Anthropological studies of folk cultures have been made not only on the content of their dreams but also on their interpretations. While there is a wide variance in the understanding of dreaming by cultures other than our own, there is a large set which might be called the classic dream interpretation of folk societies, which was first noted by Tylor in the nineteenth century. Its main tenet is...
There has been a renewed interest in psychology and anthropology in the idea of altered states of consciousness. This paper begins by examining the meaning of this term and the extent to which such experiences are reported globally. The topic of shamanism is then discussed, first with respect to its social functions, and then to what is known about its psychological aspects (which is little)....