Erdoes, Richard – American coauthor of a number of biographies (or partial autobiographies) of significant Native Americans, including John Lame Deer and Leonard Crow Dog, along with a number of other relevant
Environmentalism – Shamans cannot strictly be identified as environmentalists because, as animists, they are members of a large community of life rather than being surrounded by an impersonal environment or “nature.” However,
Entoptic phenomena – Entoptics (from the Greek, meaning “within vision”), also known as phosphenes, are complex and diverse luminous geometric images derived from the human central nervous system, produced specifically within the
Entheogens – Etymologically, entheogen derives from Greek entheos, “possessed by a god” (which is related to the modern English giddy and Old English gidig, “possessed by a god/spirit”) and genous “produced.” Hence
Elkin, Adolphus P. – Australian anthropologist at Sydney University and author of Aboriginal Men of High Degree (1945). In contrast with pervasive denigrations of Aboriginal Australians in general and their “doctors” or
Mircea Eliade (1907–1986) – Historian of religions and fiction writer who was born in Romania but lived most of his life as an exile in France and the United States, where he
Election – From the perspective of other-than-human persons, or spirits, who initiate or work with shamans and/or cause illness, phenomena commonly interpreted as possession or trance should really be labeled “election.” An
Elders – Shamans are rarely the only social and ritual leaders in their communities. Caroline Humphrey, Urgunge Onon, and Marjorie Balzer clarify the role of shamans by discussing the differences between them
Ecstasy – Shamans are sometimes distinguished from other religious or cultural leaders by the ability to achieve an altered state of consciousness which Mircea Eliade labeled “ecstasy.” The etymology of this originally
Ebene – A snuff prepared from the beans of an Amazonian tree of the nutmeg family (genus Virola), which is either snorted through tubes (sometimes bird bones) or blown into the nostrils,
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