Susan Jean Palmer

Palmer's investigation of the deep bonds between women's spiritual identity and women's sexual identity inaugurates a significant new series on Women and Gender in North American Religions. Women's participation in such religions often allows them to redefine their traditional social roles through a playful reinterpretation of their sexual roles. This study provides a clear record of the voices of women interpreting the almost palpable bond between the sacred and the sexual.

When a Budo mock battle, performed in blindfold, is interrupted by a real killing, sociologist Dr. Stevka Koutev's covert research is at stake. Sent in a year ago by the Center for the Study of Sects to investigate a martial arts school that, suddenly, mysteriously, transformed into an apocalyptic "cult", Stevka has already confronted formidable obstacles to her project. Stevka's interviews with Budo's beautiful prophetess, Simu Oliwia, were constantly interrupted by her informant's lapses into trance, as she channeled Lady Nii, a vengeful ghost from the Tang dynasty who blocked access. Stevka struggles to maintain her scholarly objectivity when she is summoned to court as an expert witness in a deprogramming case. Oliwia had beaten up her ex-husband and his exit counselor, who claim she is a brainwashed victim of Budo instructor, Sifu Adil. Stevka then becomes embroiled in a copyright lawsuit, when a rival channeler appropriates Oliwia's 12-century "Entity" and published new Lady Nii materials. Meanwhile, millennial expectation is building in the Budo Academy as Oliwia's beloved spiritual consort, Simu Adil, threatens to undermine the group's spiritual agenda with his coke habit and dealings with biker gangs. Two copycat murders follow the blindfold battle killing, and Stevka must delve into Lady Nii's channeled 'Levelations' and consult with a famous parapsychologist in order to unravel the Budo murders.