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Libra Esoterica

Ghost Riders of Upper Egypt: A Study of Spirit Possession

by Hans Winkler & Nicholas Hopkins

  • First published:
  • 21st century
  • Language: English

Description

Description from OpenAlex (opens in a new tab)

This book offers a classic anthropological case study from the 1930s, translated into English for the first time. In 1933 the German anthropologist Hans Alexander Winkler came across a 'spirit medium' named Abdel Radi in a village near Luxor in Upper Egypt. Abdel Radi was periodically possessed by the ghost of his uncle, and in that state passed messages to those who came to seek help. In an intense study, Winkler lays out the construction of the world shared by the rural people, with its saints and pilgrims, snake-charmers and wandering holy men, all under the overarching power of God, and shows how Abdel Radi's mediumship made sense in that context. Winkler's book was ahead of its time in analyzing a single institution in its social context, and in showing the debates and disagreements about the meaning of such strange events. His study was overlooked for many years, and has now been brought back into circulation by this translation.

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Demonology, angelology, and possession, Ghosts, hauntings, and poltergeists, Shamanism and spirit practice, and Spiritualism, mediumship, and channeling.

  • Demonology, angelology, and possession

    Retained metadata contains “possession” in the title, “possession” in the subject metadata, and “possession” in the edition title.

    • “possession”· in title
    • “possession”· in subject
    • “possession”· in edition title
  • Spiritualism, mediumship, and channeling

    Controlled discovery queries from openalex matched “mediumship”. Retained metadata contains “mediumship” in the description.

    • “mediumship”· via OpenAlex
    • “mediumship”· in description
  • Ghosts, hauntings, and poltergeists

    Retained metadata contains “ghost” in the title, “ghost” in the description, and “ghost” in the edition title.

    • “ghost”· in title
    • “ghost”· in description
    • “ghost”· in edition title
  • Shamanism and spirit practice

    Retained metadata contains “Spirit possession” in the title and “Spirit possession” in the edition title.

    • “Spirit possession”· in title
    • “Spirit possession”· in edition title

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

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Buy or borrow

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Editions

One edition cataloged here.

OpenAlex scholarly book record

2009-04-01Japan Society of Medical Entomology and Zoology; Medical Entomology and ZoologyEnglish—Unknown

Subjects

16 subject headings

Identifiers & provenance

How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.

Cataloged from

Catalog id
openalex:W610160067
Edition coverage
Openalex source record
Retrieved