Shamanism
The Timeless Religion
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
'Singh is a brilliant young scholar and a gifted writer, and this remarkable book will change how you think about religion, spirituality, consciousness, and human nature' Paul Bloom
What are the origins of shamanism and what is its future? Do shamans believe in their powers? What exactly is trance? And what can we learn from indigenous healing practices?
In this enlightening book, anthropologist Manvir Singh offers a new explanation for one of the most misunderstood religious traditions. Travelling from Indonesia to the Amazon, living with shamans and observing music, drug use and indigenous curing ceremonies, he journeys into the origins of shamanism. Fundamentally, shamans are specialists who use altered states to engage with unseen realities and provide services like healing and divination. As Singh shows, shamanism’s ubiquity stems from its psychological resonance. Its core appeal is transformation: a specialist uses initiations, deprivation and non-ordinary states to seemingly become a different kind of human, one possessed with the superpowers necessary to tame life’s uncertainty.
Following a fascinating cast of characters, Singh tells a larger story about the ancient and modern expressions of this timeless tradition. He argues that biomedicine can learn from shamanic practices, yet that psychedelic enthusiasts completely misrepresent history. He also shows that shamanic traditions will forever re-emerge – and that by journeying into humanity’s oldest spiritual practice, we come to better understand ourselves, our history and our future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
New Yorker contributor Singh (Zoostalgia) brilliantly traces the evolution of shamanism across history. Exploring the practice's psychological roots, he contends that shamanism answers a deep human need to manage uncertainty through its theatrical rituals, invocation of the supernatural, and elevation of shamans to superhuman status. Countering the notion that shamanism is a vestige of ancient societies, he tracks its development from the Paleolithic era to the first and second centuries, when early members of the Christian church regularly "enter ecstatic states and perform healing rituals," through the 20th century, as it seeped into "seemingly enlightened spaces" by way of charismatic experts like money managers, who use "their models, degrees, personalities, and superhuman work schedules" to persuade clients that they can "control the uncontrollable." Singh makes especially insightful points about how shamanism has engaged in a somewhat contradictory dance with religion, first influencing it and then threatening to siphon away adherents who crave a rawer spiritual experience. He frames the current spike of interest in trance, spirit possession, psychedelics, and other nontraditional forms of spirituality as a continuation of this search for "spiritual relief" in a society where institutionalized religion has lost appeal. Combining meticulous research and an excellent grasp of psychological and sociocultural theories, Singh paints a panoramic portrait of a little-understood subject.
