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Document Details :

Title: Christina of St Trond
Subtitle: Legend, Madwoman, Shaman?
Author(s): HIBBARD, Angela Marie
Journal: Studies in Spirituality
Volume: 10    Date: 2000   
Pages: 107-124
DOI: 10.2143/SIS.10.0.505263

Abstract :
Christina of St Trond, called mirabilis by her biographer, Thomas de Cantimpré, may be an example of a physically sensitive woman whose near-death experience plunged her into a period of shaman-like behavior. Because elements of classic shamanism were familiar to her contemporaries trough their presence in earlier European tribal cultures, in teh practices of other Christian saints, and in the medieval culture of Christina's era, her behavior was considered not only within the bounds of the possibility but a positive sign of holiness. Reading her biographywithin this larger religious context makes it easier to approach it without the usual prejudices of the modern mentality.

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