Manvir Singh, an assistant professor of anthropology at UC Davis and a contributor to The New Yorker, discusses the primal nature of shamanism and its connection to modern religions. He argues that shamanism is a universal psychological phenomenon, seen in various cultures despite differing practices. Singh shares insights from his fieldwork with the Mentawai tribe, illustrating the richness of their shamanic traditions. The conversation delves into the blending of shamanic elements in Christianity and the growing appeal of shamanism in contemporary spiritual practices.
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insights INSIGHT
Core Traits Define Shamanism
Manvir Singh defines shamanism by three traits: entering trance, engaging unseen agents, and providing services like healing.
These core features justify considering shamanism a form of religion, though distinct from organized religion.
insights INSIGHT
Shamanism as Religion
Shamanism involves belief in supernatural agents and engaging them to manage misfortune.
It lacks institutional dogma but still meets core religion criteria argued by religious studies scholars.
insights INSIGHT
Moral Dimension in Shamanism
Shamanism has moral dimensions, often enforcing behaviors like sharing within clans.
Moral scope expands in more recent religions but has likely existed in shamanic beliefs historically.
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Manvir Singh's "Shamanism, The Timeless Religion" delves into the widespread and enduring phenomenon of shamanism across various cultures and historical periods. The book likely explores the core practices, beliefs, and social roles associated with shamanism, examining how shamans act as intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds. It may also investigate the altered states of consciousness, healing rituals, and cosmological frameworks that characterize shamanistic traditions. By taking a cross-cultural approach, Singh likely identifies common themes and variations in shamanic practices, shedding light on the universal aspects of human spirituality and the diverse ways in which people seek to connect with the supernatural. The book aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of shamanism as a persistent and influential aspect of human culture, offering insights into its relevance in both traditional and contemporary contexts.
Today Razib talks to Manvir Singh about shamanism, religion and anthropology. Singh is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis. An artist and essayist, he is also now a regular contributor to The New Yorker. His academic interests lie in explaining why most human societies, from preliterate foragers to urbanites, develop cultural phenomena like “witchcraft, origin myths, property rights, sharing norms, lullabies, dance music, and gods.” He just came out with his first book, Shamanism: The Timeless Religion.
First Razib asks what Singh exactly means by shamanism, and whether it is a religion or not. Singh argues that shamanism is religion, that in some ways it is the primal religion. While many would contrast institutional religions like Christianity with shamanism, Singh points out that even Christianity includes shamanic practices, as in the Acts of the Apostles, or in some of the Pentecostal sects of Protestantism. He also discusses how his theoretical understanding of religion was complemented by field-work among the Mentawai tribe of Indonesia, who have a rich shamanic tradition. Razib then foregrounds the question of whether shamanism was invented in a particular place and time, like Siberia as argued by some 20th-century scholars, or whether it is universal in our psychology. Singh argues for the latter position, illustrating the fact that many cultures seem to lose shamanism when the number of adherents falls low enough, but that they seem to regain it once their popularity bounces back. Humanity’s shamanic impulse is always there, at the ready. Razib and Singh also discuss the ubiquity of shamanic practices across East Asia, especially in Korea and Japan. In the latter society, shamanism forms the foundation of one of the people’s two major religions, Shinto. Finally, they address the role of psychedelic drugs in the emergence of shamanism cross-culturally.
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