ABSTRACT
What should intellectuals make of mad, “irrational” religion today? And in what way is anthropology needed to reach that understanding? These questions are addressed apropos of the case of Barbara Marciniak, a once-popular New Age spirit medium, or “channel,” for what she conceives of as extraterrestrials from the Pleiades. An examination of her conception of thought leads to an approach called “the anthropology of concepts”, which focuses on the parts of Marciniak’s thinking that diverge from modern thought.
KEYWORDS:
Ontological turn; symmetrical anthropology; New Age; religion; extraterrestrial life