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Search Results (4)

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Keywords = contemporary western shamans

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23 pages, 11210 KiB  
Article
Conversations with the Ancestors: Pursuing an Understanding of Klamath Basin Rock Art Through the Use of Myth, the Ethnographic Record, and Local Artistic Conventions
by Robert James David
Arts 2025, 14(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14040078 - 17 Jul 2025
Viewed by 276
Abstract
Past archaeological practices have resulted in a distorted history of Native American cultures based upon western-biased research. This has been especially apparent in the rock art of the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. In response to this, Native and non-Native [...] Read more.
Past archaeological practices have resulted in a distorted history of Native American cultures based upon western-biased research. This has been especially apparent in the rock art of the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon and northern California. In response to this, Native and non-Native scholars are striving to develop a counter-discourse that both challenges and replaces western constructs in research on Native American communities. The result of this approach is a growing trend within the discipline that has come to be called “Indigenous Archaeology.” Critical to this approach is that Native voices are transported from the margins of the research to its center, where they are intended to replace the Western colonialist narrative. Unfortunately, Native American tribal communities have been the targets of federal assimilation policies for the past few centuries, and as a result, much of their cultural knowledge unwittingly carries forward this distorted past. In this paper I explore a framework built upon ethnographic accounts of shamanism and rock art, along with a robust familiarity with local myth, and how this provides a foundation of traditional cultural knowledge against which to compare and evaluate the interpretive statements made in contemporary tribal members about rock art and other sacred material culture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Rock Art Studies)
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13 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
The Conflicts and Compromises of the Two Cosmologies Making Korean Shamanism
by Dongkyu Kim
Religions 2025, 16(2), 199; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020199 - 7 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1596
Abstract
This article explores how the unique cosmology of Korean shamanism, which continues to function as a living religion in contemporary Korea, has been shaped. A key characteristic of the cosmology in Korean shamanism is its combination of two cosmological beliefs. First, it adheres [...] Read more.
This article explores how the unique cosmology of Korean shamanism, which continues to function as a living religion in contemporary Korea, has been shaped. A key characteristic of the cosmology in Korean shamanism is its combination of two cosmological beliefs. First, it adheres to the general shamanistic cosmology of protection, where suffering caused by supernatural beings can be overcome through the protection of even more powerful beings, who also assist in predicting the future. Second, it incorporates the belief that human life and the universe operate according to specific cosmological principles. The coexistence of these two distinct cosmologies which form an explanatory system of modern Korean shamanism reflects the historical experiences of Koreans with Confucianism during the Joseon dynasty and with Western modernity. In this paper, I analyze the dynamics of conflict and compromise between the two cosmologies through a historical approach and case studies. Specifically, I examine the use of the terms ‘unse (wheel of fortune)’ and ‘spirit’s intervention’ as conceptual metaphors representing each cosmology, as they are employed in interactions between shamans and their clients. Furthermore, I maintain that contemporary Korean shamanism is a form of religious practice constructed as a compromise between various worldviews, including those of shamans and their clients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Conflict and Coexistence in Korea)
16 pages, 279 KiB  
Article
Birds of Prey, Birds of Wisdom: Relating to Non-Humans in Contemporary Western-Based Shamanism
by Carolina Ivanescu and Nienke Groskamp
Religions 2022, 13(12), 1214; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121214 - 14 Dec 2022
Viewed by 2845
Abstract
Birds of prey appear frequently in contemporary forms of shamanism. For example, Michael Harner’s Core Shamanism references the ‘power animal,’ or the authentic self, which sometimes takes the form of a strong and benevolent eagle. However, precisely how meaning and belief concerning these [...] Read more.
Birds of prey appear frequently in contemporary forms of shamanism. For example, Michael Harner’s Core Shamanism references the ‘power animal,’ or the authentic self, which sometimes takes the form of a strong and benevolent eagle. However, precisely how meaning and belief concerning these birds may have been lost, challenged or (re)invented remains to be explored. In this contribution, we have used the methods and vision of netnography to explore the relationships between contemporary western-based, self-defined shamans and birds of prey: real, imagined or represented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences)
21 pages, 289 KiB  
Article
Becoming a Shaman: Narratives of Apprenticeship and Initiation in Contemporary Shamanism
by Carolina Ivanescu and Sterre Berentzen
Religions 2020, 11(7), 362; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11070362 - 17 Jul 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 24025
Abstract
This article, based on an open-question survey completed in 2018, engages with McAdams and Manczak’s approaches to life stories (2015) and Mayer’s ten elements of the shaman myth (2008) to explore the way contemporary people based in the UK, who define themselves as [...] Read more.
This article, based on an open-question survey completed in 2018, engages with McAdams and Manczak’s approaches to life stories (2015) and Mayer’s ten elements of the shaman myth (2008) to explore the way contemporary people based in the UK, who define themselves as shamans, talk about their becoming a shaman. Individual narratives point out the intricate meeting points between different shamanic traditions and the importance of continuous innovation. They highlight the complex network of human and beyond-human authority and problematize the place, meaning and agency of the self. Contemporary shamanism is a widespread, manifold and multifaceted phenomenon, which we argue is not as different from traditional forms of shamanism as some studies suggest. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Experience, and Narrative)
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