Transcendence, Power and Regeneration in Tamang Shamanic Practice
David Holmberg
Critique of Anthropology March 1, 2006 DOI: 10.1177/0308275x06061485 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Tamang shamans of highland Nepal |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key points | Argues that Tamang shamans' rituals produce magical power through symbolic transcendence, deconstructing social orders to transform afflicted subjects from abject to agential states. |
Abstract
This article analyzes (1) the production of magical or symbolic power and (2) symbolic processes of transcendence in the rituals of Tamang shamans of highland Nepal, rituals that seek to transform the afflicted from abject subjects to active agents. In convergence with Terence Turner’s theoretical contributions to the study of ritual, this article argues that magical power produced by Tamang shamans in curative soundings as well as collective pilgrimages is a form of ‘alienated consciousness’ made possible through ritual processes of symbolic transcendence. I argue that shamans or bombo, through their transcendent moves, deconstruct orders produced elsewhere in socio-ritual life and, in the process, expose the constructedness or arbitrariness of those orders, laying the groundwork for transformation of afflicted subjects from abject to agential states both individually and collectively.
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 |