Apparitions and possessions as boundary objects: an exploration into some tensions between mental health care and pastoral care.

Apparitions and possessions can be taken as genuine spiritual events or as symptoms of psychopathology. We focus upon occasions when the two seemingly conflicting "interpretations" co-exist in order to explore these phenomena as kinds of boundary objects-polymorphous realities stable and graspable enough, yet belonging to different worlds at once. Related diagnostic knowledge is often uncertain and always incomplete. Yet it enables authoritative and effective professional interventions. We conclude by discussing the relevance of such a view for contemporary efforts to validate patients' spiritual experiences within mental health care.