The Sinhalese exorcism rituals are perhaps the most complex and the most magnificent in performance still extant. For this second edition, the author has written a new preface and introduction in which he argues that the techniques of healing in Sri Lanka cannot be reduced to Western psychoanalytic or psychotherapeutic terms.
Bruce Kapferer, University of Bergen
1 Introduction 2 Exorcism, Class and Change in Urban Sri Lanka 3 Exorcists 4 Demonic Illness: Diagnosis and Social Context 5 Exorcisms and the Symbolic Identity of Women 6 The Demonic Illusion: Demons and the Cosmic Hierarchy 7 The Exorcism of the Great Cemetery Demon: Event and Structure in Major Exorcisms 8 Music, Dance and Trance 9 The Comedy of Gods and Demons 10 Epilogue: A Celebration of Demons