Three Spirit Mediums: A Case Study on Grief, Death, and Alternative Religious Traditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Based on interviews with three American spirit mediums during the COVID-19 pandemic, this research note serves as a case study on the role of spirit mediumship during the pandemic. Because they serve clients rather than congregations, spirit mediums were able to develop more nuanced and immediate re...

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Altri titoli:"Creativity, Adaptation, and Innovation in Contemporary Paganism and New Age during the COVID-19 Pandemic"
Autore principale: Mikles, Natasha L. 1986- (Autore)
Tipo di documento: Elettronico Articolo
Lingua:Inglese
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Pubblicazione: University of Californiarnia Press 2023
In: Nova religio
Anno: 2023, Volume: 27, Fascicolo: 2, Pagine: 86-100
Altre parole chiave:B Grief
B Covid-19
B metaphysical religion
B Spiritualism
B spirit mediums
Accesso online: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Riepilogo:Based on interviews with three American spirit mediums during the COVID-19 pandemic, this research note serves as a case study on the role of spirit mediumship during the pandemic. Because they serve clients rather than congregations, spirit mediums were able to develop more nuanced and immediate responses to clients' grief surrounding the loss of a loved one to COVID-19. Spirit mediums also had an important role during the pandemic as interpreters for creating theodicies explaining why a loved one died and individuals experienced grief. In this meaning-making work, spirit mediums sometimes reflected a "conspiritual" perspective, framing the pandemic's origins and subsequent vaccine development through conspiratorial thinking. This research note ultimately suggests, therefore, that spirit mediums have an important role in American grief that has been largely overlooked and needs further dedicated research.
ISSN:1541-8480
Comprende:Enthalten in: Nova religio
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1525/nr.2023.27.2.86