Shamanism

Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to the Mastery of Spirits and Healing

Merete Demant Jakobsen (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

290 Seiten

2020 | 2nd edition
Berghahn Books (Verlag)
9781800735422 (ISBN)

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Shamanism has always been of great interest to anthropologists. More recently it has been "discovered" by westerners, especially New Age followers. This book breaks new ground byexamining pristine shamanism in Greenland, among people contacted late by Western missionaries and settlers. On the basis of material only available in Danish, and presented herein English for the first time, the author questions Mircea Eliade's well-known definition of the shaman as the master of ecstasy and suggests that his role has to be seen as that of a master of spirits.

The ambivalent nature of the shaman and the spirit world in the tough Arctic environment is then contrasted with the more benign attitude to shamanism in the New Age movement. After presenting descriptions of their organizations and accounts by participants, the author critically analyses the role of neo-shamanic courses and concludes that it is doubtful to consider what isoffered as shamanism.

Merete Demant Jakobsen (1952-2017) taught in Denmark, Britain, and Alaska. Having worked on shamanism in ethnography and literature for her Danish degrees, she completed her doctorate at the University of Oxford in anthropology. She was researching negative spiritual experiences at the Religious Experience Research Centre, Westminster College, Oxford.

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1. Shamanism: Definition and Description

Introduction

The Origin of the Term

Definitions of Shamanism

Definitions of Shamanism by Two Organisers of Shamanic Courses

Trance/Ecstasy

Chapter 2. Early Encounters Between Explorers, Missionaries and Shamans

The Work of Poul and Niels Egede in Greenland

Chapter 3. The Greenlandic Angakkoq

Apprenticeship and Initiation

The Pantheon

Paraphernalia

The Séance

Travels

Healing

The Concept of the ‘Witch’

Burial Customs

Myths and Legends

Angakkut in Oral Tradition on the East Coast

Chapter 4. Neo-shamanism and the New Age

Old Traditions Moulded to the Needs of Westerners in Search of Spirituality

Courses in Neo-shamanism

A Description of the People Participating in Courses

The Basic Course in Shamanism

The Paraphernalia

Introduction to the Concept of Shamanism

The Instruction in Journeying

Power-Song and Journeying

Healing

Advanced Courses in Shamanism

Approaches to the Role of Shamanism in Modern Society

Manuals on Neo-shamanism

Chapter 5. The Revival of Shamanism in Other Cultures

Conclusion

Afterword: The Way of the Teacher

Appendix: Advanced Courses in Shamanism

Nordic Shamanism and The Spirits of Nature

Shamanic Healing and Spiritual Ecology

Soul Retrieval Training

The Soul Retrieval

Bibliography

Subject Index

Name Index

Erscheinungsdatum	07.01.2022
Zusatzinfo	Bibliography; Index; 10 Illustrations
Verlagsort	Oxford
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 216 mm
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien
ISBN-13	9781800735422 / 9781800735422
Zustand	Neuware