Indian Religions: Renaissance and Renewal
March 1, 2007
Geoffrey Samuel
This chapter reconstructs some of the social context of the development of ‘Tantra,’ and in particular asks how Buddhist monks and lay practitioners came to adopt ‘extreme’ versions of Saiva (Kaula) practice as central parts of their own religious practice between the 8th and 12th centuries. These ‘extreme’ elements included the presence of fierce and terrifying deities, cremation-ground...
Pomegranate The International Journal of Pagan Studies
February 15, 2007
Dana Kramer-Rolls
European Paganism: The Realities of Cult from Antiquity to
Inner Asia
2007
Tsetsentsolmon Baatarnaran
AbstractThis paper explores the specific features of musical folklore in Mongolian Shamanic tradition through the four essential features of folk art works, selectivity, existence, continuity and complexity. Adopting the systematic theory of Mongolian folklore including folk music which was developed by Jamtsyn Badraa, Mongolian folklorist, on the basis of Indian philosopher Nagarjuna’s...
Apollo (University of Cambridge)
2007
Konstantinos Zorbas
1 citation
This dissertation examines suspicions and accusations of affliction with curses in the Republic of Tuva, south Siberia (Russia). Based on a sample of consultations between shamans and clients regarding curse-inflicted misfortunes, as well as on sociological and statistical sources about post-Soviet Tuva, this thesis identifies a significant incidence of curse accusations in contemporary Tuva. I...
Anthropology of Consciousness
September 1, 2006
Peter N. Jones
27 citations
In this paper, I discuss the results of a large‐scale archival and data base research project that investigated the history of the scholarly use of the terms shamanism and shaman in English‐speaking North America. This was done to provide a historical grounding in the hope of arriving at an operationally sound definition of the term. Twomajor findings emerged from the data: first, current uses...
Journal of Ethnopharmacology
June 30, 2006
Christian Moretti, Yvan Gaillard, Pierre Grenand et al.
32 citations
This paper is the first thorough analysis of takini, a hallucinogen used by the shamans of several peoples in Suriname, French Guiana, and the region east of the Para in Brazil. The drug is contained in the latex of the Brosimum acutifolium tree, and until now, its psychotropic properties appeared inconsistent with the more general medicinal uses of the tree in the surrounding region. Our...
Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America
May 1, 2006
Robert Storrie
3 citations
The Hoti are a small group of hunter-horticulturalists living in the highlands of central Venezuelan Guiana. In this article I examine Hoti understandings of equality, hierarchy and power and the coercive use of fear by individuals who cultivate a reputation as “Light Ones”—that is people especially skilled in their interaction with the powerful beings of the shamanic environment—a role that is...
Anthropology of Consciousness
March 1, 2006
Adam J. Rock, Paul J. Casey Rock, Peter B. Baynes
This study develops the methodological framework advanced in Rock, Baynes, and Casey's (2005) experimental study of ostensibly shamanic journeying imagery in naïve participants. Specifically, the present study experimentally investigates the impact of the word landscape, featured in Harner's (1990) shamanic journeying to the Lower World instructions, on the number of landscape‐related images...
Critique of Anthropology
March 1, 2006
David Holmberg
This article analyzes (1) the production of magical or symbolic power and (2) symbolic processes of transcendence in the rituals of Tamang shamans of highland Nepal, rituals that seek to transform the afflicted from abject subjects to active agents. In convergence with Terence Turner’s theoretical contributions to the study of ritual, this article argues that magical power produced by Tamang...
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
2006
Adam J. Rock
16 citations
This study explored ostensibly shamanic journeying imagery by (a) assessing visual images across induction techniques (i.e., sonic driving, Ganzfeld, relaxation, and sitting with eyes open); (b) determining combination( s) of induction technique and instructions most associated with religious imagery; and (c) investigating the origins of visual imagery. Six participants were randomly assigned...