Narratives of possession have survived in early English medical and philosophical treatises. Using ideas derived from cognitive science, this study moves through the stages of possession and exorcism to describe how the social, religious, and medical were internalized to create the varied manifestations of demon possession in early modern England.

Kirsten C. Uszkalo is the Editor of 'Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies in the Preternatural.' She received her PhD from the University of Alberta.

Introduction: Grounding Rage Possession 1. Early Diagnostics 2. Contemporary Theories 3. Embodied Spirituality | Embodied Cognition 4. Performance | Contamination 5. Reconciliation | Dispossession | Exorcism Conclusion: Reproducing and Representing Demoniacs