Deirdre Meintelmedium might give someone a message such as, “Your guides would
like you to meditate now and then.” A few read the Bible, while most
read inspirational books from various spiritual traditions, at least oc-
casionally. Most pray at odd times during the day for help with the dif-
ficulties of daily life (a stressful coworker, a child taking drugs, mar-
ital problems, unemployment), and many have a period of prayer or
meditation that is part of their daily routine.
The Research ProcessThis study was born of a series of fortuitous events. One of my doc-
toral students, Louis-Robert Frigault, began doing work on spirit pos-
session in Brazilian umbanda in a southern Brazilian city that I found
fascinating (Frigault 1999 ). Around the same time, I was invited to
teach at the University of Lyon 2 , where I became familiar with the
work of François Laplantine. His approach to religious phenomena,
and the book he wrote on a clairvoyant medium in Lyon (Laplantine
1985 ), helped me see the anthropological relevance of clairvoyance
and healing in the modern, urban context. Moreover, teaching the an-
thropology of religion at Lyon 2 made me realize that what were once
exotic religious phenomena are now much less so. My own religious
background in a devoutly Catholic family (daily Mass, Benediction
on Sunday, observance of Lent and Advent, novenas, rosaries, etc.)
was probably more exotic and remote to my students than were the
religious phenomena typically considered the province of anthropol-
ogists. Few had been brought up to practice their ancestral religion
as I had, but most had heard of visualization, Wicca, white and black
magic, and reincarnation.
It was in this general context that I met Michel through a friend.
Said to be a gifted medium and healer, Michel, in his late forties at
the time, was personable, dynamic, and youthful in appearance. As I
later learned, he grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Mon-
treal but was sent to an English-language school run by the Jesuits,
his father’s hope for upward mobility for his five sons. After studies
at a local university, Michel worked for many years in finance for a
large corporation and now does accounting half-time. Widowed and