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Workshop ‘Priests, Exorcists and Mediums in the Religions of China and India’

From 17 to 19 March, a workshop on the theme ‘Priests, Exorcists and Mediums in the Religions of China and India’ took place at the Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften of Humboldt University in Berlin. This workshop was a success thanks to the strong commitment of the presenters, who adopted a comparative approach to their fields of research and emphasised the similarities and differences between these types of practices in various regions of India, China and beyond.

Group Photo

Following the various talks, it became clear that certain concepts and practices are not universal, while others are shared to varying degrees across different religions. Similarly, the distinction between priests, mediums and exorcists may be blurred or clearly defined, subject to the circumstances. Depending on the religion under study, access to deities may be direct or indirect. Some contributions focused on textual sources, some on field observations and some on material or iconographic sources. This diversity of sources, as well as the variety of perspectives, greatly enriched the subsequent discussions. Following the workshop, it is planned that a collective volume will be published.
Lecture by A. Schmiedchen
Prof. Tam Wai Lu introduced by Prof. F.C. Reiter
Introduction of J-E. Shin's lecture by D. Balogh
Introduction of A. Palumbo's lecture by A. Wattelier-Bricout
Lecture by Ryosuke Furui
Amandine Wattelier-Bricout
Amandine Wattelier-Bricout
Docteur en études indiennes - Ambassadrice HAL

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OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Amandine Wattelier-Bricout (March 31, 2026). Workshop ‘Priests, Exorcists and Mediums in the Religions of China and India’ DHARMA project ERC n° 809994. Retrieved May 20, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/15z8c


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