claire’s fingers. What is it？ She is first feeling the condition of the uninjured parts of the sufferer’s body. Those healthy tissues are cozy and okay—but in contrast，there was this recently injured place. （Claire has shown me this method herself）. Such an injured part will actually make conversation with the questing fingers. The sick part is speaking for itself. Here comes its statement！
The sick part is saying to the fingers：“I’m dead miserable. It’s all hopeless. Pain. pain，pain！”
The healer’s fingers are feeling the swelling，the heat around the inflamed part，the throbbing，and the twisted flesh tightening up in fear of being hurt. But it’s not just that. There’s a message from the body going across，a conversation of bodies. A sense of hollowness；sorrow；wracking unsettledness；then “help！” The cry is there. So to work.
Claire has aligned herself with the patient’s body，she’s right with it. She does this thing that in her people’s history used to be called the song to the Great Spirit Tunraq. The gift of Tunraq is the knowledge that she possesses Jesus’ hands. This in the village is called “The Blessing.” （Once when the famous Inuit healer Della Keats was in Anchorage，Alaska，the doctors examined Della’s hands to see if there was anything different about them. Della had laughed，showing her pretty hands. There was no visible difference.）
Watch Claire touching Auntie Laura’s sore arm. She feels the shoulder. There is a screaming orchestra going on inside there. Claire is connecting with the tissues. As soon as her fingers “hear” the patient’s body，the body under her hands knows that she hears. Her gentle fingers are right on to the sore place，an area of tensed-up flesh，and it is being ruled by something which Claire knows is acting cruelly toward old Auntie Laura. That something must leave. Claire’s fingers simply erase it as they roam to and fro. The affected place has grown smaller. Dorcus catches some of the stuff and throws it fiercely away，up the smoke hole or toward the river，“out of here！” Then it is time for some more treatment. The area is now only the faintest sliver. Healer and patient both suddenly sigh. The unity of patient and healer has been granted. The pain is gone. Auntie Laura doesn’t feel the pain at all. Hm. Where is it？
Everyone is in an extraordinarily good mood—it is beautiful.
These matters are emotional，of the body and the feelings. “Affect，” is the word used in these essays. It is a neutral word. Also the word “aesthetic” could be used—simply “good feelings.” For example，it is used powerfully by Robert Desjarlais，in the title of his passionate book on behalf of the Yolmo Sherpa of Nepal：Body and Emotion：The Aesthetics of Illness and Healing in the Nepal Himalayas. （1982）. In his book，he shares the feelings of the people，their visceral feelings as he reiterates. They are those that dwell in the very organs of the body. Even now in anthropology they exist strongly as a mystery. Not only do they have right to exist as a mystery，but their existence is what I am presently in the process of teaching to my students.
One of my students，Emily Chenn at my Thursday seminar on 1/30/14 had chosen to give a presentation on communitas. She said that communitas was hard to capture in words，except by stories. She was sitting beside me on the sofa. I put my arms gently about her. “These are my actual arms—” I said. She gasped. “Of course！ I am a dancer. Look what I’m doing！—” She sprang away to the middle of the floor” and did a glorious of upside down dance as if she were several people at once. “That’s communitas！ We did this dance at the University of Virginia Dance Performance Night”，she said.
From this one may grasp that a scientific state of “consciousness” is not the site of the highest focus that can take effect in the body. The psyche is not a bunch of mere wispy material floating loose. The psyche is so extensive that it can even enfold someone living next door，and is always giving us useful information，“ideas” as we call them. We dip into the psyche all the time，a process of our natural life itself. It is of course called “instinct”，“sentiment”，“intuition”，“a feeling” and so on.
We may shake ourselves and bring consciousness to the fore，and “get on with life，” as we think. Then we find we are enjoying the hard work of using our brains，and find ourselves feeling “in flow，” getting help，even with the cut and dried work we have to do. These experiences especially affect our anthropological work with peoples not yet governed by the modern “enlightenment” view of reality，and still more so with groups of people where our sensitive psyches and theirs are blending together and responding with communitas and humor--the mystery of fellow feeling. All of us are enswathed with the mood garments of our own religious and symbolic worlds. “Castaneda’s luminous egg around each of us” is a graphic way of envisioning it. Also consider the following：
The sense of the power of a person extending beyond the body is echoed by Jacob Levy Moreno，the introducer of psychodrama，who said that in a true “psychosocial” picture of a person，“the psyche appears as outside the body，the body is surrounded by the psyche and the psyche is surrounded by，and interwoven into，the social and cultural atoms.” （Moreno，Blomkvist，and Rutzel 2000）.
Thus the individual psyche is always intimately and naturally connected with the psyches of others—that is，the “social and cultural atoms”. The terms “psyche” and “human energy field” overlap here.
According to Chester Michael，a priest，the psyche is God. He drew a diagram of this. I’ve found in my own work，and also in ordinary populations and or those beyond the grip of the academic philosophy，there are often those born with this gift，the faculty for “hearing” this psyche，and they naturally attend to it. The academy and the providers of grants still have a suspicion that these are not deserving of social science awards，except in medical anthropology.
The subtlety and depth of these matters pervaded Victor Turner’s concept of communitas. My own the book，Communitas：The Anthropology of Collective Joy （Edith Turner 2012），contains stories that build to a point where it is impossible not to recognize the existence of communitas，even in its most topsy-turvy undefinable，overwhelming，fascinating appearance，probably seditious.
One day，my computer screen happened to be open for the web offerings on all these concepts，where one can trace in which direction people will search for any real news. But on my screen at the foot of all these new daring discussions—which have actually been changing history—a big outcry appeared there on the screen. From a Muslim. “It is a miracle！”—affirming the greatness of the creator. This was interesting because the prayers that Muslims constantly utter are the words of Muhammad in the Quran：la ilaha illa-llah
No god THE-GOD
“There is nothing，THERE IS God.”
The fact is that there actually is a membrane there，between physical things and spiritual things and we find it nested right back in molecular science and its finding has a fascinating history. The physicists found that one end of the primal water molecule likes water，while the other end rejects it. Thus there will be a hiatus between them. Through this we reach the potential of an “inside” and “outside.”
There is a truth in this. In our knowledge of the substance of the universe，there is an inside and outside，with a membrane of molecules in between. The same curving line contrives another wayward trip to install the nucleus of the cell，able to regulate every entry within the cell and even to reproduce itself. We can only wonder. As we have seen，a membrane is an object of interest throughout all spirituality. It is what makes things hollow，with a definite space inside，unique；the foundation of personhood. This process can be traced as the origin of the living cell，of a being. It is also becoming clear that for the molecules to combine to make water，they provide their own energy.
The strange thing is that：“primal for all living things，there is the existence，itself，of water，” and living molecules that are not in a state of combustion. That is the case with water. These molecules are quite alive without adding to entropy，they exist in a state of the nothingness of natural “laws”，such as the Second Law of Thermodynamics，which used to be taught in physics classes. The motion videos of these molecules on the web，also found under “Self-organization”，are immensely attractive，for instance the workings of potassium and sodium in their conscious “dance” of finding their natural positions. They show the ubiquity of true self organization—everywhere. In the past there used to be many visuals on the internet showing the ubiquity of self organization—these could be found everywhere，like dances and minuets，and very beautiful.
Self-organization. One may look at it this way. If you had a handful of gravel and threw it on the ground，the pebbles would just stay in an untidy mass. But we are also hearing about the principal of self-organization，that things with a certain potential will start to organize themselves. But these are not pebbles，but primal molecules. And this appears to be a principal throughout all the ranges of living matter. If one searches sufficiently far back in the history of matter，and on a much smaller scale，we realize that，because of primal molecules do respond，they stack themselves up. It works like this：one of the molecules liking water，the other one rejecting it. They will pair themselves each facing the opposite way to its partner. The pairs get into a curving line which soon finds itself arranged into a sphere with an inside and outside，with a membrane of molecules in between. The same curving line contrives another wayward trip to install the nucleus of the cell，able to regulate every entry within the cell and even to reproduce itself. We can only wonder. As we have seen，a membrane is an object of interest throughout all spirituality. It is what makes things hollow，with a definite space inside，unique；the foundation of personhood. This process can be traced as the origin of the living cell，of a being. It is also becoming clear that for the molecules to combine to make water，they provide their own energy.
Look up inside the Sistine Chapel in Rome and see above，the creator with his appealing，and needing that finger. The painter Michael Angelo （1475-1564），had his 15th century vision at that time. That Sistine touch，with that finger，with a splendid irrationality，has switched on multitudes of self-energizing elements in the Periodic Tables，those with chemical affinity，the great-great-grandmothers of all of nature’s discoveries，such as the primal use of the elements in water，plus carbon，in harnessing light for the creation of plants and their sugars，and later there is the use of iron in our bloodstream. This complex matter needed help. Again that finger sought another era and released the children of Israel from Egypt. Today the finger could raise powers that will eventually control evil-intending corporations. We may yet be able to experience its many other checks and balances.
Wikipedia 7/25/2013，On Self-organization：It is a process where some form of global order or coordination arises out of the local interactions between the components of an initially disordered system. This process is spontaneous：it is not directed or controlled by any agent or subsystem inside or outside of the system；however，the laws followed by the process and its initial conditions have been chosen or caused by an agent. It is often triggered by random fluctuations that are amplified by positive feedback. The resulting organization is wholly decentralized or distributed over all the components of the system. As such it is typically very robust and able to survive and self-repair substantial damage or perturbations.
Self-organization occurs in a variety of physical，chemical，biological，social and cognitive systems.
So：Willersslev’s “personhood” is the basic component of communitas. And the fact that personhood is actually there has this fascinating history，right back in molecular science. In my twenties I knew that there existed molecules with “chemically affinity.” Hydrogen and oxygen had an affinity for one another，and together they make water. When regular elements with affinity activate，they do not use up energy，they have their own means to do their joining，a “plus，” that is empty or “minus” of waste.
The condition of chemical-affinity-molecules provides a totally positive value to the creation.
Now，in our own hesitant way of talking about our souls，we can show that inside ourselves we recognize this process as in all-respects beneficial，as a “good.” And it corresponds to how we feel things are. We know we can organize. Now what I am proposing is this：we know what is good，and we know as if something told us，and this includes the answers the shamans have been telling us. They have known the presence of spirits when beating their drums，with their music. It is what all the later religions said and did，as clearly as they could，from the beginning of organized religion.
“Symbiosis” has been a word I have been looking for，the thing that pushes us into this self organization where circumstances favor it. And here we have it mentioned by a scholar of pilgrimage，Robert Orsi：
“Culture and religion are in symbiotic relationship，each constituting the other.”
Also explained by Orsi：“our inner teacher，the self-effacing Spirit，is ever the midwife of creative insight，subtly nudging，suggesting，directing our attention until we leap to the discovery that ‘2+2=5.’ Human nature is not created to function independently，but in omnipresent partnership with its Maker.”
Women I have interviewed，who called on Saint Jude in times of crisis，approached him as a real figure acting efficaciously in their lives. Can we find the critical language to talk about Jude’s realness in history，and about his real effects in history，his thereness？ These women told me that they had prayed to Saint Jude and... something happened. Can we enter into this ellipsis？ Historicist interpretations give us predictable accounts of religion and culture：culture shapes religion，which in turn reflects culture，or，more radically，culture and religion are in symbiotic relationship，each constituting the other. But can we find the critical language to talk about how religious practices and imaginings can elude the limitations of our prejudices about social power，confound expectations，and transform lives and societies，for better and for worse？
So what has been patiently pushing at us and suggesting？ I myself had been thinking of the word “psyche.” referring to a speaking “psyche，” in language，or poetry，or ideas，always alongside，loving us，because that is the way it is，and it exist that way，and it inveigles us to love it：literally as a symbiote. Sexual love is an obvious way to keep the whole of nature on the move too，in process，fierce and exciting. It has its most delicate membrane，the “inside/outside”. We can let all things and realizations through the membrane，and in our shamanic studies of healing we learn more and more. As in communitas，there is no ranking，no self-praise；no advantage can be gained by heightening the effect by mean of a business corporation because the communitas will disappear.
I have noticed that when one heals，or is directed toward something good，it can give goose bumps，or one’s finger tips feel the energy. The patient feels the healing hands as hot. The hands are feeling “surplus reality” as Jacob Moreno called it.
As for me I want this spirituality to go on barreling down the ages of Charles Darwin’s evolution in whichever way that affinity wants to go.
Waiwai and Ndembu，the forest people of the anthropologists，those living beside and among animals，and also herders，these were mostly good symbiotic people. A marvelous piety developed among them. After the forest era was past，symbiotic life seems to have often failed under the temptation of property ownership. Therefore，in later history，barbaric kingdoms ensued，with armies that were eventually foolhardy enough to adopt nuclear weapons and energy. What was worse，the gifts that people were receiving from their divinities came to be regarded as rewards from a tribal potentate，punishing，exclusivist，strange，and feared. This did happen—and it was a curious way to say thank you. While all along we were given—and learned to find the curious vitamins of social life—those of simultaneous insight，and visions of the future. Incredibly，there appeared the ever-sharper hope of indemnity，in the form of the prophets，those of the Upanishads，of Confucius，Krishna，Buddha，Jesus，Muhammad，and eventually Rumi and Hildegaard de Bingen.
So what has been patiently pushing at us and suggesting？ I have been calling it the “psyche，” speaking in our language，or poetry，or ideas，always alongside us，inside us. The psyche cannot bear not to love us and have us loving it. It could be a boddisatva，an ancestor spirit，an angel，a goddess，an animal helper？ Sexual love is an obvious way for it to keep the whole of nature on the move too，as process. Positivism is nothing compared with this mystery of the unsayable good. Behind the scenes we see the evolution of consciousness connected with those curious anomalies.
Then，these are：in primal times there existed earthy molecules like H2O and carbon and phosphorus. They learned to use light，with oxygen，hydrogen and carbon，and the use of energy’s river. Chemical affinity was good，from the beginning. These primal beings somewhere learned to live independently. This was during the time they were descending down the gradual steps of their evolution.
So their bodies learned to make a living cell. They stumbled upon the use of iron which gave them a rapid circulatory system of blood. They are later going to recognize that they have had help. Such beings soon had all their senses busy，enriching their knowing，and，at last found themselves “thinking”，and what they thought was simply，“good！”
In the business of interconnectivity，amid all these growing natural gifts of life，they find that they themselves have been creating and making—humankind’s own nature itself. （This suggestion was derived from Fowler 2008 and Wautischer 2008）. Such activity has been proceeding as our understanding constantly grows. The comprehension of the word “good” remains as our thanks for the creation.
References Cited
Barkat Ali，Abu Anees Muhammad.
1985. Foreword to The Sufi Book of Healing，by Shaykh Hakim Moinuddin Chishti. pp. ix-x. New York：Inner Traditions International.
Desjarlais，Robert.
1992. Body and Emotion：The Aesthetics of Illness and Healing in the Nepal Himalayas. Philadelphia：University of Pennsylvania Press，1992.
Fowler，Thomas.
2008. “Sentient Intelligence：Consciousness and Knowing in the Philosophy of Xavier Zubiri.” In Ontology of Consciousness：Percipient Action. Helmut Wautisher. ed. pp. 549-575. Cambridge：MIT Press.
Moreno，Zerka T.，Leif Dag Blomkvist，and Thomas Rutzel.
2000. Psychodrama，Surplus Reality，and the Art of Healing. New York：Brunner-Routledge.
Rumi.
1968. The Mystical Poems of Rumi. Translated from the Persian by A. J. Arberry. University of Chicago Press. （Jalal al-Din Rumi，an Islamic poet，was born in A.D. 1207 in Afghanistan and lived in Turkey，where he died in A.D. 1273.
Swanscutt，Katherine.
N.d. “Introduction：The Animist Turn （Draft）.”
Turner，Edith
1992. Experiencing Ritual：A New Interpretation of African Healing. Philadelphia：University of Pennsylvania Press.
2012. Communitas：The Anthropology of Collective Joy. New York：Palgrave Macmillan. Series on the Contemporary Anthropology of Religion.
Viveiros de Castro，Eduardo.
1992. From the Enemy’s Point of View. Chicago：University of Chicago Press.
Wautischer，Helmut，ed.
2008. Toward an Ontology of Consciousness：Percipient Action. Cambridge，Massachusetts：MIT Press.
Biography
Edith L. B. Turner is a member of the faculty of the department of anthropology at the University of Virginia. She has received honorary doctorates from the College of Wooster and Kenyon College. She specializes in ritual，religion，healing，shamanism，and aspects of consciousness. She has done fieldwork among the Ndembu of Zambia （ritual，healing，and divination），the Bagisu of Uganda （ritual）；in rural Ireland （ritual，spiritual experience，and healing），and among the Iñupiat of Alaska （Inuit healing）. Among her publications are listed The Spirit and the Drum，1987；“Poetics and Experience in Anthropological Writing，” 1989；“The Whale Decides：Eskimos’ and Ethnographer’s Shared Consciousness on the Ice，” 1990；“Psychology，Metaphor，or Actuality？ A Probe into Iñupiat Healing，” 1992；“The Reality of Spirits：A Tabooed or Permitted Field of Study？” 1992. Experiencing Ritual：A New Interpretation of African Healing，1992；The Hands Feel It：Healing and Spirit Presence among a Northern Alaskan People，1996；Among the Healers：Stories of Ritual and Spiritual Healing around the World，2005；Communitas：The Anthropology of Collective Joy，2012.