shamanism

Shamanism, Between Tradition and Modernity

Response
Tancredi Marrone and Andrej Kapcar, in their response to our interview with Bernd Brabec de Mori and Olivia Marcus, unpack common assumptions about ayahuasca and shamanism and outline the benefits of decolonizing current approaches and understandings.

The African Shaman: Some Qualifications

Response
Research methods are at the crux of James Cox's response to Episode 334. " By combining the techniques of epoché and empathetic interpolation," Cox argues, "the researcher conveys respect for the beliefs, practices, and alternate therapies forming the African worldview without either sanctioning or refuting them."

Exploring African Shamanism and White Sangomas in South Africa

Podcast
In this episode Maxinne speaks with Dr. Ullrich Relebogilwe Kleinhempel who shares some interesting personal and academic insights into researching White Sangomas and Bantu Shamanism in South Africa.

Editors’ Picks, Summer 2018: Studying the “off-the-beaten-track”

Response
In the fourth of our editors' picks, Ray Radford takes "the soppy route on this choice, as David Robertson's interview with David Wilson on 'Spiritualism and Shamanism' was the very first interview/podcast I heard from the RSP way back in my days as an undergrad. This podcast (along with some amazing lecturers and tutors) helped cement that religious studies was the right choice.

Sámi Shamanism – Up Close and Personal

Response
Riddu Riddu has been important for the Sámi population as a meeting place as well as for people who have lost their connection to the Sámi and wish to learn. In his RSP interview, David Gordon Wilson tells us why he started studying spiritualism and shamanism, his relation to shamanism now, and general problems one may face while studying these subjects.

Spiritualism and Shamanism

Podcast
Wilson's 'apprenticeship' model not only gives us a way to conceptualise shamanism without recourse to sui generis discourse, but draws interesting parallels between indigenous cultures and the somewhat hidden world of heterodox religious practices in the West.

Superhero Shamans and Magickal Scribes: Appraising the study of Religion and Comics

Response
"Wright (2007), for example, has suggested that, “the modern superhero is a contemporary manifestation of the ancient shamanic role” (2007:127). While Pedler has argued that, “Morrison’s mission [...is] to make our reality as interesting as theirs, as surreal, full of every potential and possibility” (Pedler, 2009:264), making them, in effect, shamanic fictions."

Marx, Spiritualism and Power

Response
I begin this response to Titus Hjelm’s discussion of the continuing relevance of Marxist approaches to the study of religion by noting his assertion that Marx is underemployed as a source of ideas, partly because he has generally been regarded as critical of religion. A number of additional reasons are also relevant. One difficulty for Marxist scholars has been the extent to which the predictive power of Marxist models was brought into question as the twentieth century unfolded.
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