Urgunge’s Way
Caroline Humphrey, Urgunge Onon
Oxford University Press eBooks March 28, 1996 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198279419.003.0009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that 'shamanism' was not primarily about supernatural knowledge but about special access to knowledge of the natural world, including human nature, held by certain gifted individuals. Proposes that this framing let 'shamanism' deepen ordinary knowledge and reveal what made the ordinary marvellous. |
Abstract
Abstract ‘Shamanism’ as a whole conglomerate of beliefs and practices was not only about the knowledge we have, but about the various kinds of knowledge we ordinary people do not quite have. This knowing was not, however, thought of as supernatural. It was knowledge of what was there to be known, but only certain individuals were gifted to know it or discover it, and they did so in different ways. For this reason ‘shamanism’ could encompass and deepen ordinary knowledge of nature (including human nature), thus revealing what made the ordinary marvellous.