... that the marvels of God's friends may be acquired through something other than pious discipline both depends on the Islamic mystical tradition and exceeds it. The chapter compares the search for technical formulas for securing pious self-certainty with other forms of metaphysical experimentation, namely, those...

...This book examines metaphysical experimentation that lies at the center of some of the most influential intellectual and religious movements in modern Iran. In particular, it investigates encounters with occult specialists, séances with the souls of the dead, new forms of exorcism and healing...

...This chapter narrates a woman's encounter with the rammal, an occult specialist, that took her into the world of the metaphysical. The woman, Nafiseh, was a twenty-nine-year-old divorcée and an avid enthusiast of metaphysical experimentation. Nafiseh had honed her skills at lucid...