Shuar – Indigenous people of Ecuadorian Amazonia, also known as Jivaro. Michael Harner began his anthropological fieldwork among the Shuar in 1956 but focused on their shamanism only after taking ayahuasca (yagé) with the Peruvian Conibo in 1961. Considerable interest has been shown in Shuar uses of ayahuasca, almost to the exclusion of any other issue. Philippe Descola’s Spears of Twilight (1998) provides a rich account of their shamanic knowledge and practice, along with a discussion of many other elements of their society and culture. He demonstrates that their cosmology does not impose absolute coherence on the world but entails ambiguity and paradox within which shamans are necessary.
SOURCE:
Historical Dictionary of Shamanism by Graham Harvey and Robert J. Wallis 2007
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