| Author | : Meredith B. McGuire |
| File Size | : 42,7 Mb |
| Publisher | : Rutgers University Press |
| Language | : English |
| Release Date | : 04 May 1988 |
| ISBN | : 0813513138 |
| Pages | : 340 pages |
Ritual Healing in Suburban America by Meredith B. McGuire Book PDF Summary
Many Americans believe that people who practice folk healing are uneducated and too poor to afford conventional medical care. Contrary to this popular belief, Meredith McGuire finds that a large number of college-educated, middle-class suburbanites participate in a variety of nonmedical healing groups. In suburban New Jersey, people practice such diverse alternatives as psychic healing, New Age therapies, naturopathy, Christian Science, Transcendental Meditation, reflexology, acupuncture, yoga, Jain meditation, Therapeutic Touch, reflexology, shiatsu, rebirthing, and occult therapies. McGuire places these various healing groups into broader categories according to their traditional sources of inspiration and their beliefs about healing power. She then looks at the participants' diverse ideas about health and illness. By locating alternative healing in the context of these beliefs, she shows the many ways the adherents experience ritual healing. -- From publisher's description.
