Yürür, Gülkızılca2021-06-112021-06-112018Yürür, G. (2019). Permeable bodies: Posession in Dersim. Aurum Journal of Health Sciences, 1(1), 39-45.2651-2815https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12939/2005The local etiology of mental disorders in the Alevi healing tradition of Dersim point to intruders from mystical realms, “mılaket”, who posess human selves with a weakened sense of personal will. Liminal temporalities and spaces are categorized as providing the setting for symbiotic encounters between the human selves and nonselves. In this work, a short introduction into the local belief on posession will be provided. The actual operation of agency in the experience of posession is exemplified on the narrative account of a local healthcare officer, who stands between modern medicine and the local healing tradition. The co-existence of biomedicine and Alevi healing tradition in Dersim is less burdened by the necessity of “trans-cultural translation”, as many of the practicing biomedical professionals and administrative workers in healthcare are rooted in the Dersim Alevi culture. The reason for the possibility of co-existence can be that, the marcation lines between biomedicine and Alevi healing tradition is drawn by Dersim Alevi healthcare professionals themselves.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessMedical PluralismSpirit PosessionAlevi Healing TraditionDersimSubjectivityLiminalityArticle113945