Month: March 2022

Dubois, Thomas – DuBois has examined Saami engagements with Norse communities, arguing that there was far more contact than previously thought, to the point that…

Drury, Nevill (1947– ) – Australian author whose introductory and survey work on shamans, Pagans, and esotericism (e.g., The Elements of Shamanism, 1989; Magic and…

Drums and drumming – Rhythmic sounds and movements are commonplace in shamanic performance. In Mircea Eliade’s construction of shamanism as “the techniques of ecstasy,” the…

Dreams – Some people understand that to dream is to journey in the other world, or that the dream world is the real one and…

Dreaming, The – In Aboriginal Australian English, or in translations of Aboriginal traditional terms, the Dreaming refers to the process by which places and emplaced…

Dowson, Thomas A. – South African archaeologist and rock art researcher. Dowson initially drew attention to enigmatic geometric imagery in Southern African rock art traditions…

Don Juan – An alleged Yaqui sorcerer and informant to Carlos Castaneda and the central character in his prolific series of Don Juan books, including…

Doctors – In many indigenous cultures, shamans are healers. As the local equivalent of Western doctors, they seek the causes and cures of illnesses. However,…

Dobkin de Rios, Marlene (1939– ) – American medical anthropologist and clinical psychologist; professor of anthropology at California State University, Fullerton. Best known for her…

Dismemberment – A common feature of many stories of initiations, especially of shamans. Powerful other-than-human persons, ancestors, or spirits take the prospective initiate (often against…