Mediumistic Bodies

Organic, Technological, and Imaginal Perspectives on the transnational Construction of the Body of Mediums and Spirits

Abstract

Transnational mobility has contributed to the global spread of the Brazilian mediumistic practices of the Christian Spiritualism known as Vale do Amanhecer (Valley of the Dawn), yet it also posed the question of how mediums learn to manifest spirits belonging to the Brazilian spiritualistic repertoire. The analysis of the experiences of mediums in training in the temples of the Amanhecer in Brazil and Italy, highlights the development of specific ways of knowing spirits, and therefore of a «mediumistic body» at a transnational level. Thus, I propose to examine the embodied and affective dimensions of the encounter with spirits by exploring, on the one hand, the ways in which they become present by forging bodies – whether human, spiritual or digital – on various scales and on the other, how this encounter helps shape both the sacred space of the temple and a community of practice. Furthermore, I will show how the organic, technological and imaginal perspectives weave discursive threads into this construction in scale of the Vale do Amanhecer’s notions of the body at a transnational level.