Shamanistic trance forms vary systematically with cultural conditions. Possession trance, where a spirit takes over the body, is more often experienced by women and appears in more complex societies, whereas non-possession trance is not. The author argues that understanding these differences is essential for explaining how shamanism becomes professionalized and spreads across cultures.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some people reported non-ordinary experiences involving divine bliss, anger, or evil. This article examines four such accounts submitted by email as part of a broader research project on religious, spiritual, and non-ordinary experiences during the pandemic. These experiences sometimes helped people cope with lockdown by providing positive meaning, but other times expressed stress and fear, often worsened by silence about the experience. The article situates these experiences within the academic study of religion and spiritual experiences, noting that anthropologists have long viewed non-ordinary experiences and their interpretations as reflecting cultural meaning-making processes.