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SchoLars often assume thut religious preference, Teligiosity, and saenufic taining affect the irridence of anomalous experiences. Caucasian-Amezican, A^ican-American, Chinese, a7ld Japanese college stltdents were polled Tegarding deXa vu, nighlt paralysis, extrasensory perception (ESP), conS txt with the dead, out-cf-boly expenence (OBE), and belief in ESP. Although the incidence of re ported episode vaTied ctoss-cultaraUy, vtedge of a respederu's religioxs preference, self-reporte religiosity, or scientific tTaiTung provided little predicave capacity Tegarding fre4uency of anomulou expenence or belief in ESP. These findings contradict prevaleTlt assumpuons regardi'ng Cnornalous expenence ard occult belief. Anomalous experiences, defined as events that seemingly violate established scientific principles, are often linked with folk belief in spirits, souls, and life after death. Such episodes have been portrayed as originating from religious needs and scientific ignorance (Schumaker, 1990; Singer and Benassi, 1981 Hufford (1982) labels the collection of suppositions supporting this assumption as the cultural source theory. Hypotheses derived from this theory are tested in the research reported upon here by analyzing survey data from Caucasian-American, African-American, Chinese, and Japanese college samples regarding deja vu, night paralysis, extrasensory perception (ESP), contact with the dead, and out-of-body experience (OBE). PREVIOUS SURVEYS Greeley (1975) found that almost a fifth of the American population re ported frequent paranormal episodes such as ESP, contact with the dead, clairvoyance, and mystical experience. His ESP question asked, "Have you though you were in touch with someone when you knew that it was impossible? "Contact with the dead" was measured by askingr "Have you thought you were really in touch with someone who had died?" During recent years, instruments USing these same questions were administered to representative European an *The auS wishes to thank DT. CarI Becker as well as the rnany Amencan, Chinese, and Japanes undergradxates tsho asslsted in gathering data, pariiculaTly Aretha Kelly, Ann RidZiick, and Thom Charman. Surveys in Noth Carolma tvere supported, in part? by a grant from the PaTapsychology Foundusim. The cornments qf two anongrrnous referees weTe vaSuable for revising an earlier version of th article.

Random samples of dormitory residents at three colleges in Xi'an, People's Republic of China (N = 314), and at the University of Maryland (N = 214), were polled regarding frequency of deja vu, night paralysis, extrasensory perception (ESP), contact with the dead, outof-body experiences, and belief in ESP. American respondents were also requested to evaluate their self-perceived religiosity and religious affiliation. Chinese students, who have received no formal religious socialization, reported higher levels of anomalous experience (except for deja vu), and greater belief in ESP, than did Americans. Frequency of American reports of anomalous experience and belief in ESP did not correlate significantly with self-evaluated religiosity or religious affiliation. The data tend to support the "experiential source" hypothesis, which suggests that elements within these experiences occur independently of culture. This study compares data regarding frequency and content of deja vu, night paralysis, out-of-body (OBE), extrasensory (ESP), and contact-with-the-dead experiences from random samples of students at three universities in Xi'an, People's Republic of China, and at the University of Maryland, College Park. Since anomalous experiences sometimes support religious beliefs, studies of the origin and function of these episodes are pertinent to the sociology of religion. Hufford (1982) described two hypotheses associated with the incidence of "Old Hag" experiences (night paralysis), one based on a "cultural source" theory. The present study extends his "experience-centered approach" to other anomalous accounts. Cultural source theory is derived from an implicit set of understandings regarding the power of culture to shape experience. A person's culture is thought to determine the frequency and forms of anomalous experience the individual reports. An assumption is that the "supernatural is wholly housed in the subconscious" (La Barre, 1975:18), causing individuals holding specific religious beliefs to be more susceptible to the incidence of anomalous experiences coinciding with their beliefs. The theory also holds that the contents of these experiences will tend to reflect elements within the individual's faith. For example, belief in a soul and afterlife, and familiarity with the doctrines pertaining to these concepts, should increase the incidence, and affect the contents, of night paralysis, OBEs, and contact-with-the-dead experiences. Examples of scholars *The author wishes to thank Erlendur Haraldsson, Charles Emmons, David Hufford, Carl Becker, and Donald H. Smith for their suggestions regarding earlier versions of this paper. Various American and Chinese students (who wish to remain anonymous) aided in gathering data.

An experience-centered approach reveals empirical foundations for shamanic healing. This article is based on data derived from surveys of Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian-American, and African-American populations and participant observation of over thirty Asian shamans. Respondents reported anomalous events such as apparitions, extrasensory perceptions, contact with the dead, precognitive dreams, clairvoyance, and out-of-body experiences. Based on folk reasoning, these episodes support belief in spirits, souls, and life after death. Shamanic healers have a far greater propensity to experience anomalous events than general populations and to use their beliefs arising from these episodes to produce ceremonies that change clients' perceptions of their illnesses. Although the foundations supporting shamanism differ from those sustaining Western medicine, both traditions provide experiences that convince clients that specific procedural methods alleviate illness.