Becoming a Shaman: Narratives of Apprenticeship and Initiation in Contemporary Shamanism

This article, based on an open-question survey completed in 2018, engages with McAdams and Manczak’s approaches to life stories (2015) and Mayer’s ten elements of the shaman myth (2008) to explore the way contemporary people based in the UK, who define themselves as shamans, talk about their becomin...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ivanescu, Carolina (Author) ; Berentzen, Sterre (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: MDPI [2020]
In: Religions
Year: 2020, Volume: 11, Issue: 3
Further subjects:B agency and hierarchy
B Apprenticeship
B narrative construction
B UK
B contemporary western shamans
B Initiation
B traditional and neo-shamanism
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This article, based on an open-question survey completed in 2018, engages with McAdams and Manczak’s approaches to life stories (2015) and Mayer’s ten elements of the shaman myth (2008) to explore the way contemporary people based in the UK, who define themselves as shamans, talk about their becoming a shaman. Individual narratives point out the intricate meeting points between different shamanic traditions and the importance of continuous innovation. They highlight the complex network of human and beyond-human authority and problematize the place, meaning and agency of the self. Contemporary shamanism is a widespread, manifold and multifaceted phenomenon, which we argue is not as different from traditional forms of shamanism as some studies suggest.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3390/rel11070362