Becoming Animals: Neurobiology of Shamanic Shapeshifting
A. Saniotis
NeuroQuantology May 31, 2019 DOI: 10.14704/nq.2019.17.5.2258 (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 shapeshifting, understood as both physical transformation into an animal and animal-like behavior, is central to shamanic traditions and their transformative elements, with the shaman's body mediating between visible and invisible worlds. Proposes that shapeshifting is an atavistic retrieval from ancient unconscious levels and, as an altered state of consciousness, synchronizes frontal cortex regions with the limbic system to modulate mood through spontaneous actions. |
Abstract
Since prehistory, shapeshifting has been a feature of several shamanic societies. Shapeshifting refers to a physical transformation of a shaman into an animal; and second, a shaman or other person behaving like a specific animal. This phenomenon has informed several mythological traditions. Prehistoric and extant shapeshifting provides a platform for understanding transformative elements of shamanism and how it is constituted. During shapeshifting the shaman’s body mediates between the visible and invisible worlds, his/her psyche negotiates between psychic realms. Shapeshifting in its pictorial and performative genre is a kind of atavistic retrieval, deriving from ancient levels of the unconscious. As a type of altered state of consciousness, shapeshifting synchronises regions of the frontal cortex with the limbic system. Moreover, the performative elements of shapeshifting integrate a cascade of neurobevioural processes for modulating a specific mood via spontaneous actions. This analysis will provide an overview of shapeshifting of its historical and cultural manifestations, and how it is constituted in various shamanic traditions. In the last section I will discuss neurobiological antecedents of shapeshifting.
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 |