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Shamanic Worlds: Rituals and Lore of Siberia and Central Asia
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Comments/Reviews
Description: Siberia, the ancient heartland of shamanism, is no longer forbidden territory--to travelers or to the spirits. But the spirits never left, as these writings reveal. Russian and native experts, and an American cultural anthropologist who has done fieldwork in Siberia, introduce us to traditional Siberian shamans as the poets, therapists, and even leaders of their communities. Among the special features of this collection are remarkable transcriptions of shamanic exhortations and a path-breaking study of shamanic tales and rituals.
Selected Contents:
I. Debates, Definitions, and Indigenous Perspectives
Chosen by the Spirits, Vladimir N. Basilov
Shamans and Their Religious Practices, from Shamanism Among the Turkic Peoples of Siberia, Nikolai A. Alekseev
Tuvan Shamanic Folklore, Mongush B. Kenin-Lopsan
Healing Techniques Among Even Shamans, Anatoly Alekseev
II. Wedding Theory and Field Data
The Teleut Ritual Chymyr : Exorcism and Explanation, Dmitri A. Funk
The Archaic Epic and Its Relationship to Ritual from Ritual and Folklore in Siberian Shamanism, Elena S. Novik
III. A Final Tribute
The Evenk Alga Ritual of Blessing: Matriona Kurbeltinova in Action, Nadezhda Ia. Bulatova
Comment(s): "... an outstandingly knowledgeable introduction by anthropologist Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, one of the few Americans to have done ethnographic research in Siberia. A welcome addition to the library of anyone seriously interested in shamanism."" -- Michael Harner, author of The Way of the Shaman
Review(s): "[The authors treat] classic themes: ... trance, techniques of ecstasy, the shaman's journey, his language and relations with the spirits, and, quite appropriately, blood sacrifices." -- Anthropology of Consciousness
"For over a century Russian ethnographers have been recording detailed descriptions of shamanic practices among the Tungus and other Siberian tribes [but] only a small amount of this material has made it into English. [This book is] a welcome addition to our meager understanding of shamanism on that side of the world ... of interest to everyone wanting to enrich their overall understanding of shamanism." -- Shaman's Drum
"Among the special features of this remarkable collection are fascinating transcriptions of shamanic exhortations and an original, path breaking study of shamanic tales and rituals. Shamanic Worlds will be of intense interest for studies of anthropology, Siberian and Central Asian culture, and the metaphysics of shamanism." -- The Midwest Book Review
    
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