Dr. Goodman was born Felicitas Danels in Budapest, Hungary in 1914, the first of two children. Her parents immigrated to Hungary from Germany and spoke German at home. She attended college in Germany. After World War II she immigrated to Columbus, Ohio with her three children; her fourth child was born a few years later. When her children were grown, Felicitas Goodman returned to school and earned a Master’s degree in linguistics and a doctorate in cultural anthropology at Ohio State University. She taught at Denison University until her retirement in 1979.

In 1978 Dr. Goodman founded The Cuyamungue Institute in an area known as Cuyamungue, New Mexico to continue her research into altered states of consciousness and to hold workshops. After the publishing of Where the Spirits Ride the Wind: Trance Journeys and Other Ecstatic Experiences Dr. Goodman’s following grew, primarily in the US and Germany, among “New Age” and “Neo-Shaman” practitioners as well as scholars in her field. Before her death in 2005, Dr Goodman had published over 40 scientific and popular articles and more than seven books. Her most famous book, The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel, was the inspiration for two films, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Requiem.

== Glossolalia == In her book of Glossolalia Dr. Goodman explained within scientific terms for the first time how is that people "talk in tongues". Without disrespecting believers she just gives the evidence that shows the cultural influence in speaking tongues. Goodman did this through her research in Yucatan, Mexico, Japan and the United States in diverse Pentecostal churches. She demonstrates that the maternal tongue and culture has an important influence in the manner in which believers speak in tongues.

• Ecstasy, Ritual and Alternate Reality: Religion in a Pluralistic World, Indiana University Press; Edition: Reissue (1. Dezember 1988), ISBN 0253318998 (10), ISBN 978-0253318992 (13)
• The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel, Resource Publications (OR) (November 2005), ISBN 1597524328 (10), ISBN 978-1597524322 (13)
• How About Demons?: Possession and Exorcism in the Modern World, (Folklore Today), Indiana University Press (1. Mai 1988), ISBN 025332856X (10), ISBN 978-0253328564 (13)

Felicitas GoodmanFelicitas Goodman