Portals of Power: Shamanism in South AmericaE. Jean Matteson Langdon, Gerhard Baer Shamans and their practices have fascinated Western civilization since publication of the earliest ethnographies. Yet, alien to a positivistic worldview and characterized by hysteria, ecstasy, and magic, shamanism has continued to be classified as vestigial or archaic long after such labels have become meaningless. Lately, a fresh approach has emerged that rejects arbitrary definition in favor of symbolic analysis and native interpretation. Portals of Power explores this new perspective. Researchers from South America, Europe, and the United States examine shamanism in twelve South American societies. In considering such aspects as visionary experience, native conceptions of power, ritual efficacy, expressive culture, and response to change, contributors to this volume present shamanism as an enduring cultural form, rather than an archaic religion. This is a work that transcends debates about "true" shamanism, to present a global view of shamanism as a dynamic aspect of culture. |
Other editions - View all
Portals of Power: Shamanism in South America E. Jean Matteson Langdon,Gerhard Baer Snippet view - 1992 |
Portals of Power: Shamanism in South America E. Jean Matteson Langdon,Gerhard Baer Snippet view - 1992 |
Portals of Power: Shamanism in South America E. Jean Matteson Langdon,Gerhard Baer Snippet view - 1992 |
Common terms and phrases
activities animals auxiliary spirits ayahuasca Baniwa body called cause ceremony chant owner concept Culina cultural curing rituals dance death Desana Don Emilio dori dreams Guajiro guardian spirits Guarequena hallucinogens healing human icaros illness Ińápirríkuli incantation Indians indigenous individual ine'tsaane ingestion ipají Iquitos Isana jaguar journey Kagwahiv Kamsá knowledge kūbū Kuwái living magic málikai songs málirríkairi songs manioc master shaman Matsigenka means mediator medicine mestizo millenarianism musical myth mythical native nihue no'wet nonhuman novice pajé pajé's patient peccary performance person plants pülasü Quechua religion Rio Negro ritual healers River role rupigwára sacred sakaka Santo Daime sexual shaman shamanic power shamanic systems shamanistic Shipibo Sibundoy sickness singing Siona social society soul specific substance supernatural symbolic term Toba tobacco tobacco smoke tokáia tokorime trance transformation Tukanoan upper Rio Negro Vaupés River vegetalista Venancio Venezuela village visions Wakuénai wanülüü witch witchcraft women Wright yagé Yaperikuli