Lux Ferre

Possession – Shamans are sometimes distinguished from other religious or cultural leaders by their ability to deliberately enter a trance that is sometimes considered to be equivalent to possession. Mircea Eliade and

Pomo – An indigenous people of California. Greg Sarris has written both biographical and fictionalized accounts of the life and work of traditional doctors such as Mabel McKay. He describes their healing

Polynesia – A subdivision of Oceania or the Pacific Islands (along with Micronesia and Melanesia), including islands in a vast triangular area of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii, New Zealand, and Rapa

Politics – In Mircea Eliade’s construction of shamanism, political involvement is a sign of degeneracy among shamans. He prefers to present them as ritualists and religious leaders rather than as community leaders,

Plastic Medicine People – A term applied to Native Americans who perform ceremonies or teach traditional knowledge to Euro-Americans or anyone else who is willing to pay. It can also be applied

Piya – Various similar and related words in diverse Amazonian languages refer to the kind of shamans who have the ability to heal illnesses or commit violence (predation). In some languages (e.g.,

Pilch, John J. – Biblical scholar at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and the University of Pretoria, South Africa, who argues that Jesus Christ was a “holy man” whose ability to achieve altered

Peyote – Name derived from the Nahuatl word peyotl for the buttons of a cactus indigenous to Mexico and the southwestern United States. Its ingestion is central to the rituals of the

Peters, Larry G. (1942– ) – Peters is one of a number of scholarsturned- shamans, such as Michael Harner, who have undertaken anthropological fieldwork with shamans and undergone experiences that led them

Perspectivism – A central theme of Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s writing about Amazonian shamans and their wider societies puts the ability to see from another’s perspective at the center of what shamans