Can jinn be a tonic? The therapeutic value of spirit-related beliefs, practices and experiences

Suspicion toward spirit-related practices, beliefs, and experiences is misplaced and may block a therapeutic avenue for anomalous experiences like hearing voices or sensing the presence of the dead. The argument rests on the claim that such experiences are not inherently pathological but can become so depending on how they are interpreted and reacted to. The paper provides a philosophical foundation for this claim by defending a 'contextualist' view of pathology against 'inherentist' alternatives that hold some or all anomalous experiences are inherently pathological.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Religion and spirituality are increasingly associated with mental health, yet spirit-related practices, beliefs and experiences (SPBEs) are regarded with more suspicion. This suspicion is misplaced, and worryingly so, since, I argue, it shuts down a potentially therapeutic avenue in relation to anomalous experiences such as hearing voices and sensing the presence of the dead. A presupposition of this argument is that anomalous experiences are not inherently pathological but can become so as a result of the way they are interpreted and reacted to. While this claim is not new in itself, I will provide a philosophical foundation for it by defending a ‘contextualist’ view of pathology in the context of anomalous experiences against ‘inherentist’ alternatives, according to which some or all instances of anomalous experiences are inherently pathological. Keywords: religion, spirituality, auditory hallucinations, psychosis, pathology, mediumship, schizophrenia, hearing voices, mediumship, spirit possession, healing rituals.