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Religion, Ritual, and Healing—2nd Edition
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Religion, Ritual, and Healing—2nd Edition

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 1643

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Haiyan Xing

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Philosophy, Law and Political Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200134, China
Interests: religious anthropology; urban migration and youth studies; northwest minority culture studies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Gerald Murray

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Interests: anthropology of religion; traditional healing systems and their relation to modern medicine; involuntary resettlement; human impact of dams
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to propose a second volume of the Special Issue on “Religion, Ritual, and Healing” for the journal Religions. This Special Issue will examine religion and healing as distinct yet interconnected cultural systems, each composed of multiple interrelated components. Religious systems across diverse cultural contexts often share a common underlying structure characterized by several of the following core elements: (1) beliefs in spiritual or transcendent realities, encompassing spirits, deities, or philosophical and ethical principles; (2) rituals aimed at interacting with, influencing, or harmonizing these realities; (3) specialist religious leaders or practitioners who guide community members in understanding and engaging with these realities through rituals; and (4) critical reflection within religious traditions themselves, facilitating dialogues with medical systems.

Similarly, medical systems comprise diagnostic methods, protective practices, therapeutic interventions, medicinal substances, and healthcare specialists. Although religious and medical systems often function independently, their intersections, particularly through ritual practices, offer rich cultural insights. Ritual practices deserve particular attention due to their multifaceted roles, providing not only physical healing but also psychological relief, spiritual nourishment, and community cohesion.

We therefore invite contributions exploring how rituals mediate interactions between religious beliefs and healing practices across different cultural contexts. Detailed ethnographic descriptions, historical analyses documenting systemic evolutions, and comparative studies of religious healing practices are especially welcomed. Additionally, we encourage examinations of religious rituals as holistic healing mechanisms, addressing physical health, psychological states, spiritual conditions, and social integration and solidarity. By adopting a broad and inclusive perspective on religion and healing, we seek to deepen interdisciplinary dialogue and enrich our understanding of these significant cultural systems.

We request that interested authors submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution prior to submitting a full manuscript. Please send it to the Guest Editors, Prof. Haiyan Xing (xhydls@shnu.edu.cn; xinghaiyan@126.com); the co-Guest Editor, Prof. Dr. Gerald Murray (murranth42@gmail.com) and cc the Assistant Editor of Religions, Margaret Liu (margaret.liu@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors to ensure it fits properly within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Haiyan Xing
Prof. Dr. Gerald Murray
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • religion
  • spirit beliefs
  • ritual practices
  • specialist religious leaders
  • healing       
  • cultural systems
  • ethnography
  • symbols
  • transcendent realities
  • interdisciplinary dialogue

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 479 KB  
Article
Unrealised Divine Healing Expectations in Australian Pentecostalism
by Christopher David Cat
Religions 2026, 17(5), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17050582 - 12 May 2026
Viewed by 202
Abstract
Despite common Pentecostal rhetoric positioning divine healing as normative and imminent, it remains rare, unpredictable, and temporary. This disconnect creates substantial pastoral and psychological challenges for Pentecostals experiencing chronic disease. Drawing on Pentecostal history, theology, and Pargament’s psychology of religion and coping, this [...] Read more.
Despite common Pentecostal rhetoric positioning divine healing as normative and imminent, it remains rare, unpredictable, and temporary. This disconnect creates substantial pastoral and psychological challenges for Pentecostals experiencing chronic disease. Drawing on Pentecostal history, theology, and Pargament’s psychology of religion and coping, this paper employs practical theology to investigate contemporary Australian healing praxis. 17 pastoral caregivers and 8 care receivers experiencing chronic diseases were interviewed to contrast expectations and actual experiences of healing ministry. The findings reveal that, even when healing does not manifest, caregivers maintain high healing expectations founded on atonement theology and faith-motivated prayer, and their praxis tends to blame recipients for insufficient faith or unconfessed sin, appeals to God’s mysterious sovereignty, and resists re-evaluation. Using Pargament’s means-and-ends model, the analysis demonstrates that inflexible praxis hindered coping, creating guilt, self-doubt, and religious trauma. While caregivers demonstrated genuine concern and practical support, care receivers felt pressured to hide ongoing struggles and privately developed acceptance strategies. Disconnectedly, caregivers remain confused by the expectation-experience gap while receivers quietly embrace suffering as God’s will. This paper invites Pentecostals toward greater self-awareness, recommending reforms: recognising faith and suffering as compatible, honest acknowledgment of healing rarity, expanded engagement with coping resources, and person-centred care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Ritual, and Healing—2nd Edition)
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17 pages, 352 KB  
Article
A Cultural Pathway to Addressing Contemporary Mental Illness: Construction and Healing Logic of the “Virtual Illness” Concept in Shamanism in the North of China
by Xiaoshuang Liu
Religions 2026, 17(4), 431; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040431 - 1 Apr 2026
Viewed by 682
Abstract
Mental illness has become increasingly prominent in the modern individuation process in China. Correspondingly, contemporary shamanic practices in the north of China have gradually focused on mental issues and have constructed an indigenous concept related to them: “virtual illness.” Based on many years [...] Read more.
Mental illness has become increasingly prominent in the modern individuation process in China. Correspondingly, contemporary shamanic practices in the north of China have gradually focused on mental issues and have constructed an indigenous concept related to them: “virtual illness.” Based on many years of fieldwork conducted in the shamanic regions of the north of China, this study focuses on the healing practices of local shamans. By integrating theoretical resources on the “self” from sociology and shamanic studies, it explores the cultural practices and therapeutic logic formed by local shamans around the concept of “virtual illness” in addressing contemporary socio-psychological anxiety. Studies indicate that within the shamanic conceptual system of this region, prolonged mental distress is prone to possession by external malevolent spirits, thereby becoming a form of virtual illness. The healing process of possession-type “virtual illness” reflects the regional shamanic approach to explanation and intervention within a framework of a holistic self. This is manifested by attributing misfortune, such as failure and mental illness, to the possessed spiritual identity and conducting spiritual healing on the possessed spiritual identity, while encouraging individuals to maintain a positive and forward-looking state. Together, these actions build a positive psychological foundation for coping with mental illness, providing a unique response pathway to the mental illness triggered by the “individualized self.” Cultural healing practices in the north of China for mental illness not only adapt to the modern Chinese medical system and social context, but also offer a targeted cultural healing perspective for understanding mental illness phenomena in China’s individuation process, thereby promoting philosophical reflection on the concept of the “self.” Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Ritual, and Healing—2nd Edition)
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