Jorunn Jacobson Buckley

I've just finished Jorunn Jacobson buckley's The Mandeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People (OUP, 2002). It's not an introductory work, and the reader needs to know something of the basics of Mandaean history, myth and ritual, but it is a wonderful book. Detailed examinations of Mandaean ritual and texts alternate with warm accounts of Dr Buckley's experiences with Mandaean families and her own experience of Mandaean rituals. The overall tone of the book is very feminine and there is a depth of genuine religious feeling, even though Dr Buckley is neither a Mandaean nor, it seems, conventionally religious.

A text interview with Dr Buckley can be found here: http://www.albany.edu/~ha5945/proj2/ and a radio interview here: http://www.bowdoin.edu/podcasts/audio/bowdoinfacultyseries-jorran.buckley.mp3