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A remarkable array of people have been called shamans, while the
phenomena identified as shamanism continues to proliferate. This
second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Shamanism contains
with examples from antiquity up to today, and from Siberia (where
the term "shaman" originated) to Amazonia, South Africa, Chicago
and many other places. Many claims about shamans and shamanism are
contentious and all are worthy of discussion. In the most
widespread understandings, terms seem to refer particularly to
people who alter states of consciousness or enter trances in order
to seek knowledge and help from powerful other-than-human persons,
perhaps "spirits". But this says only a little about the artists,
community leaders, spiritual healers or hucksters, travelers in
alternative realities and so on to which the label "shaman" has
been applied. This second edition contains a chronology, an
introduction, and extensive bibliography. The dictionary contains
over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on individuals,
groups, practices and cultures that have been called "shamanic".
This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers,
and anyone wanting to know more about Shamanism.
Few religious traditions have generated such diversity and stirred
imaginations as shamanism. In their engagements with other worlds,
shamans have conversed with animals and ancestors and have been
empowered with the knowledge to heal patients, advise hunters, and
curse enemies. Still other shamans, aided by rhythmic music or
powerful plant helpers, undertake journeys into different realities
where their actions negotiate harmony between human and other than
human communities. Once relegated to paintings on cave walls, today
Shamanism can be seen in performances at rave clubs and
psychotherapeutic clinics. The A to Z of Shamanism has the duel
task of exploring the common ground of shamanic traditions and
evaluating the diversity of both traditional indigenous communities
and individual Western seekers. This is done in an introduction, a
bibliography, a chronology, and hundreds of cross-referenced
dictionary entries, which explore the consistent features of a
variety of shamans, the purposes shamanism serves, the function and
activities of the shaman, and the cultural contexts in which they
make sense.
In popular culture, such diverse characters as occultist Aleister Crowley, Doors musician Jim Morrison, and performance artist Joseph Beuys have been called shamans. In anthropology, on the other hand, shamanism has associations with sorcery, witchcraft and healing, and archaeologists have suggested the meaning of prehistoric cave art lies with shamans and altered consciousness. Robert J. Wallis explores the interface between 'new' and prehistoric shamans. The book draws on interviews with a variety of practitioners, particularly contemporary pagans in Britain and north America. Wallis looks at historical and archaeological sources to explore contemporary pagan engagements with prehistoric sacred sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury, and discusses the controversial use by neo-Shamans of indigenous (particularly native American) shamanism. eBook available with sample pages: 0203417577
In popular culture, such diverse characters as occultist Aleister Crowley, Doors musician Jim Morrison, and performance artist Joseph Beuys have been called shamans. In anthropology, on the other hand, shamanism has associations with sorcery, witchcraft and healing, and archaeologists have suggested the meaning of prehistoric cave art lies with shamans and altered consciousness. Robert J. Wallis explores the interface between 'new' and prehistoric shamans. The book draws on interviews with a variety of practitioners, particularly contemporary pagans in Britain and north America. Wallis looks at historical and archaeological sources to explore contemporary pagan engagements with prehistoric sacred sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury, and discusses the controversial use by neo-Shamans of indigenous (particularly native American) shamanism.
Of all avian groups, birds of prey in particular have long been a
prominent subject of fascination in many human societies. This book
demonstrates that the art and materiality of human engagements with
raptors has been significant through deep time and across the
world, from earliest prehistory to Indigenous thinking in the
present day. Drawing on a wide range of global case studies and a
plurality of complementary perspectives, it explores the varied and
fluid dynamics between humans and birds of prey as evidenced in
this diverse art-historical and archaeological record. From their
depictions as powerful beings in visual art and their important
roles in Indigenous mythologies, to the significance of their body
parts as active agents in religious rituals, the intentional
deposition of their faunal remains and the display of their
preserved bodies in museums, there is no doubt that birds of prey
have been figures of great import for the shaping of human society
and culture. However, several of the chapters in this volume are
particularly concerned with looking beyond the culture–nature
dichotomy and human-centred accounts to explore perspectival and
other post-humanist thinking on human–raptor ontologies and
epistemologies. The contributors recognize that human–raptor
relationships are not driven exclusively by human intentionality,
and that when these species meet they relate-to and become-with one
another. This 'raptor-with-human'-focused approach allows for a
productive re-framing of questions about human–raptor
interstices, enables fresh thinking about established evidence and
offers signposts for present and future intra-actions with birds of
prey.
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