ABSTRACT In many ethnographies, deities reflect social structures, represent power relations, or serve as a resource for individuals. However, believers usually do not doubt the existence of deities and their agency: that is, their ability to act and initiate change. The gap between these points of view narrows in the religious experiences in the Indian Himalayas. There, the local population, who communicate with local deities via mediums, face an epistemological problem: how to be certain that they are, indeed, talking with their gods. Furthermore, the believers are aware that they play a role in the decisions of the gods. These two aspects of the religious experience are expressed in the gradual transition of the gods from a Pahāṛī to a pan-Hindu identity, an indication of the way in which the agency of the gods is being challenged and is subject to negotiation by the locals.

中文翻译：

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是神在说话吗？喜马拉雅西部的神灵机构

摘要 在许多民族志中，神祇反映社会结构，代表权力关系，或作为个人的资源。然而，信徒通常不会怀疑神灵的存在和他们的能动性：即他们行动和发起改变的能力。在印度喜马拉雅山脉的宗教体验中，这些观点之间的差距缩小了。在那里，通过媒介与当地神灵交流的当地居民面临着一个认识论问题：如何确定他们确实在与他们的神灵交谈。此外，信徒们意识到他们在诸神的决定中发挥着作用。宗教体验的这两个方面表现在诸神从 Pahāṛī 到泛印度教身份的逐渐转变中，