Crossovers and Conversions

Abstract

“Crossovers and Conversions” directs attention from collective apparitions to a collection of individual encounters with otherworldly presences, such as saints, angels, demons, and jinn, as well as with the figures who mediate them, such as exorcists, magicians, and holy men. It makes the case that there is enough overlap between Christian and Islamic practices of dreaming and prophecy to yield ambiguities and transgressions. The chapter foregrounds heterodox forms of holy intercession that take place outside of churches and mosques—in shops, homes, villages, and marketplaces that escape the purview of state-sanctioned religious authorities. This chapter also includes a narrative of conversion from Sufism to Christianity that suggests the degree to which Christian and Islamic worlds of messengership, visionary experience, and folk healing can intermingle, crossing over and folding into one another.