Overview

From a talented young anthropologist and contributor to the New Yorker comes a fascinating investigation into the spiritual practice of shamanism What are the origins of shamanism and what is its future? Do shamans believe in their powers? What exactly is trance? 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.

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9781802062885

Table of Contents

Reviews

A fascinating compendium of shamanistic behaviour and techniques... Singh writes with a beguiling mixture of erudition and sheer delight in his discoveries. He is also willing to put in the hard yards * Spectator * Blending memoir, investigative journalism, and anthropological fieldwork, Shamanism is a deep dive into a religious tradition that is as mysterious as it is timeless * Time * Monumental... stunningly well-researched... grounded on expert scholarship but for the general reader * Irish Times * A vivid study of who shamans are, and why their practices, which predate organized religion, have endured for centuries. Singh deftly weaves together memoir and fieldwork, reporting from places as varied as Indonesia, the Amazon forest, and Burning Man, and reveals how shamanistic traditions have infiltrated both our culture and our politics * New Yorker * A panoramic survey: Singh has done the fieldwork, the legwork, and the drugwork * The Atlantic * An erudite, engaging and deeply personal journey into this ancient, yet ever-evolving, religious practice * Weird Walk * Deftly interweaving memoir, journalism, his own anthropological fieldwork, and cutting-edge archaeology, Manvir Singh's Shamanism provides a bracing new look at one of our species' oldest and most characteristically human experiences—reaching into the spiritual realm through the powerful figure of the shaman. Traveling from the Indonesian forest to the wilds of Burning Man, Singh takes us deep into history and the human heart, showing us that this ancient religion is very much present in our lives today -- Charles C. Mann, author of The Wizard and the Prophet Singh’s Shamanism is a fast-paced, erudite, lyrical adventure through time and space that explores who shamans are, where they come from, what they do, and why we believe—or don’t—in their supposed powers. This wildly enjoyable book will transform how you think about the human mind and the nature of culture -- Daniel Lieberman, author of Exercised Way back in the Pleistocene, shamanic voyaging may well have ignited the strange kind of consciousness we call our own. We've been constitutionally shamanic since. Singh's splendid, vibrant, fast-paced account shows us what sort of creatures we were, are, and might be. Read it to know your ancestors, yourself and your descendants -- Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild What does the practice of shamanism tell us about how the mind works? Through vivid field encounters and cutting-edge research, Manvir Singh shows that shamanism is a psychological universal, emerging wherever humans gather, from Amazonian healing ceremonies to Wall Street trading floors. 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, author of Psych: The Story of the Human Mind

Author Information

Manvir Singh is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker, and his writings have also appeared in Wired, Vice and the Guardian, as well as leading academic journals such as Science. He has studied psychedelic use in the Colombian Amazon and conducted ethnographic fieldwork with Mentawai communities on Siberut Island, Indonesia.

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