Spirits Reconfigured

Christian faith healing in Nagaland reconfigures rather than displaces pre-Christian Naga shamanic cosmologies of spirits, affliction, and healing. Through oral histories, ethnographic fieldwork, and discourse analysis, the chapter traces how elements such as spirit possession, affliction by unseen forces, and visionary intermediaries persist beneath Christian prayer healing. The demonization of shamanic spirits under Christian theology masks syncretic continuity, where older understandings of the spirit world are translated into Christian terms of demonic forces and divine intervention. Both shamans and faith healers claim spiritual authority through charismatic experiences, dreams, and supernatural encounters. The chapter argues that faith healing may function as covert Indigenous knowledge survival under Christian orthodoxy, complicating binary oppositions between Indigenous religion and Christianity.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter explores the cosmological continuities between traditional Naga shamanic practices and Christian faith healing in Nagaland, challenging dominant narratives of rupture and religious transformation in the wake of Christian conversion. While missionary accounts and contemporary church discourses often depict Christianity as a radical break from Indigenous spiritual systems, this chapter argues that Christian faith healing reconfigured rather than wholly displaced pre-Christian cosmologies of spirits, affliction and healing. Through oral histories, ethnographic fieldwork and discourse analysis of healing testimonies, the chapter traces how key elements of Naga shamanism such as spirit possession, affliction by unseen forces and the role of visionary intermediaries, persist beneath the surface of Christian prayer healing rituals. It highlights how the demonisation of shamanic spirits under Christian theology masks deeper forms of syncretic continuity, where older understandings of the spirit world are translated into Christian terms of demonic forces and divine intervention. The chapter further examines how both shamans and faith healers claim spiritual authority through charismatic experiences, dreams and direct encounters with the supernatural. By highlighting these hidden continuities, the chapter complicates binary oppositions between Indigenous religion and Christianity, suggesting that faith healing itself may function as a covert form of Indigenous knowledge survival under the cover of Christian orthodoxy. Ultimately, the chapter situates Naga faith healing within broader debates on religious syncretism, colonial modernity and the contested politics of cultural erasure in Indigenous communities.