The identity and infinite diversity of the shamanic condition
Universitatea de Vest Din Timișoara, Lavinia Răducan
Quaestiones Romanicae June 9, 2023 DOI: 10.35923/qr.10.03.19 (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 shamanism, understood through Mircea Eliade's work, centers on ecstatic journeys and the shaman's role as healer of the soul who descends into Hell to recover a patient's lost soul. The authors contend that Tennessee Williams's "Orpheus in Hell" dramatizes this shamanic condition in Val Xavier (Snake Skin), whose snake serves as protective animal and initiatory master and whose guitar links him to Orpheus, the first artist-shaman. |
Abstract
Identitatea şi infinita diversitate a condiţiei şamanice "Avem artă pentru ca adevărul să nu ne ucidă."(Friedrich Nietzsche, 2018.Nașterea tragediei.)Abstract: (The identity and infinite diversity of the shamanic condition) The ancestral spiritual experience, shamanism has always represented a fascination for the human being.Holder of a complex spiritual universe, the shaman is the master of ecstatic journeys, in the Upper world and in the Lower world, between Heaven and Earth.As Mircea Eliade shows, thanks to the experiences gained through "ecstatic trance", only the shaman knows the drama of the human soul, its instability and precariousness.The shaman is the great healer or the great physician of the soul.Starting from the belief that any disease is caused by a deficiency or a major spiritual crisis, the shaman descends into Hell to find the lost soul of the patient and bring it back to the body.The well-known play by Tennessee Williams, "Orpheus in Hell", illustrates the shamanic experience of Val Xavier, (also called Snake Skin), in order to save the soul of his lover -Lady; the modern version of Eurydice.In his capacity as a shaman, Snake Skin has the snake as a protective animal, but also as a master of initiation.The existence of the "animal double" in the character's destiny is the expression of the fact that shamanic powers are embodied in animals and that the role of the shaman consists in discovering them.The defining element of Val Xavier's existence is the guitar, since music is the language secret of the first artist -shaman of mankind: Orpheus!
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 |