A Grey and Fervent Shamanism
Donald Bahr
Journal de la Société des Américanistes 1991 DOI: 10.3406/jsa.1991.1370 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key points | Argues that three bodies of shamanic sung poetry—Pima-Papago dreamt poems about ghosts and the end of the world, Shoshone Ghost Dance songs, and the Aztec Cantares mexicanos—can be understood as both poetry and shamanism. The Shoshone songs are simpler poetically but more thrilling as shamanism, while the Cantares mexicanos are the most poetically complex and have been controversially interpreted as analogous to Ghost songs. |
Abstract
This essay treats three instances of shamanic sung poetry : from the contemporary Pima-Papago, the early 20th century Shoshone, and the 16th century Aztecs. The object is to understand them as poetry and shamanism. The first example, being familiar to the author, is the easiest to interpret : dreamt poems concerned with ghosts and the end of the world. The second, from the famed Ghost dance religion, is found to be simpler as poetry but more thrilling as shamanism. The third, called the Cantares mexicanos, is the most complex poetically and has been controversially interpreted as analogous to Ghost songs. That controversy is reviewed.
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 |