In the governance of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), traditional rituals often fall into a paradox of institutional exhibition. The Korean shamanic rites Ssitgim-gut and Byeolsin-gut, respectively, represent the two poles of ritual institutionalization, displaying semiotic logics of original iconicity and institutional textualization. This study, based on audiovisual materials, archival...
The article examines the song genre guruu duu as a ritual phenomenon of Mongolian musical culture. Particular attention is paid to its functions in shamanic rites, court ceremonies, and collective forms of sacred communication. The semantic, structural, and historical-cultural features of the genre are revealed. The study uses an interdisciplinary approach, combining methods of ethnomusicology...
Inspired by Joel Robbins’s call for theology and anthropology to collaborate as theoretical partners, in this article, I examine the theologian Jojo M. Fung’s recent books, Sacred Sustainability, Polyhedral Christianity and Cosmic Challenges (2025) and A Shamanic Pneumatology in a Mystical Age of Sacred Sustainability (2017) from the point of view of an anthropologist. In these books, Fung...
This article explores how the Khas and Kirat peoples of the sub-Himalayan region including Sikkim, Darjeeling, eastern Nepal, and Bhutan continue to use sacred Neolithic artifacts in their shamanic rituals. Through a synthesis of archaeological evidence and ethnographic observations, it traces the integration of prehistoric stone tools such as polished axes, adzes, celts, perforated harvesters,...
In this practice-led research project, I examine the experience of feeling culturally adrift within my hybrid South Korean-Australian identity, using the aesthetic and symbolic framework of Korean shamanism and autoethnographic reflection. Core elements of Korean shamanic practices, such as ritual, water, colour and light, form primary areas of material investigation in the studio, with a...
Manvir Singh's Shamanism: The Timeless Religion blends vivid ethnography, global exploration, and theoretical debate to argue that shamanism is a persistent human tendency
Shamanism is one of the earliest examples of mankind’s healing modalities, beginning with African bushmen such as the Kalahari Kung. Some Africans and others still use trance dancing and medicinal substances to heal themselves and their patients, whether for free or through barter. Traditional Chinese Medicine (approximately 5,000 years old) heals the body and mind through affordable herbs or...
Abstract The “irrational” nature of communicating with spirits in shamanic culture possesses a cultural and spiritual healing power that is difficult for modern science to match. The paradox of shamanic culture is that reason does not require us to eliminate irrational elements of emotion, mystical fantasy, and religious belief; rather, all that reason requires of us is to discursively...
This paper explores the role and identity of the Jalur Shaman within the Pacu Jalur rowing tradition inKuantan Singingi Regency, Indonesia. While the original approach adopts a historical-biographicalmethod, this revision reframes the study through a discourse-analytic lens to better interrogate how theshaman’s role, ritual language, and spiritual objects function as symbolic practices. The...
All the characteristics of the ‘Muram Kulukki’ song are close to the characteristics of shamanism. Connecting with the spiritual world, reaching a trance state through the repetition of music and dance, spiritual treatment for healing, unity and togetherness of the community, and deep respect for the forces of nature are all reflected in this ceremony. Through this, not only is the spiritual...