‘The Hermit Next Door’: The Role of Eremitism/Asceticism in Contemporary Shamanic Healing Practices in North-East Scotland
Athanasios Barmpalexis
Český lid December 15, 2021 DOI: 10.21104/cl.2021.4.03 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2 |
| Population | Contemporary shamanic healers in North East Scotland |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key findings | Eremitic isolation is a significant and persistent feature in both traditional and contemporary shamanic healing practices. |
Abstract
Based on an ethnographic study of ‘Western’ forms of contemporary shamanism in North East Scotland, the article discusses the significant role that eremitism plays in folk healing systems, particularly in shamanism. The tendency to live an isolated life is not only a key feature of traditional shamanic healing practices, but it can also be found in contemporary manifestations of them. Two such cases are discussed in this article. Terry Mace and Norman Duncan are two contemporary shamanic healers who live and offer services in the wider region of North East Scotland. For different individual reasons, they have self-consciously decided to isolate themselves geographically, living simply and self-abundantly, and leading an eremitic way of life away from materialism and socialising. The article thus focuses on examining the role of eremitism in the life of these two healers in an attempt to highlight the significance of the phenomenon in contemporary shamanisms.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Plantas con madre": plants that teach and guide in the shamanic initiation process in the East-Central Peruvian Amazon. Curanderos, apprentices, and herbalists in East-Central Peru, including Mestizo,... | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 36 |
| Purging and the body in the therapeutic use of ayahuasca Healers and participants in shamanic tourism contexts of the Peruvian Amazon and... | 2019 | Ethnography with literature review | n = 227 |
| The Globalization of Ayahuasca Shamanism and the Erasure of Indigenous Shamanism Western tourists and indigenous peoples in Iquitos, Peru | 2016 | Ethnography | |
| Shamanism and Rock Art in Far Western North America Historic hunter-gatherer cultures of California and the Great Basin | 1992 | Ethnographic review and analysis | |
| Working with “La Medicina”: Elements of Healing in Contemporary Ayahuasca Rituals Ayahuasqueros and Western participants in shamanic tourism in Iquitos, Peru | 2012 | Ethnography |