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Shamanism has always been of great interest to anthropologists.
More recently it has been "discovered" by westerners, especially
New Age followers. This book breaks new ground byexamining pristine
shamanism in Greenland, among people contacted late by Western
missionaries and settlers. On the basis of material only available
in Danish, and presented herein English for the first time, the
author questions Mircea Eliade's well-known definition of the
shaman as the master of ecstasy and suggests that his role has to
be seen as that of a master of spirits. The ambivalent nature of
the shaman and the spirit world in the tough Arctic environment is
then contrasted with the more benign attitude to shamanism in the
New Age movement. After presenting descriptions of their
organizations and accounts by participants, the author critically
analyses the role of neo-shamanic courses and concludes that it is
doubtful to consider what isoffered as shamanism.
Shamanism has always been of great interest to anthropologists.
More recently it has been "discovered" by westerners, especially
New Age followers. This book breaks new ground byexamining pristine
shamanism in Greenland, among people contacted late by Western
missionaries and settlers. On the basis of material only available
in Danish, and presented herein English for the first time, the
author questions Mircea Eliade's well-known definition of the
shaman as the master of ecstasy and suggests that his role has to
be seen as that of a master of spirits. The ambivalent nature of
the shaman and the spirit world in the tough Arctic environment is
then contrasted with the more benign attitude to shamanism in the
New Age movement. After presenting descriptions of their
organizations and accounts by participants, the author critically
analyses the role of neo-shamanic courses and concludes that it is
doubtful to consider what isoffered as shamanism.
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