The Sonic Psychopomp
D. J. Moores
Journal of Jungian Scholarly Studies May 16, 2026 DOI: 10.29173/jjs336s (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism Shamanism |
| Keywords | Possession linguistics Yoruba Soul Dance Context archaeology Numinous Aesthetics Exorcism Divination Psyche Trance Jungian analytical psychology |
| Key points | Argues that Yoruba possession rituals facilitated by drummers can be accommodated as a form of active imagination in Jungian somatic dance therapy, resembling ekstasis (ego-transcendence). |
Abstract
Abstract: Like the body, the drum, with its immense somatic power, is colonized in Western culture, the complex cause of which is directly tied to colonialist and missionary efforts to save African slaves from the perils of their so-called demonic religious practices, which involved cultivating possession states through drum and dance rituals. Yet, there is a much better view of drummers, one that situates them in the context of shamans, or sonic soul guides whose rhythms operate through the soma to guide the dancer to profound numinous experience. Such an ameliorated, decolonized view of drumming is found among the African Yoruba and Yoruba-diasporic traditions of the Americas, which feature possession rituals facilitated by drummers trained in initiatory orders much like shamans and other technicians of the sacred found in many cultures. But Yoruba-style rituals are somewhat problematic in Jungian literature, particularly because of longstanding, Western attitudes towards bodily possession, which is also often pathologized in analytical psychology. Still, Yoruba possession is quite like the ekstasis (ego-transcendence) of Jungian theory and, with a slight refocusing and acceptance to nonwestern religious forms, the drumming rituals that facilitate it can be rather easily accommodated as a form of active imagination, particularly in somatic dance therapy.
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 |