Healing occupies a singular and prominent place in religious experience throughout the world. Often the most important figure or symbol in any given religious tradition is the source of healing, and illness tends to function as a magnet for many and varied ritual responses. In addition, the existence of personal suffering in the world may serve as a springboard for theological and mythological exploration and explanation.

The aims of religious healing are consonant with the overall goals of religious life in a culture. Healing may be directed toward reestablishing ritual order, life in abundance, the expulsion of disorder and evil, redemption from condemnation, salvation from guilt and sin, liberation from existence, or extinction of existence itself. Sickness reminds religious beings to assume their peculiar role in the world, one cognizant of sacred realities and coordinated with the cosmos. Rituals of healing redress the fragmented social, personal...