Devil Sat on My Bed - Encounters With the Spirit World in Mormon Utah

Many Latter-day Saints in Utah report visits from spirits-both the benevolent spirits of kin and threatening evil spirits-and understand these encounters with reference to key Latter-day teachings. In The Devil Sat on My Bed, Erin E. Stiles draws on interviews with members of Utah's Mormon community to explore their accounts of interactions with spirits and how they understand them.

About the author

Erin E. Stiles is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her primary interests are in the anthropology of religion and law, and she has worked in East Africa and in the western United States. She has conducted extensive ethnographic research on the everyday workings of Islamic courts in Zanzibar, Tanzania, with a particular focus on marital disputes. Her more recent work focuses on Latter-day Saint experiences of the spirit realm in northern Utah, where she grew up.

Summary

Many Latter-day Saints in Utah report visits from spirits-both the benevolent spirits of kin and threatening evil spirits-and understand these encounters with reference to key Latter-day teachings. In The Devil Sat on My Bed, Erin E. Stiles draws on interviews with members of Utah's Mormon community to explore their accounts of interactions with spirits and how they understand them.

Additional text

I found Stiles' account illuminating.

Product details

• Authors: Stiles, Erin E. Stiles, Erin E. (Associate Professor Stiles, Stiles Erin E.
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 14.01.2024, delayed
• EAN: 9780197639634
• ISBN: 978-0-19-763963-4
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > General, dictionaries; Utah, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Islamic Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, RELIGION / Christianity / Denominations, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Alternative belief systems, Christian Churches & denominations, Social and cultural anthropology, Religious groups: social & cultural aspects, Social groups: religious groups and communities, Denominations of American origin