Lux Ferre

White Shamans – The Buryat and Yakut peoples of Mongolia and Siberia distinguish between two types of shaman: black shamans and white shamans. Although the distinction is never entirely systematic or absolute,

Wayapí – An Amazonian indigenous people. Alan Campbell’s ethnography is particularly interested in the Wayapí’s use of the term payé, which, though roughly cognate with piya (a term for shamans elsewhere in

Wasson, R. Gordon (1898–1996) – American banker and amateur mycologist whose study of “ethnomycology” with his wife Valentina began on a delayed honeymoon in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The Wassons

Warfare – While many commentators recognize that shamans may protect their communities by gaining advance knowledge of attack by enemies or predators, Carlos Fausto argues that “there is an intrinsic link between

Wannabe Indians – Although this term derives from Native Americans (see principally Green 1988) who have criticized nonNative writers for marketing their work as if it were actually by a Native author—“simulations

Wana – Native to the interior region of eastern Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, the Wana have tau kawalia “people spirits” who mediate between the worlds of human and other-than-human persons, and the

Walsh, Roger N. – Professor of psychiatry and behavior at the University of California at Irvine, whose research interests in transpersonal psychology involve the psychology of religion, Asian religion, and shamanism. In

Wallis, Robert J. (1972– ) – Associate professor of visual culture at Richmond University in London, where he coordinates the master’s program in art history, and associate lecturer in the humanities with

Vomiting – Shamans in many cultures seek the aid of powerful plants (sometimes understood to be other-than-human persons and even shamans in their own right). While many of these plants are labeled

Vodou – Also Vodu, Vodun, Vudu, and similar. Various related forms of animist ancestor veneration and possession cult that originated in West and Central Africa and evolved by integrating elements derived from