The globalization of the John of God movement : cultural translation as glocalization

This chapter investigates how Joao de Deus, an illiterate Spiritist healer from central Brazil who was unknown outside the country until the late twentieth century, has become the global 'guru' John of God, travelling the world to conduct healing events and attracting foreigners to his healing center in Brazil (see Rocha 2017). Some argue that religion was the first globalizing force (Rudolph 1997); certainly, religions have always been mobile, and cheaper and improved means of communication and transport in recent history have increased mobility, contact, exchange and negotiation. However, not all religions travel well: Csordas argues that to spread transnationally, religions need to have a transposable message and portable practices. Transposable messages are those whose "appeal contained in religious tenets, premises, or promises can find footing across diverse linguistic and cultural settings" (Csordas 2009:5). Portable practices are those that "can easily be learned, require relatively little esoteric knowledge or paraphernalia, are not ["¦] linked to a specific cultural context, and can be performed without commitment to an elaborate ideological or institutional apparatus" (Csordas 2009:5).