A Grey and Fervent Shamanism

Abstract

This essay treats three instances of shamanic sung poetry : from the contemporary Pima-Papago, the early 20th century Shoshone, and the 16th century Aztecs. The object is to understand them as poetry and shamanism. The first example, being familiar to the author, is the easiest to interpret : dreamt poems concerned with ghosts and the end of the world. The second, from the famed Ghost dance religion, is found to be simpler as poetry but more thrilling as shamanism. The third, called the Cantares mexicanos, is the most complex poetically and has been controversially interpreted as analogous to Ghost songs. That controversy is reviewed.