In modern societies the functional differentiation of medicine and religion is the predominant paradigm. Contemporary therapeutic practices and concepts in healing systems, such as Transpersonal Psychology, Ayurveda, as well as Buddhist and Anthroposophic medicine, however, are shaped by medical as well as religious or spiritual elements. This book investigates configurations of the entanglement between medicine, religion, and spirituality in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa. How do political and legal conditions affect these healing systems? How do they relate to religious and scientific discourses? How do therapeutic practitioners position themselves between medicine and religion, and what is their appeal for patients?

Dorothea Lüddeckens (Prof. Dr.), born in 1966, teaches Study of Religions at the University of Zurich. Her research foci lie in qualitative-empirical research of contemporary religion in Western Europe and contemporary Zoroastrianism, ranging from studies regarding dying and death to research on religion and medicine. She has directed research projects on "Visible Markers of Religious Identity in Public Debate" and "Alternative Religiosity/Spirituality at the End of Life". Monika Schrimpf (Prof. Dr.), born in 1967, teaches Japanese Studies at the University of Tübingen. She currently holds a Heisenberg professorship and has published on modern and contemporary religions in Japan. Her present research focuses on gender and religion in contemporary Japan. Between 2002 and 2004 she was as research fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo.