Wow! eBook
Redefining Shamanisms: Spiritualist Mediums and Other Traditional Shamans as Apprenticeship Outcomes
Author(s): David Gordon Wilson (Author)
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Publication Date: 31 Jan. 2013
- Language: English
- Print length: 272 pages
- ISBN-10: 1441159509
- ISBN-13: 9781441159502
Book Description
This volume analyses the development of shamanism (communication with the spiritual world) as a concept within North American English-speaking scholarship, with particular focus on Mircea Eliade’s influential cross-cultural presentation of shamanism. By re-examining the work of Sergei Shirokogoroff, one of Eliade’s principal sources, the traditional Evenki shamanic apprenticeship is compared and identified with the new Spiritualist apprenticeship.
The author demonstrates that Spiritualism is best understood as a traditional shamanism, as distinct from contemporary appropriations or neo-shamanisms. He argues that shamanism is the outcome of an apprenticeship in the management of psychic experiences, and which follows the same pattern as that of the apprentice medium. In doing so, the author offers fresh insights into the mechanisms that are key to sustaining mediumship as a social institution.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘This is an elegantly written, original monograph that arguably has singlehandedly resuscitated the study of spiritualism in Religious Studies. It deserves a wide readership and is strongly recommended.’ —
Carole M. Cusack, Associate Professor In The Department Of Studies In Religion At The University Of Sydney, Australia 20120808‘David Gordon Wilson’s ‘insider’ position as a Spiritualist medium affords a unique insight which redefines not only our understanding of shamanism, but also the place of Spiritualism in modern British society. As our appreciation and awareness of the sheer complexity of the religious and spiritual landscape of modern Western society continues to develop this text draws attention to the fact that enchanted otherworldly spiritualities do not exist outside society and everyday life, but emerge from and feed into the social, cultural and physical landscapes they are housed within. In this way Wilson offers insight into not only Spiritualism and shamanism, but into the societies from which they emerge, making this nuanced account of a very particular spiritual practice relevant to our wider understanding of the modern – and far from disenchanted – condition. ‘ —
Sara Mackian, Senior Lecturer In Health And Wellbeing At The Open University, UK 20120808
