Cognitive theories of religious experience, while helpful in explaining some aspects of spirit possession, do not provide a means of accounting for the experience of mediums whose ordinary selves are ‘absent’ during possession rituals. Using the late nineteenthcentury medium, Mrs Piper, as a case study, I argue that hypnosis provides a means of inducing involuntary experiences similar to those ...

OBJECTIVES Possessions constitute a dynamic "material convoy" that accumulates across adulthood to furnish role enactments and the development of the self. Following a familiar life course arc, older people should hypothetically release the possessions that equipped the daily lives that they no longer have. METHOD We use new survey data on possession divestment from the 2010 Health and Retire...