This collaboration between two scholars from different fields of religious studies draws on three comparative data sets to develop a new theory of purity and pollution in religion, arguing that a culture's beliefs about cosmological realms shapes its pollution ideas and its purification practices.

Yohan Yoo is Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies in the College of Humanities at Seoul National University, Korea.

James W. Watts is Professor in the Department of Religion of the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University, USA.

Preface; 1 Finding realms: Purity and pollution in theory and practice-Yohan Yoo and James W. Watts; 2 Changing realms: Cosmology and pollution in ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures-Yohan Yoo and James W. Watts; 3 Separating realms: Purity and pollution in the indigenous religion of Jeju-do, Korea-Yohan Yoo; 4 Interpreting realms: Pollution and cosmology in the history of biblical rhetoric-James W. Watts; 5 Feeling realms: Cosmology and bodily experiences of purity and pollution-James W. Watts And Yohan Yoo; Bibliography; Index of authors and shamans; Index of Subjects