Crossing the Boundaries of Science and the Supernatural: Religious perspectives on Illness and Healing

Abstract (English)

The relation between faith and healing is an age-old one, going back perhaps to the dawn of humankind. It is believed that many prehistoric cave paintings perhaps had ritual significance, perhaps related to healing. In many indigenous communities, illness and its subsequent remission is linked to the supernatural. Paradoxically, even today in urban and modern societies, health is a domain where people still seek relief from diverse sources. One’s own illness or that of a loved one, raises deep concerns, some it not resolvable by practical, logical and so-called rational methods. Even as people go for the best available scientific medical treatment, they still take resort to prayers and the invocation of the supernatural. In this panel we will try to focus on beliefs and practices that cross the borders of the known and the unknown and try to decipher some of the rationale behind such behaviour. Why do people seek supernatural intervention for their sickness, what is the etiology of disease in different cultural settings, does faith actually heal? We invite papers based on ethnographic experiences and also those that may interrogate the issues theoretically.