Belief in angels and their intervention in the material world is prevalent in the United States. Theoretically, the concept of folk religion offers an instructive lens into the popularity of these beliefs, which exist inside, outside, and across official religious doctrines, and are therefore able to transcend the boundaries of specific religious traditions by appealing to a diverse array of believers. Empirical analyses from a recent national survey support the application of the concept of folk religion, demonstrating that these beliefs are present in substantial proportions across disparate subgroups. Belief in angelic intervention is prevalent among conservative and "mainline" Protestants, Catholics, those with high levels of conventional religious practice, biblical literalists, and even those who strongly believe in "paranormal" phenomena such as Bigfoot and ESP. Belief in angels and claims of angelic protection provide compelling and flexible narratives, ready cognitive attributions, and emotional comfort. Consequently, these views have strong memetic appeal and are transposable into multifarious subcultures.

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Research suggests a significant negative relationship exists between analytical and critical thinking and epistemically unwarranted beliefs. The present study aimed to examine this relationship by measuring preference for and engagement in analytical and critical thinking, then comparing these variables with belief in conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and paranormal phenomena. The quantitative cross-sectional observational study was conducted without intervention, collecting multi-purpose data. Email invitations recruited participants (N=112) from small and large businesses, organisations, schools, independent churches, and interest groups in alternative medicine and pseudoscience. Participants were Swedish speaking and 18 years or older. Relationships between variables were tested with Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The result showed significant negative correlations between beliefs in pseudoscience and the variables rationality, rational favorability, rational ability, and engagement. In addition, rational ability had a significant negative correlation with paranormal beliefs. The result did not show significant correlations between the measured cognitive variables and belief in conspiracy theories. The results suggest that individuals disengaged from, or lacking preference for, analytical and critical thinking processes are more likely to reject established science and instead endorse pseudoscience and paranormal beliefs. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of how cognitive traits and skills are connected to epistemically unwarranted beliefs. Future research can further explore these cognitive traits and skills, because they are crucial in health promotion efforts to mitigate epistemically unwarranted beliefs. Facilitating enhanced learning environments, supporting health promotion initiatives, and enabling effective health communication will cultivate reflective, empowered, and ultimately healthier members of society.

Studies into paranormal belief and the effects thereof have been gaining more attention. This study looked at the Big Five Personality Traits and how they could relate to belief in the paranormal, specifically which personality traits, if any, lended themselves to paranormal belief more than others. Four hundred forty-six college-age participants completed a Big Five survey as well as the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale. Results from a multiple regression showed a significant relationship between gender, religion, level of education achieved by the participant's mother, extraversion, and neuroticism (emotional stability) in relation to paranormal belief. Implications and elaboration of findings are discussed.

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Spiritualism was a popular cultural movement that flourished in the late-19th century across the United States and eventually Europe. While there were many facets of its philosophy, the primary conviction behind Spiritualism was that spirits of the dead could communicate with the living through human mediums. Although this basic definition of Spiritualism is virtually uncontested in contemporary scholarship, the cultural causes of the movement remain a highly debated topic. Historians have proposed a variety of theories for Spiritualism's inception, but none have yet to explore the economic motivations behind the movement. Spiritualism was, in fact, a vital commercial enterprise that spurred entrepreneurial and consumption opportunities for thousands of nascent capitalists. During the movement's prime, a host of Spiritualist merchandise was mass produced and marketed, including talking boards, spirit photographs, séances, and planchettes. Together, these products were produced and consumed in what became an "economy of the supernatural"--a thriving industry based on the desire to communicate with deceased humans. Through analysis of product advertisements and opinions raised about the issue found in mass media, this thesis will demonstrate that economic motivation was behind every aspect of Spiritualist practice. No part of the movement was left untouched by the desire for financial gain. Furthermore, this thesis argues that while various cultural forces influencing Spiritualism would diminish over time, the movement was able to sustain itself through the development of an economy of supernatural products and services, many of which continue to be produced to this very day. / History

Dark tourism, understood as the type of tourism that relates to a visit to real or recreated places associated with death,suffering,misfortune or the apparently macabre, is not a new concept even from the touristic point of view. As a matter of fact,sites of war, disaster, death and atrocities have always cut the human eye and which made these sites a place curious enough for tourists to visit. As human beings, we have long been drawn either purposefully or if not towards places, attractions or circumstances that are connected in one way or another with death, suffering, violence and disaster. The idea about dark tourism has been designed and studied for the last decade and many were about understanding the motivations behind going or coming a dark tourist and the experiences the dark tourist seeks. But there is little research about the emotions that are involved in dark tourism from the tourist point of view when part-taking in ghost tourism and visiting places and sites that are said to be haunted. This Study focuses on exploring the emotions individuals and tourists seek to experience when they engage in special interest tourism like dark tourism and its experience by visiting haunted attractions. Using a case study of the Baron Palace which is a haunted attraction in Egypt. Studies on emotions are very limited in the tourism industry and talkless of dark tourism which is travelling to sites associated with death, suffering and atrocities.

Texas Pararnormalists mixes participatory and observational styles in an effort to portray a small community of paranormal practitioners who live and work in and around North Texas. These practitioners include psychics, ghost investigators, and other enthusiasts and seekers of the spirit world. Through the documentation of their combined perspectives, Texas Paranormalists renders a portrait of a community of outsiders with a shared belief system and an unshakeable passion for reaching out into the unknown.

Esta tese foi desenvolvida a partir de duas frentes de trabalho distintas, porém complementares: a primeira procura rastrear o surgimento e identificar a produção da chamada Fotografia dos Espíritos no Brasil, um acervo de imagens com características próprias, encontradas a partir do início do séc. XX no país, que registram as supostas manifestações espirituais e paranormais ocorridas em várias localidades brasileiras, ao longo de quase um século. São imagens que pretendem demonstrar a ocorrência de determinados fenômenos, sob determinadas condições, em determinados ambientes e, invariavelmente, na presença de testemunhas oculares e suas câmeras fotográficas. Numa outra frente, este trabalho propõe uma leitura da produção artística do autor, em diálogo com vários pressupostos da fotografia dos espíritos; dando continuidade ao trabalho que foi tema da dissertação de mestrado em poéticas visuais, defendida na Escola Superior de Arte e Mídia de Colônia (Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln), na Alemanha, em 1997. Ao associar essas duas frentes de trabalho, torna-se possível identificar várias zonas de intersecção entre a prática fotográfica espiritual e a produção artística aqui enfocada, revelando que objetos do conhecimento aparentemente distintos mostram-se intimamente implicados, quando analisados sob a perspectiva da arte. / This dissertation was developed starting from two distinct, yet complementary, themes of work. The first intends to track the appearance and identify the production of the so-called Spirit Photography in Brazil, a collection of images with unique characteristics, which one finds in the country starting in the early twentieth century. They record evidence of the supposed paranormal and spiritual manifestations occurring in various locations in Brazil for a period of almost one century and are images that attempt to demonstrate the occurrence of specific phenomena under specific conditions, in specific environments and, inevitably, in the presence of eyewitnesses and their cameras. In the other theme, this work proposes a reading of the artistic production of the author in dialogue with the various presuppositions of spirit photography; providing continuity to the work that was the subject of the master\'s thesis in Visual Poetics, defended at the Academy for Art and Media of Cologne in 1997. By associating these two themes of research, it becomes possible to identify various zones of intersection between the practice of spiritual photography and the artist addressed here, revealing that objects from apparently distinct fields of knowledge show themselves to be intimately implicated when analyzed from an artistic perspective.

Esta tese foi desenvolvida a partir de duas frentes de trabalho distintas, porém complementares: a primeira procura rastrear o surgimento e identificar a produção da chamada Fotografia dos Espíritos no Brasil, um acervo de imagens com características próprias, encontradas a partir do início do séc. XX no país, que registram as supostas manifestações espirituais e paranormais ocorridas em várias localidades brasileiras, ao longo de quase um século. São imagens que pretendem demonstrar a ocorrência de determinados fenômenos, sob determinadas condições, em determinados ambientes e, invariavelmente, na presença de testemunhas oculares e suas câmeras fotográficas. Numa outra frente, este trabalho propõe uma leitura da produção artística do autor, em diálogo com vários pressupostos da fotografia dos espíritos; dando continuidade ao trabalho que foi tema da dissertação de mestrado em poéticas visuais, defendida na Escola Superior de Arte e Mídia de Colônia (Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln), na Alemanha, em 1997. Ao associar essas duas frentes de trabalho, torna-se possível identificar várias zonas de intersecção entre a prática fotográfica espiritual e a produção artística aqui enfocada, revelando que objetos do conhecimento aparentemente distintos mostram-se intimamente implicados, quando analisados sob a perspectiva da arte. / This dissertation was developed starting from two distinct, yet complementary, themes of work. The first intends to track the appearance and identify the production of the so-called Spirit Photography in Brazil, a collection of images with unique characteristics, which one finds in the country starting in the early twentieth century. They record evidence of the supposed paranormal and spiritual manifestations occurring in various locations in Brazil for a period of almost one century and are images that attempt to demonstrate the occurrence of specific phenomena under specific conditions, in specific environments and, inevitably, in the presence of eyewitnesses and their cameras. In the other theme, this work proposes a reading of the artistic production of the author in dialogue with the various presuppositions of spirit photography; providing continuity to the work that was the subject of the master\'s thesis in Visual Poetics, defended at the Academy for Art and Media of Cologne in 1997. By associating these two themes of research, it becomes possible to identify various zones of intersection between the practice of spiritual photography and the artist addressed here, revealing that objects from apparently distinct fields of knowledge show themselves to be intimately implicated when analyzed from an artistic perspective.