Icelandic Spiritualism: Mediumship and Modernity in Iceland"Icelandic Spiritualism" is an engaging social anthropological study of the place of spiritualism in Icelandic church and society during the first half of the twentieth century. Challenging standard theoretical approaches to the study of religion, the book contributes a wealth of data on the history of religion and psychical research, presenting it in a vivid descriptive narrative. The authors trace the role of the spirit world in Icelandic culture, giving particular attention to the distinctive history of Iceland's "conversion" to Christianity. They focus on the appearance of "modern" spiritualism as a distinct phenomenon in Icelandic life. The book studies the interaction between various groups in fin-de-siecle Icelandic society, not least in the state church, as mediumistic phenomena became widely reported through the newspapers. To some, Icelandic spiritualism may be considered a deviant case of Protestantism. What makes this book interesting, however, is that the spiritualism is seen as integral to Iceland's transition to modernity. While "Icelandic Spiritualism" concentrates mainly on the first half of the twentieth century, it also provides a summary of the continuation of spiritualist phenomena up to the current period. This intriguing study will be of interest to theologians, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists. |
Other editions - View all
Icelandic Spiritualism: Mediumship and Modernity in Iceland Loftur Reimar Gissurarson Limited preview - 2018 |
Icelandic Spiritualism: Mediumship and Modernity in Iceland William H. Swatos,Loftur Reimar Gissurarson No preview available - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
Ágúst Akureyri Alþingi appeared Auðuns became bishop of Iceland Bjarnason Björn Jónsson Björnsson Breiðablik Brynjólfur century chair Christian cultural Danish death direct voice Durkheim's Einar Kvaran Einarsson Erlendur Erlendur Haraldsson Experimental Society experiments Fjallkonan floor Gíslason Gísli Gissurarson and Haraldsson Grettir Guðmundur Hannesson Hafsteinn hall hand Haraldur Níelsson healing heard Heimskringla held Helgi Hjörleifsson Icelandic church Icelandic society Icelandic spiritualism Indriði Indriði Indriðason inside the net Ísafold Íslands Jakob Jochumsson Jón Helgason Jón's Kristeligt Dagblad Kristjánsson lectern levitated light Lögberg Lögrjetta Lutheran Matthías Matthías Jochumsson medium mediumistic mediumship modern Morgunblaðið Morgunn moved movements newspaper observed Oddgeirsson Ólafsson Páll persons Pétur Pétursson phenomena psychical research religion religious reports Reykjavík Saga scientific séances secularization séra side Sigurður sitters sitting Skafti social Society for Psychical sociology spiritualist Swatos theology Thordarson took trance Unitarian University of Iceland wall watchman writes zither Þjóðólfur Þórðarson Þórður Þorláksson