Le chamanisme et les techniques archaïques de l'extase

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E. Jean Matteson Langdon and Gerhard Baer

Shamans and their practices have fascinated Western civilization since publication of the earliest ethnographies. Yet, alien to a positivistic worldview and characterized by hysteria, ecstasy, and magic, shamanism has continued to be classified as vestigial or archaic long after such labels have become meaningless. Lately, a fresh approach has emerged that rejects arbitrary definition in favor of symbolic analysis and native interpretation. Portals of Power explores this new perspective. Researchers from South America, Europe, and the United States examine shamanism in twelve South American societies. In considering such aspects as visionary experience, native conceptions of power, ritual efficacy, expressive culture, and response to change, contributors to this volume present shamanism as an enduring cultural form, rather than an archaic religion. This is a work that transcends debates about "true" shamanism, to present a global view of shamanism as a dynamic aspect of culture.

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Laurel Kendall

I describe in these pages the system of belief and practice I found among women and shamans in and around Enduring Pine Village, Republic of Korea (author).

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Carlos Castaneda

World-renowned bestselling author Carlos Castaneda's Selection of his wrtings on the shamans of ancient Mexico. Originally drawn to Yaqui Indian spiritual leader don Juan Matus for his knowledge of mind-altering plants, bestselling author Carlos Castaneda soon immersed himself in the sorcerer’s magical world entirely. Ten years after his first encounter with the shaman, Castaneda examines his field notes and comes to understand what don Juan knew all along—that these plants are merely a means to understanding the alternative realities that one cannot fully embrace on one’s own. In Journey to Ixtlan, Carlos Castaneda introduces readers to this new approach for the first time and explores, as he comes to experience it himself, his own final voyage into the teachings of don Juan, sharing with us what it is like to truly “stop the world” and perceive reality on his own terms.

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Daniel Salinas

The story of Latin American evangelicals doing theology is mostly unknown. In the 1970's there was an important development with the formation of the Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL). This group spearheaded the theological production in Latin America, marking the beginning of a critical stage in the history of evangelicals in the region. This book deals with the reception history in North America of the FTL and its program. Interamerican theological dialogue is documented and analysed.