Soc Sci Med. 1988 ; 27(5): 417-24.

The semiotics of ritual healing in a North Indian Muslim shrine.

Pfleiderer B.

University of Hamburg, F.R.G.

This paper reports phenomenological and semiotic research on therapeutic rituals in a Muslim shrine, concentrating on three cases studies. Women describe their experiences while being possessed by evil spirits and while undergoing ritual healing in the shrine. The semiotic structuring of their experiences and perceptions are analyzed as a culturally coded system of exorcism.