Shamanic Rites Seen from a Shamanic Perspective
Jonathan Horwitz
Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis 1993 DOI: 10.30674/scripta.67205 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that a deeper understanding of shamanic rites requires examining their content from the shaman's point of view and honoring their descriptions as valid. |
Abstract
Most of the previously practiced methods of investigating the shamanic rite have only shown half the picture. For a deeper understanding, it is also necessary to examine the rite's content. Taking the shaman's point of view into consideration, listening to how the shaman describes his experiences, and honoring that description as valid, is the first step.The work of the shaman has always been a matter of experience, experience which outside observers could not accept as being "real" because of their own limited understanding of reality, and so they labeled it as religious faith, imagination, beliefs, superstitions, insanity, or even play-acting.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |