Shamanic Microscopy: Cellular Souls, Microbial Spirits
César E. Giraldo Herrera
Anthropology of Consciousness March 1, 2018 DOI: 10.1111/anoc.12087 (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 Amerindian shamanic visions constitute a form of perceptual access to physical reality, specifically an entoptic microscopy of retinal structures and microbial agents. Contends that shamanic practices optimize this optical capacity and that the visions' shadow-formation features and resemblance to microbiological imagery show these knowledge forms are commensurable. |
Abstract
Abstract: In Amerindian ontologies, hallucinations or visions, rather than being dismissed as delusions or symbolic constructs, are recognized as means of perceptual access to physical reality. Lowland South American shamans claim to be able to diagnose and treat infectious diseases, and to assess the status of wildlife resources through interactions with pathogenic agents perceived in visions. This essay examines some perceptual capabilities that shamans might be employing to explore their physical reality. The structure of the eye affords a form of microscopy of retinal structures and of objects flowing within them, including cells and microbial agents during systemic infection. Lowland South American shamanic practices involve optical and physiological conditions that optimize entoptic microscopy. Images of those visions display the characteristic features of shadow formation, confirming their microscopic origin. This phenomenological access to the microscopic world and similarities with the panorama depicted by current microbiology indicate the commensurability of these forms of knowledge.
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 |
Citations in the library
Cites 6
- Topographic pharmaco‐EEG mapping of the effects of the South American psychoactive beverage ayahuasca in healthy volunteers British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology June 1, 2002
- Effects of Chemical Stimulation of Electrically-Induced Phosphenes on their Bandwidth, Shape, Number and Intensity Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery 1963
- Hallucinogens. Pharmacology & Therapeutics February 1, 2004
- Serotonin and hallucinogens. Neuropsychopharmacology August 1999
- Pharmacokinetics of Hoasca alkaloids in healthy humans. Journal of Ethnopharmacology June 1, 1999
and 1 more in the library