In this work the author considers the practice of cure based upon animist cults that are largely disseminated throughout Brazil. These cults have as principles the conversion of their spiritual leaders after being cured by the supposed interventions of protective supernatural beings. The leaders mentioned are themselves examples of the power of the spirits in their communities and are also mediators between the community members and the spirits. The author considers the phenomenon of trance and spiritual possession as the base of the cults of cure, which, if kept under control, has desensitization proprieties, can restore one’s self control, freeing creative forces from within the individual. The concept is further enlarged to embrace such practices as the base of a trance therapy inserted in popular culture.
Trance and possession; folklore; psychotherapy