Suspending Disbelief: An Encounter with the Occult in Brittany

Ethnographers commonly distance themselves from active engagement with the beliefs or practices of Others by temporarily "suspending disbelief." In Europe, where the boundaries dividing ethnographer and Other become blurred, such distancing mechanisms can break down. This essay reflexively explores this process in the context offieldworkon alternative healing in Brittany, France, highlighting the reinterpretation of my role by one specific healer from the role of a disinterested researcher to that of a patient or client needing advice. This article addresses the paradox inherent in participant‐ observation fieldwork focusing on phenomena such as the occult that the ethnographer might reject or avoid "at home."