Shamanic Worlds

The ancient heartland of shamanism is no longer forbidden territory - to travelers or to the spirits. But the spirits never left the vastnesses of Siberia and Central Asia, as these writings reveal. Russian and native experts, and an American cultural anthropologist who has done fieldwork in the region, introduce us to shamans as the poets, therapists, healers, and even leaders of their communities. Among the special features of this collection are remarkable transcriptions of shamanic exhortations and a pathbreaking study of shamanic tales and rituals. I: Debates, Definitions, and Indigenous Perspectives; Chosen by the Spirits; Shamans and Their Religious Practices from Shamanism Among the Turkic Peoples of Siberia; Tuvan Shamanic Folklore; Healing Techniques Among Evén Shamans; II: Wedding Theory an Field Data; The Teleut Ritual Chymyr; The Archaic Epic and Its Relationship to Ritual from Ritual and Folklore in Siberian Shamanism; III: A Final Tribute; The Evenk Alga Ritual of Blessing