About the author
Corinne G. Dempsey is the author of Bridges Between Worlds: Spirits and Spirit Work in Northern Iceland, published by Oxford University Press. The book is an ethnographic study of andleg mal, a form of Icelandic spirit work involving trance and healing practices, based on years of fieldwork in a northern Icelandic town. Dempsey examines how practitioners move between earthly and spirit realms and between historical, scientific, and supernatural frameworks, and situates the tradition within broader cross-Atlantic religious and cultural exchange. The book is written in an academic register, aimed at readers interested in religious studies, anthropology of religion, and Icelandic folk belief, rather than at practitioners seeking instruction in spirit work itself.
📖 Where to start with Corinne G Dempsey
💬 What our editors say about Corinne G Dempsey's books
“Dempsey’s ethnography is a compelling dismantling of the binary between scientific rationality and supernatural belief in contemporary Iceland. However, readers seeking sensationalist accounts of demonic possession or purely…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Bridges Between Worlds: Spirits and Spirit Work in Northern Iceland
“Dempsey offers a meticulous account of 'andleg mal,' grounding ethereal concepts in extensive fieldwork from Akureyri. The strength lies in its refusal to romanticize or dismiss these practices, instead presenting them as…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Bridges Between Worlds: Spirits and Spirit Work in Northern Iceland
