Shamanic Practices Research Articles

Ego Boundaries, Shamanic‐Like Techniques, and Subjective Experience: An Experimental Study

ABSTRACTThe subjective effects and therapeutic potential of the shamanic practice of journeying is well known. However, previous research has neglected to provide a comprehensive assessment of the subjective effects of shamanic‐like journeying techniques on non‐shamans. Shamanic‐like techniques are those that demonstrate some similarity to shamanic practices and yet deviate from what may genuinely be considered shamanism. Furthermore, the personality traits that influence individual susceptibility to shamanic‐like techniques are unclear. The aim of the present study was, thus, to investigate experimentally the effect of shamanic‐like techniques and a personality trait referred to as “ego boundaries” on subjective experience including mood disturbance. Forty‐three non‐shamans were administered a composite questionnaire consisting of demographic items and a measure of ego boundaries (i.e., the Short Boundary Questionnaire; BQ‐Sh). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: listening to monotonous drumming for 15 minutes coupled with one of two sets of journeying instructions; or sitting quietly with eyes closed for 15 minutes. Participants' subjective experience and mood disturbance were retrospectively assessed using the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) and the Profile of Mood States‐Short Form, respectively. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between conditions with regard to the PCI major dimensions of visual imagery, attention and rationality, and minor dimensions of imagery amount and absorption. However, the shamanic‐like conditions were not associated with a major reorganization of the pattern of subjective experience compared to the sitting quietly condition, suggesting that what is typically referred to as an altered state of consciousness effect was not evident. One shamanic‐like condition and the BQ‐Sh subscales need for order, childlikeness, and sensitivity were statistically significant predictors of total mood disturbance. Implications of the findings for the anthropology of consciousness are also considered.

Beyond Belief? Social, Political, and Shamanic Power in Siberia

An analysis of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in the Russian Federation reveals a variety of village and urban reactions to crises of faith and power. The significance for group identity and instances of synergistic group belief are discussed. The transition that has seen amorphous underground shamanic practice lead to the institutionalization of shamanic cosmology is reflected in the recent opening of a temple in the Republic's capital, Yakutsk, and in the various groups that adhere to charismatic healers and seers. Debates about faith, as well as fragmented faith epistemologies, are described. The data derive from over 25 years of intermittent fieldwork in the Republic and with the Sakha diaspora. My approach is situated at the crossroads of medical-psychological anthropology, political anthropology, and new religious movement analysis.

What If We Don't Know Our Clan? The City as New Ritual Form in Buriatiia

“Traditionally” Buriat shamanism is clan-based. Ritual practice embedded kinship relations within a sacred geography, linking the living and the dead through a relationship to the landscape, reaffirmed at yearly tailgan ceremonies. In Buriatiia, Soviet modernization transformed the Buriat relationship to the land, and with it, the conditions of shamanic practice. As a result, many urban Buriats either do not know their clan affiliation, or no longer hold clan ceremonies. In response, two urban shaman's organizations have begun to hold tailgans on behalf of the residents of the city. The new ritual form relieves anxiety at the loss of tradition and underscores that loss. However, by redefining the ritual community around the city instead of the clan, the ritual community becomes multiethnic.

Dealing with uncertainty: Shamans, marginal capitalism, and the remaking of history in postsocialist Mongolia

In this article, I explore the proliferation of previously suppressed shamanic practices among ethnic Buryats in Mongolia after the collapse of socialism in 1990. Contrary to the Buryats' expectation that shamanism would solve the uncertainties brought about by the market economy, it has created additional spiritual uncertainties. As skeptical Buryats repeatedly propitiate their angry origin spirits to alleviate the causes of their misfortunes, they reconstruct their history, which was suppressed by state socialism. The Buryats make their current calamities meaningful by placing them within the shifting history of their tragic past. The sense of uncertainty, fear, and disillusionment experienced by the Buryats also characterizes daily life in places other than Mongolia. This study reflects broader anthropological concerns about the emergence of new cultural spaces and practices in former socialist and preindustrial societies undergoing transitions to market economies.

Jundi-Shapur, bimaristans, and the rise of academic medical centres

With the exception of the hospital at Jundi-Shapur, hospitals as we now know them probably were not present prior to 400 AD. Prior to this era, the sanatoria and travel lodges of antiquity were either temples or temple annexes, where the infirm were minded by attendant priests.1 Most of the therapy in these sanatoria consisted of prayers and sacrifices to gods such as Asclepius or Imhotep, and cures were attributed to divine intervention.1,2 The treatments in Greek ‘Asclepia’ and Byzantine ‘Nosocomia’ were rendered as a mixture of shamanistic practices and purgative drugs.2 In contrast, treatments at the Jundi-Shapur hospital and later Islamic bimaristans were based on scientific analysis, in true Hippocratic tradition.1 ‘Bimaristan’ is a word of Persian origin meaning ‘location of disease.’ The bimaristan at Jundi-Shapur served as a stepping stone for future advancements in medical care, hospital organization and structure, medical records, physician and pharmacist licensure, and medical education. Under the patronage of the Islamic empire, near- and middle-easterners both preserved ancient knowledge and flourished to blossom into scientific innovators with originality and productivity in their own right. Following the destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258 AD, and Spain's re-conquest in the late 1400s, many Arab and Persian medical contributions were lost to the west until recently.3 This is particularly true in the case of hospitals and medical education. The bimaristans of yore were similar in philosophy, structure and function to contemporary academic medical centres, and served as a model for those to follow in Europe.

Sustaining the imaginative life: mythology and fantasy in Neil Gaiman’s <i>American gods</i>

This examination of “American gods” argues that mythology is the bedrock for creative and poetic expression in literature that explores and comments on the universality of contemporary human concerns in a world where the spiritual link with the gods has largely been severed and belief systems have mostly lost their meaning. The discussion investigates and identifies the significance of shamanic properties and practices as elements which aid the protagonist Shadow Moon in his journey of self-discovery, and illustrates that the novel’s mythification represents an attempt to “reach below the surface of modern superficialities and reconnect with something old and mysterious within the depths of our soul” (Freke, 1999:6). Gaiman’s unique style in conveying tales that have fashioned the past, the manner in which he evokes the meeting-place of science, fantasy, myth, and magic, and the synthesis he fashions between the ancient and the modern illustrate that the imaginative life is sustained by the incorporation of mythical motifs as creative device. The blending of mythical elements in “American gods” and its restorative project of putting the reader in touch with the profound inner spiritual world validate investigation.

Cultural Landscapes in the Ancient Andes: Archaeologies of Place (review)

MOORE, IERRY D. Cultural Landscapes in the Ancient Andes: Archaeologies of Place. Gainesville: U of Florida P, 2005. 304 pages.As the subtitle indicates, Jerry Moore's book is about archaeologies of place, but the problems he deals with are not limited to the specifically identifiable places that most often concern archaeologists. As an archaeologist, Moore's primary objects of analyses are the material objects and places of ancient Andean societies, but he argues that they must be understood in the context of social space. Of course, this is not new to archaeology: the goal of all archaeological analysis ultimately is to attempt to understand other cultures. Moore argues, however, that the only way to do so is through an anthropological holism that takes into consideration the various domains implicated in the architecture and the built environment of ancient societies. Moore explains that traditional archaeological research, including his own, has not sufficiently developed this anthropological holism, and the tour central chapters of his book develop lines of analysis that have been neglected in Andean archaeology.Following the introduction, the second chapter attempts to demonstrate how the consideration of sound can be incorporated into archaeological analysis. In order to demonstrate the significance of sound, Moore argues that the relationship between proximity of sound-permeable dwellings correlates to degrees of social cohesion: communities of closely situated huts where conversations were easily overheard reflect a high degree of social cohesion, while the dispersion of huts over greater distances indicates the presence of social tension. Moore recognizes that there are other possible reasons why huts might be dispersed, but in general his data seem to support the correlation between degrees of proximity and degrees of social cohesion.The third chapter argues that types of ceremonial architecture correspond to varying social conceptions of religious (118). Moore hypothesizes that permanent, large-scale, public architecture is not consistent with religious authority based on shamanic practices but rather indicates either a religious authority based on the mastery of a canon of knowledge or some other kind of political authority. The premise of this argument is that different conceptions of power and authority employ distinct modes of practice and are therefore materially expressed in distinct (120). In support, Moore presents ethnographic evidence from a number of contemporary South American societies that corroborates his hypothesis.The fourth chapter draws on ritual theory to explore the ways in which an understanding of ritual may inform archaeological analysis and vice versa. Moore explains that the design logic of types of architecture corresponds to types of ritual practices. …

That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewsFull AccessThat's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a PsychiatristEva Szigethy M.D., Ph.D.Eva Szigethy M.D., Ph.D.Search for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 May 2006https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2006.57.5.739AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail The book That's How the Light Gets In chronicles one woman's reflections on her life journey to gain insight as a way of enriching her current interpersonal relationships and understanding her strengths and limitations as a daughter, parent, student, lover, and healer. Her candid account of the trials and tribulations of her life is aimed at inspiring, empowering, and encouraging readers to search for meaning and fulfillment in their own lives. That woman is author Susan Rako, an articulate, experienced psychiatrist. Rako artfully weaves together threads of richly descriptive accounts of defining moments in her life over the past 60-plus years with clever interpretive commentary. The resulting product reflects her creative skills as a storyteller and the depth of her scholarly acumen and clinical wisdom. As foreshadowed in the title—taken from a quote from Leonard Cohen, "There is a crack, a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in"—the author courageously invites readers deep into her psyche to facilitate exploration of their own strengths and weaknesses as a means to reach their fullest potential.Several factors account for the book's success in reaching its objectives. First, Rako convincingly portrays the strong positive and negative emotional valences associated with her narrative accounts that contribute to consolidating these images into permanent, formative memories. Throughout the book, the author stresses the importance of recognizing and embracing "guilt, relief, fear, wonder" as critical, if at times painful, aspects of human growth.Second, her ability to draw from clinical insights (both her own therapy as well as work with her patients) and from relevant philosophies and quotations of inspirational authors, teachers, and mentors provides an important structural framework to understand her evolution throughout the book, both as a clinician and as a person.Third, Rako's openness about which therapeutic relationships and modalities are most successful in her self-evolution lends credibility to the more general conclusions she draws about human behavior. Her eclectic approach—which embraces aspects of classical psychoanalysis, object relations theory, Jungian therapy, and even the Cherokee shamanic practice of guided meditation—reminds the reader of the importance of remaining open to new ideas as a way to keep passion and vitality alive both in their lives and with their patients.The book predominantly targets a female readership and offers inspirational insights to women at all stages of their developmental trajectory. Students, healers, mothers, and patients alike will find themes that resonate with their own experience. Rako addresses issues such as working through a bad relationship with her parents, searching for surrogate parents throughout life, balancing motherhood and career goals, finding spirituality in the most unlikely places, and understanding the importance of women who stand up for themselves, pursue their dreams on their own terms, and find fulfillment in their lives, regardless of how many "cracks" they perceive for themselves. Rako is certainly qualified to address these difficult issues. She trained as a psychiatrist at Harvard's Massachusetts Mental Health Center and had a thriving private therapy practice for more than 30 years. She is a recognized author and advocate for women's health issues. The trajectory of the author's life—from a shy, introspective, compliant child to an independent thinker and doer willing to challenge existing stereotypes about female societal roles, religious practice, and motherhood—is best captured by a quote from Carl Jung ( 1 ) that echoes throughout the book: "Follow that will and that way that experience confirms to be your own." In summary, this book is a refreshing reminder of each person's potential to take the negative and positive fragments of life and create a cohesive, satisfying life narrative with the plasticity to keep growing and changing until death, or, as the author paraphrases Winnicott, "to be alive when I die."Dr. Szigethy is assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Transcendence, Power and Regeneration in Tamang Shamanic Practice

This article analyzes (1) the production of magical or symbolic power and (2) symbolic processes of transcendence in the rituals of Tamang shamans of highland Nepal, rituals that seek to transform the afflicted from abject subjects to active agents. In convergence with Terence Turner’s theoretical contributions to the study of ritual, this article argues that magical power produced by Tamang shamans in curative soundings as well as collective pilgrimages is a form of ‘alienated consciousness’ made possible through ritual processes of symbolic transcendence. I argue that shamans or bombo, through their transcendent moves, deconstruct orders produced elsewhere in socio-ritual life and, in the process, expose the constructedness or arbitrariness of those orders, laying the groundwork for transformation of afflicted subjects from abject to agential states both individually and collectively.

Conservation of the Biological and Cultural Diversity of the Colombian Amazon Piedmont: Dr. Schultes’ Legacy

Richard Evans Schultes, the father of modern ethnobotany,arrived in Colombia in 1941. Over a period of 50 years,Schultes carried out the most extensive research of hisera on the plants and cultures of the Colombian part ofthe Northwest Amazon. His invaluable work stands outnot only for its scientific excellence, but because he wasthe first researcher to emphasize the important role tobe played by ethnobiology in the coming years. Evenin Schultes’ time, ethnobotanists across the world werepressed to recognize the importance of focusing on boththe conservation of the Amazon jungle and of its inhabitantcultures, societies which serve as repositories ofknowledge about many medicinal substances with greatpotential application for the Western world. Schultes tookdirect action, strongly urging the research community tocease expeditions having the sole purpose of searchingfor new medicines; instead, he insisted on the need totrain professionals willing to share life with the peoples ofthe tropical jungles. Dr. Schultes worked to transform abotany increasingly concerned with economic potentialsinto an ethnobotany with heart. The Amazon piedmontis the world’s region of greatest biodiversity, as well ashome to one of the last surviving ancient shamanic traditions,the yagé culture, which comprises five distinct ethnicgroups. The yagé culture preserves a comprehensiveset of shamanic practices, including the ritual use of theirsacred plant, yagé or ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis sp.),alongside a vast knowledge of the jungle and its medicinalplants. With the enthusiastic support of ethnobotanistMark Plotkin, one of Schultes’ dearest disciples and Presidentof The Amazon Conservation Team, we have implementeda program that seeks the protection, recuperationand strengthening of the indigenous cultures of the Amazonpiedmont. We believe that their knowledge and practices,as well as their shamanic systems, are extremelyimportant and useful for biodiversity conservation and forexpanding the scope of health models around the world.The diverse programs of the Amazon Conservation Teamhave a common objective: to engender a true interculturaldialogue between traditional indigenous knowledgeand Western science. Thus, our program in Colombia hasdeveloped an integrated strategy for biodiversity and culturalconservation that includes shamans and apprenticesprograms, construction of ceremonial houses, planting ofmedicinal gardens, sacred lands reclamation, ethno-educationand sustainable production projects, in each casein concordance with the shamans’ guidance. The culminationof our recent work was the historic gathering of fortyindigenous healers from 7 tribes across the ColombianAmazon, surviving practitioners of one of the last greatshamanic traditions. The participating elders producedthe first code of ethics of traditional medicine of the ColombianAmazon, which was published with the title “TheBeliefs of the Elders.”

Singing story, healing drum: shamans and storytellers of Turkic Siberia

A lively and personal account of the shamanic practices, mythology, and arts of Turkic Siberia, illuminating Siberia

EEG Gamma Coherence and Other Correlates of Subjective Reports During Ayahuasca Experiences

The current study examined QEEG power and coherence of ayahuasca experiences with two experienced participants in a Brazilian jungle setting. An exploratory case series design was adopted for naturalistic field research. EEGs recorded during visual imagery was compared to eyesclosed baselines. The most important findings were increases in global EEG coherence in the 36–44 Hz and 50–64 Hz frequency bands for both subjects. Widely distributed cortical hyper-coherence seems reasonable given the intense synesthesia during ayahuasca experiences. Other findings include increased modal EEG alpha frequency and global power decreases across the cortex in most frequency bands, which concur with the EEG of psychedelics literature. Exploratory analysis revealed the usefulness of analyzing single Hz bins over the standard wide-band analysis. The discovery-oriented naturalistic approach developed for this study resulted in potentially important findings. We believe that finding increases in global gamma coherence during peak psychedelic experiences might contribute to the discussion of binding theory. Also, in light of recent research with gamma coherence during advanced meditative conditions, our findings might further the comparison of shamanic psychedelic practices with meditation.

Divination and healing: potent vision

Divination is an important feature of cultures all over the world. While some may still question the efficacy of divination systems, they continue to serve their communities by diagnosing ailments, prescribing healing treatments, and solving problems. Yet despite their universality, there are relatively few comprehensive studies of divination systems. This volume seeks to fill this gap regarding the use of divination in healing. Here some of the world's leading authorities draw on their own fieldwork and participation in ritual to present detailed case studies, demonstrating that divination rituals can have therapeutic effects. As the contributors examine the systems of knowledge that divination articulates and survey the varieties of divinatory experience, they seek to analyze divination as an epistemological system, as a social process, and as a therapeutic endeavor. While some of their findings reinforce traditional assumptions about the importance of social control, spirit relations, and community support in the divination process, the authors place these considerations within new epistemological frameworks that emphasize the use of alternative modes of knowing. In this wide-ranging volume, readers will find coverage of classic Ifa systems; Buddhist-influenced shamanic practices in the former Soviet Union; the reconciliation of Muslim beliefs and divinatory practices in Thailand; Native American divination used in diagnosis; Maya calendrical divination in Guatemala; mediumistic and chicken oracle divination among the Sukuma of Tanzania; Ndembu divination, focusing on the process of collective healing; and divination among the Samburu (Maasai) of Kenya, featuring dialogues from actual healing sessions. Together, these contributions argue for new perspectives on the study of divination that emphasize not only the epistemological roots of these systems but also their multifaceted therapeutic functions. Divination and Healing is a rich source of both data and insight for scholars of ritual, religion, medical anthropology, and the psychology of altered states of consciousness.

Gary Snyderís American-Asian Shamanism

In Kyoto on 15 June 1956, in the second month of first long sojourn in Asia, the young Gary Snyder (1930-) already found evidence of what he called shamanism: Leaving the temple this morning walked by a small fox shrine where a Zen monk was chanting: there I heard the subtle steady single-beat of oldest shamanism. basic song (Earth 35). passage indicates that Snyder sensed traces of shamanism in both contemporary Japanese Buddhism and Shintoism, since the chant was uttered by a Buddhist monk, whereas the shrine's fox-spirit image represents a Shinto kami. (1) passage also reveals that Snyder's belief in shamanism includes an intercontinental feature: Shamanism is American-Asian, an epithet that links shamanistic practices in American-Indian and Asian traditions. Furthermore, behind the American-Asian epithet lies Snyder's belief that the Pacific Rim forms a single cultural zone and a single bioregion. (2) present essay will try to answer the following questions. How does Snyder's personal belief in shamanism both coincide with and deviate from concepts of shamanism generally accepted by scholars in the fields of religion, anthropology, psychology, and literature? What role does shamanism play in Snyder's system of thought? What deities, spirits, and figures in Snyder's writings are presented as shamans and shamanesses? What impact does Snyder's knowledge of shamanistic ritual exert on the structure and meaning of poems? Finally, how does he carry belief in shamanism into the activities of life, and how are those activities depicted and presented in poems? I SNYDER'S BELIEF IN SHAMANISM We have to bear in mind that Snyder is by no means an amateur in the field of myth and ritual theory. When he studied at Reed College, Portland, from 1947 to 1951, he majored in anthropology, and BA thesis on The Dimension of a Haida Myth (3) treats American Indian myth with an emphasis on shamanism and the motif of the swan maiden. Therefore, if some of notions of shamanism deviate from the mainstream of thought on the topic, it should be ascribed to ignorance on part but rather to a need to develop own system of thought, which has incorporated notions of shamanism along with many other religious and philosophical ideas. In order to discern the unique nature of Snyder's ideas, however, it is first necessary to ascertain what concepts of shamanism scholars in various fields generally accept. An all-encompassing definition of shamanism is impossible, since study of the topic has branched out into many disciplines, such as religion, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and literature. Roughly, shamanism may be described as a system of practices ministered by a shaman or shamaness who functions as the healer, prophet, or controller of spirits and as a sorcerer for or her community. Eliade Guide to World Religions defines shamanism as not a religion per se, but a system of ecstatic and therapeutic methods whose purpose is to obtain contact with the parallel yet invisible universe of the spirits and win its support in dealing with human affairs (Eliade, Couliano, and Wiesner 214). Thus, Mircea Eliade considers shamanism to be a set of practices rather than a set of theological ideas. Since the late nineteenth century, many scholars of religion and anthropology have made field trips to study the shamanistic practices of tribes in Siberia, on American Indian reservations, in south Asia, or in Africa; the tribes were isolated from and relatively untouched by modern civilizations. Largely drawing conclusions from such field studies, Eliade holds that a shaman is a great master of ecstasy, who is able to control his helping spirits, in the sense that he is able to communicate with the dead, demons, and nature spirits without thereby becoming their instrument (Eliade, Adams, et al. …

The Ritual Use of Brugmansia Species in Traditional Andean Medicine in Northern Peru

This paper reports the use of Brugmansia species (Solanaceae) in traditional practices of shamans (curanderos) of Northern Peruvian Andes. The field study permitted the classification of a number of species and/or their hybrids used for both curative and psychotropic activities. There is evidence of a folk systematics in this genus that constitutes a very important phenomenon for its therapeutic-divinatory, phytotherapeutical, and ritual (in initiation and black magic rites) uses.

Psychiatry in Australia

Psychiatry has been practised in Australia in one form or another since the peopling of the continent, originally with the practices of the Aboriginal shamans, and later with the psychiatric treatment necessitated by convict transportation.Over most of the last half-century psychiatry has been administered by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.There are over 2 000 psychiatrists in Australia, and num- bers are expected to increase in future.As in many other countries, there is ongoing pressure between the private and public sectors, with endemic under- funding of public and community services.Despite its small number of practitioners and relative isola- tion from major centres, Australian psychiatry has a distin- guished record in the field of research. The most famous dis- covery, by John Cade, was the use of lithium for treatment of mania.Recently governments at state and federal level have acknowledged the effect of psychiatric illness on patients and their families. This has led to the development of pro- grammes to improve public information and eliminate preju- dice.It is anticipated that the practice of psychiatry will flourish in Australia and that the country will remain a leading centre of excellence in psychiatric research and training.

Les tuurngait dans le Nunavik occidental contemporain

Dans la région d’Inukjuak l’existence des tuurngait s’inscrit dans la cosmologie et dans l’expérience inuit contemporaine mais elle n’est plus associée à l’angakkuq (le chamane inuit) comme cela semble être le cas ailleurs dans l’Arctique. La réalité de ces êtres non-humains repose sur les conceptions du monde qui imprègnent la totalité du social et du culturel. En maintenant les relations entre les humains et les non-humains, les rencontres et les récits impliquant des tuurngait affirment et établissent des aspects de la vision du monde inuit. Les transformations résultant de l’adoption du christianisme par les Inujjuamiut ne semblent donc pas avoir complètement atteint leurs représentations fondamentales du monde. Ainsi, des conceptions qui étaient à la base des pratiques chamaniques demeurent importantes jusqu’à ce jour et elles se manifestent, entre autres choses, à travers la réalité des tuurngait.

Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology

AbstractNeurotheological approaches provide an important bridge between scientific and religious perspectives. These approaches have, however, generally neglected the implications of a primordial form of spiritual healing—shamanism. Cross‐cultural studies establish the universality of shamanic practices in hunter‐gatherer societies around the world and across time. These universal principles of shamanism reflect underlying neurological processes and provide a basis for an evolutionary theology. The shamanic paradigm involves basic brain processes, neurognostic structures, and innate brain modules. This approach reveals that universals of shamanism such as animism, totemism, soul flight, animal spirits, and death‐and‐rebirth experiences reflect fundamental brain operations and structures of consciousness. The shamanic paradigm can contribute to a reconciliation of scientific and religious perspectives by providing a universalistic biopsychosocial framework that explicates the biological underpinnings of spiritual experiences and practices and provides a basis for neurotheology and evolutionary theology approaches.

Matters of Life and Death: The Story of Elijah and the Widow's Son in Comparative Perspective

AbstractThis paper examines the concept of death projected by 1 Kgs 17:17-24 and other accounts of miraculous resuscitation. Viewed as a medical case history, Elijah's reviving of the widow's son raises difficult questions. Was the boy really dead, "only mostly dead," or merely gravely ill? Scholars often answer such questions by claiming that ancient Israelites did not consider corpses "to be 'totally' dead for a couple of days," and regarded death as "an enfeebled form of life." This paper challenges these claims by comparing Elijah's actions to those of other biblical and ancient Greek healers, as well as to Mesopotamian and shamanic healing practices. Why do healers like Elijah end up getting into bed with their patients? Examples in modern stories by Flaubert and Kafka reveal the kinship between the healer and the scapegoat, and suggest that miraculous healers tend to display narcissistic personality traits. Analysis of Greek sources and the Mount Horeb episode (1 Kings 19) indicates that this may also be the case for ancient healers like Elijah, Empedocles, and Asclepius, and that narcissism is itself a defense against death.

Iboga's Travel: questions raised by shamanic experience as a project of artistic exploration

Iboga's Travel is the title of a global project which was conceived after a Gabonese initiation into ‘Bwiti’. The Bwiti is one of the few secret shamanic practices forced to open itself to the outside world by the disappearance of the Equatorial forest. Its traditions remain alive in Gabon, but it has to adapt to the changes brought by cultural globalization. The Bwiti is a rite in which the sacred and revealing plant called ‘iboga’ plays a central role. It leads to visions supposed to widen the power of consciousness. Iboga's Travel can be analysed both in its political and spiritual dimensions. What questions the current globalization process is the author's very unusual presence in the Bwiti, and also when she obtained access to their traditional knowledge. This globalization has contradictory aspects, since it endangers the forest-based healing and initiation traditions on the one hand, and opens it up to the outside world on the other. This experience turned out to be a lot more than the political act that it was in the beginning. It showed us another way of comprehending our world. Making art about it was the author's own way of documenting this experience.