Shamanism

Born in Bucharest in 1907, Mircea Eliade was for many years Sewell L. Avery Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. He is author of, among other books, "Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism, Myth of the Eternal Return", and "Yoga: Immortality and Freedom" (all Princeton). Wendy Doniger is Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. Her books include "The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade, The Implied Spider", and "Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India". Her translations of such texts as "The Rig Veda, The Law of Manu", and the "Kamasutra" have garnered wide praise.

Forward to the 2004 Edition xi Foreward xvii Note on Othography xxix CHAPTER 1: General Considerations. Recruiting Methods. Shamanism and Mystical Vocation 3 CHAPTER 2: Initiatory Sickness and Dreams 33 CHAPTER 3: Obtaining Shamanic Powers 67 CHAPTER 4: Shamanic Initiation 110 CHAPTER 5: Symbolism of the Shaman's Costume and Drum 145 CHAPTER 6: Shamanism in Central and North Asia: I. Celestial Ascents. Descents to the Underworld 181 CHAPTER 7: Shamanism in Central and North Asia: II. Magial Cures. The Shaman as Psychopomp 215 CHAPTER 8: Shamanism and Cosmology 259 CHAPTER 9: Shamanism in North and South America 288 CHAPTER 10: Southeast Asian and Oceanian Shamanism 337 CHAPTER 11: Shamanic Ideologies and Techniques among the Indo-Europeans 375 CHAPTER 12: Shamanic Symbolisms and Techniques in Tibet, China, and the Far East 428 CGAPTER 13: Parallel Myths, Symbols, and Rites 466 CHAPTER 14: Conclusion 495 Epilogue 508 List of Works Cited 513 Index 571