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This book concentrates on female shamanisms in Asia and their relationship with the state and other religions, offering a perspective on gender and shamanism that has often been neglected in previous accounts. An international range of contributors cover a broad geographical scope, ranging from Siberia to South Asia, and Iran to Japan. Several key themes are considered, including the role of bureaucratic established religions in integrating, challenging and fighting shamanic practices, the position of women within shamanic complexes, and perceptions of the body. Beginning with a chapter that places the shamaness at the centre of the discussion, chapters then approach these issues in a variety of ways, from historically informed accounts, to presenting the findings of extensive ethnographic research by the authors themselves. Offering an important counterbalance to male dominated accounts of shamanism, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Indigenous Peoples across Religious Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, and Gender Studies.
"This book concentrates on female shamanisms in Asia and their relationship with the state and other religions, offering a perspective on gender and shamanism that has often been neglected in previous accounts. An international range of contributors cover a broad geographical scope, ranging from Siberia to South Asia, and Iran to Japan. Several key themes are considered, including the role of bureaucratic established religions in integrating, challenging and fighting shamanic practices, the position of women within shamaniccomplexes, and perceptions of the body,. Beginning with a chapter that places the shamaness at the centre of the discussion, chapters then approach these issues in a variety of ways, from historically informed accounts, to presenting the findings of extensive ethnographic research by the authors themselves. Offering an important counterbalance to male dominated accounts of shamanism, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Indigenous Peoples across Religious Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, and Gender Studies"
Provides a clear and accessible guide to the many different North Asian shamanic traditions, past and present. What is shamanism? Where is it from? How does one become a shaman? What are the requirements to become one? Anthropologists tell us that the word shaman derives from the Tungus language and traditions, but few people understand the full scope of what that means. In his groundbreaking book, Spirit Voices, David Shi answers all these questions and more. Drawing upon his own ancestral traditions, Shi explores the history and practice of shamanism. He guides readers through what may be the unfamiliar landscapes of North Asia--the place where shamanism was born--as well as the largely hidden and unfamiliar traditions of Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungus shamanism, exploring the subtle and unique aspects of each tradition. Shi provides a clear and accessible guide that explores the many different North Asian shamanic traditions. So, what exactly is shamanism? David Shi suggests that the most accurate definition derives from shamanologist Nicholas Breeze Wood, who writes, "A shaman is someone chosen by the spirits [typically at or before birth] and who can go into a controlled and repeatable deliberate trance state, during which they A) experience 'spirit flight,' where they go to the spirit worlds and meet spirits, who they either fight with, negotiate with, or trick, in order to create change in this physical world, or B) are often taken over/possessed by the spirits (normally ancestral shaman spirits, or local land spirits) while in this physical world--the spirits using the shaman's voice and body to heal, or give advice to members of the shaman's community. Without the spirits and their blessing, a shaman cannot exist or function. Without the trance state, it is not shamanism." Featuring history, firsthand experiential reports, mythology, and folklore, Spirit Voices explores the spirits, spirituality, tools, and practices of true shamanism, past and present. Shi also provides practical information for those readers seeking to implement shamanic practices, including those that are appropriate to noninitiates and outsiders to the culture. As the author points out, "the purpose of shamanism can be summed up in two words: coexistence and balance--coexistence with our spirits and our communities, and the balance that must be preserved between all of us and within ourselves."
Shamans throughout much of Asia are regarded as having the power to control and coerce spirits. Many Asians today still turn to shamans to communicate with the world of the dead, heal the sick, and explain enigmatic events. To understand Asian religions, therefore, a knowledge of shamanism is essential. Shamans in Asia provides an introduction to the study of shamans and six ethnographic studies, each of which describes and analyses the lives and activities of shamans in five different regions: Siberia, China, Korea, and the Ryukyu islands of southern Japan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The essays show what type of people become shamans, what social roles they play, and how shamans actively draw from the worldviews of the communities in which they operate. As the first book in English to provide in-depth accounts of shamans from different regions of Asia, it allows students and scholars to view the diversity and similarities of shamans and their religions. Those interested in spiritual specialists, the anthropological study of religion, and local religions in Asia will be intrigued, if not entranced, by Shamans in Asia.
Sarah Milledge Nelson’s bold thesis is that the development of states in East Asia—China, Japan, Korea—was an outgrowth of the leadership in smaller communities guided by shamans. Using a mixture of historical documents, mythology, archaeological data, and ethnographic studies of contemporary shamans, she builds a case for shamans being the driving force behind the blossoming of complex societies. More interesting, shamans in East Asia are generally women, who used their access to the spirit world to take leadership roles. This work challenges traditional interpretations growth of Asian states, which is overlaid with later Confucian notions of gender roles. Written at a level accessible for undergraduates, this concise work will be fascinating reading for those interested in East Asian archaeology, politics, and society; in gender roles, and in shamanism.
"In Shamans of the 20th Century, anthropologist Ruth-Inge Heinze takes a critical look at the global re-emergence of the shaman in the late twentieth century, redefiing the role of the shama at a time when we in the West are questioning both our ways of knowing and medical practice. A pioneering work, hers is a much needed synthesis between third-world and primal people's holistic understanding of healing as embracing the total human condition-social, emotional, psychological as well as physical, and the radically innovative stance of Western New Age healers. Elinor W. Gadon" -- Back cover.
This work introduces traditional Siberian shamans as the poets, therapists and even leaders of their communities. Among the special features of this collection are transcriptions of shamanic exhortations and a study of shamanic tales and rituals.
Exploring the phenomenon of socio-religio-magico reality in Java called wong pinter, this study is a pioneering academic work based on a first hand data. By interviewing 108 practitioners within the framework of anthropological and ethnographical approaches and putting the discussions in the context of shamanism study, this work is also a unique inquiry on Javanese culture conducted by a native. Wong Pinter delineates significant connectivity between Javanese shamanism and Asian or Southeast Asian shamanism. It also describes various aspect of shamanism practices in Java and assesses the sustainability and challenges of this phenomenon vis-a-vis the suppression of religious and political establishment. Above all, this book is an outstanding report valuable to those who are interested to delve into the core of Javanese culture and to the deliberation of social science in general.