OA

[Spiritual Healing: The Vitality of Religious Practices in the Netherlands Since 1850, Geestige praktijken: Over de vitaliteit van religieuze heelwijzen in Nederland sinds 1850]

This article examines the development of the popularity of religious healing in the Netherlands since 1850 and the factors that contribute to its continuation. It focuses upon three traditions: devotional healing in Roman Catholicism, charismatic healing in Pentecostalism and energetic healing in Western Esotericism. Till about 1965, the interest in making a pilgrimage to holy places of healing showed a strong increase, while the number of participants in faith-healing and esoteric healing remained small. Since then, the development has turned completely the opposite way. Starting from a market approach it is related to contextual, institutional and supply factors. It is argued, that religious healing practices are a normal phenomenon in Western European culture with the vitality to survive in modern times.