Category: Shamanism

Basilov, Vladimir (1937–1998) – Russian ethnographer who published extensively on shamans in Central Asia during the latter half of the 20th century. He redressed the…

Balzer, Majorie Mandelstam (1950– ) Research professor at Georgetown University in the Sociology/Anthropology Department and the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES),…

Ayahuasca – Literally, “vine of the dead” in Quechua; also known as yagé and cognates in various indigenous Amazonian languages. A blend of extracts of…

Awenyddion – An obscure practice described only briefly by Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) in his Description of Wales, written in the late 12th century.…

Atkinson, Jane Monnig – In her ethnography The Art and Politics of Wana Shamanship (1989), Atkinson discusses the Wana of the interior region of east-central…

Arctic – Indigenous peoples of the Arctic (including parts of Samiland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Russia) adapted to its harsh conditions in a…

Araweté – Indigenous Amazonian people whose shamanism is similar in some respects to that of neighboring peoples, and different in others. Eduardo Viveiros de Castro…

Animism – Arguably the proper label for the type of religion practiced among traditional indigenous people who employ shamans. Rather than being “shamanists” or adherents…

Animas Valley Institute – Located in southwest Colorado, in the valley of the Río de las Animas Perdidas (River of Lost Souls), and run by…

Animals – Shamans engage with animals in a range of significant ways. In societies that live by hunting, shamans may journey beyond their physical location…