Shamanism: The Timeless Religion

Singh (anthropology, Univ. of California, Davis) undertakes the time-honored tradition of participant-observer in seeking to demystify shamanism. Accordingly, he considers shamanism neither primeval wisdom nor mere superstition but rather a loose conglomeration of local practices operating mostly outside moribund religious institutions. Its power comes from its deep psychological resonance. In surprisingly universal ways, shamans bridge the divide between the seen and unseen, the known and the unknown, to bring the mystical and the spiritual to commonplace realms of disease, disaster, and anxious unknowing. Those seeking to enter its mysterious ranks must undergo a rigorous apprenticeship to develop the sort of untamed yet recognizable spiritual insights for which shamans are known; an individual shaman’s credibility rests on their ability to convincingly intuit, impact, and transform age-old human problems. It is for this reason this work is subtitled “The Timeless Religion,” as Singh can hardly imagine a time without such practitioners.