Ulo Valk is Professor of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu. Marion Bowman is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at The Open University.

• Table of Contents Acknowledgement Ülo Valk,Marion Bowman Introduction An Introduction to Vernacular  Knowledge Ülo Valk Politics and Vernacular Strategies of Resistance 1. In Quest of Lost Heritage, Ethnic Identity, and Democracy: The Belarusian Case Anastasiya Astapova 2. Humour and Resistance in Russia’s Ecological Utopia: A Look at the Anastasia Movement Irina Sadovina 3. Visual Media and the Reconfiguration of Divinity in Moldovan Radical Religion James Kapaló Narrating and Creating the Past 4. Blessings beyond Time and Place: The Fluid Nature of Narrative Tradition in Contemporary Hinduism Martin Oran Wood 5. Truth, Variation and the Legendry: The Case of Saint Madhavadeva’s Birth Place in Assam Ülo Valk 6. Unearthing the Narratives of the Róngkups of Sikkim: From Vernacular Alternatives to Institutionalised Beliefs Reep P. Lepcha Renegotiating Tradition and Authority 7. When a Cosmic Shift Fails: The Power of Vernacular Authority in a New Age Internet Forum Robert Glenn Howard 8. Making Sense: The Body as a Medium to Supernatural Reality  Kristel  Kivari 9. Seeking as a Late Modern Tradition: Three Vernacular Biographies  Steven J. Sutcliffe 10. Practices of Niggunim: Contemporary Jewish Song in a Vernacular Religion Perspective Ruth Illman Vernacular Knowledge and  Christianity 11. Feminist Folk, Christian Folk and Black Madonnas Melanie Landman 12. Negotiating Vernacular Authority, Legitimacy and Power: Creativity, Ambiguity and Materiality in Devotion to Gauchito Gil Marion Bowman 13. The Upper Room: Domestic Space, Vernacular Religion, and the Observant University Catholic  Leonard Norman Primiano Afterlife and After death 14. Dealing with the Dead: Vernacular Belief  Negotiations Among the Khasi of North Eastern India Margaret Lyngdoh 15. An Immured Soul: Contested Ritual Traditions and Demonological Narratives in Contemporary Mongolia Alevtina Solovyova 16. Ghosts in Belief, Practice and Metaphor Paul Cowdell Afterword 25 Years of Vernacular Religion Scholarship Marion Bowman Index Ülo Valk,Marion Bowman

Ulo Valk is Professor of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu. Marion Bowman is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at The Open University.

• Table of Contents Acknowledgement Ülo Valk,Marion Bowman Introduction An Introduction to Vernacular  Knowledge Ülo Valk Politics and Vernacular Strategies of Resistance 1. In Quest of Lost Heritage, Ethnic Identity, and Democracy: The Belarusian Case Anastasiya Astapova 2. Humour and Resistance in Russia’s Ecological Utopia: A Look at the Anastasia Movement Irina Sadovina 3. Visual Media and the Reconfiguration of Divinity in Moldovan Radical Religion James Kapaló Narrating and Creating the Past 4. Blessings beyond Time and Place: The Fluid Nature of Narrative Tradition in Contemporary Hinduism Martin Oran Wood 5. Truth, Variation and the Legendry: The Case of Saint Madhavadeva’s Birth Place in Assam Ülo Valk 6. Unearthing the Narratives of the Róngkups of Sikkim: From Vernacular Alternatives to Institutionalised Beliefs Reep P. Lepcha Renegotiating Tradition and Authority 7. When a Cosmic Shift Fails: The Power of Vernacular Authority in a New Age Internet Forum Robert Glenn Howard 8. Making Sense: The Body as a Medium to Supernatural Reality  Kristel  Kivari 9. Seeking as a Late Modern Tradition: Three Vernacular Biographies  Steven J. Sutcliffe 10. Practices of Niggunim: Contemporary Jewish Song in a Vernacular Religion Perspective Ruth Illman Vernacular Knowledge and  Christianity 11. Feminist Folk, Christian Folk and Black Madonnas Melanie Landman 12. Negotiating Vernacular Authority, Legitimacy and Power: Creativity, Ambiguity and Materiality in Devotion to Gauchito Gil Marion Bowman 13. The Upper Room: Domestic Space, Vernacular Religion, and the Observant University Catholic  Leonard Norman Primiano Afterlife and After death 14. Dealing with the Dead: Vernacular Belief  Negotiations Among the Khasi of North Eastern India Margaret Lyngdoh 15. An Immured Soul: Contested Ritual Traditions and Demonological Narratives in Contemporary Mongolia Alevtina Solovyova 16. Ghosts in Belief, Practice and Metaphor Paul Cowdell Afterword 25 Years of Vernacular Religion Scholarship Marion Bowman Index Ülo Valk,Marion Bowman