title: Transmigration, liminality, and spiritualist healing.
abstract: Observations made in an urban spiritualist organization in western New York led to the following conclusions. A symbolic event basic to this total belief system is the creation of a liminal state that allows church members to transcend the earth plane and experience an alternate reality, the spiritual world. The creation of this symbolic suspension serves to reinforce the basic belief system and legitimize the healing and message rituals. This paper will explore the church service as the symbolic event that serves to take church members into the liminal state. The transition occurs as a collective experience, culminating in the healing and message services.
authors: The Department of Anthropology, Georgia State University, USA.
authors: R G
authors: RG
authors: Fishman