Healing Through States of Consciousness: Animal Sacrifice and Christian Prayer Among the Kachin in Southwest China.
Healing rituals can be understood in terms of configurations of two states of consciousness-a culturally elaborated everyday waking consciousness, and an enhanced and culturally elaborated state of consciousness. Two healing rituals performed by the ethnic Kachin in Southwest China differentiate these two states of consciousness in their theories of life and death. The first ritual, animal sacrifice, employs the ordinary consciousness, including will and expectation, of participants through the enhanced state of consciousness of the ritual officiant. The second, Christian prayer, utilizes the enhanced consciousness of Christian Congregation to achieve psychic transformation. These two rituals maneuver different configurations of the two states of consciousness in achieving healing efficacy.
a Department of Anthropology , Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou , China.
Wenyi
W
Zhang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D002681:China; D002835:Christianity; D003243:Consciousness / Q000502:physiology*; D029221:Faith Healing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D026443:Spiritual Therapies
Animal sacrifice; China; Christian prayer; healing rituals; states of consciousness