Shamanism: An Introduction

by Margaret Stutley

Shamanism is one of the earliest and farthest-reaching magical and religious traditions, vestiges of which still underlie the major religious faiths of the modern world. The function of the shaman is to show his or her people the unseen powers behind the mere appearances of nature, as experienced through intuition, in trance states, or during ecstatic mystical visions. Shamans possess healing powers, communicate with the dead and the world beyond, and influence the weather and movements of hunting animals. The psychological exaltation of shamanism trance states is similar to the ecstasies of Yogis, Christian mystics and dervishes. An Introduction traces the development of shamanism in its many fascinating global manifestations. Looking at shamanic practices from Siberia to China and beyond, it provides an accessible guide to one of the world's most ancient, notorious and frequently misrepresented spiritual traditions. Placing special emphasis on the climate, geographic and cultural pressures under which shanic customs arose and continue to be observed, Margaret Stutley summarizes and clearly explains the logic of a faith whose fantastical elements hold a special place in popular imagination.

148 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2002

Reviews

[Completelybanned · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best for the total novice or someone interested in dredging bibliographies, Stutley's introduction offers a wealth of detail and a disappointing lack of synthesis. Stutley begins her book strong: in her introduction she describes her focus on Eurasia, defines shamanism, and explores some of the meta-problems inherent to studying shamanism. From there, she plunges into the vast panoply of traditions and practices of eurasian shamanism. Here, I think she attempts to balance an intellectually conservative approach of merely describing shamanistic traditions with a more interpretive approach which emphasizes the comparison of traditions and their exegesis. It is up to the reader whether she succeeds. Frequently, this dips into frustratingly long, esoteric chapters such as "Deities and Spirits" and "The Shaman's Costume." Although certain concepts come across as important (e.g. the world tree, reanimation, and spirit-animals), Stutley's attempts to avoid over-simplification often muddle the subject matter further. Granted, she has not been given an easy task, considering that many of these traditions are totally separate and distinct from the spiritual-religious traditions of a majority of readers. In conclusion, Stutely's introduction suffers from a lack of meta-discussion and synthesis. Looking at all these features, which are most salient from a emic perspective? What kind of cultural areas exist? What are contemporary shamans doing? How are they revitalizing their traditions across Eurasia? How meaningful is 'shamanism' as a category? Can shamanistic traditions be compared globally, or will this only obscure local patterns?

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Margaret Stutley is a scholar of comparative religions interested in, among other things, the religious practices of northern Europe (the Saami people) and Central Asia–Siberia (Turkic-, Mongolic- and Tungusic-speaking peoples) that share many features and have come to be labelled under “shamanism”. This 2002 work aims to present an overview of these traditions to people without prior knowledge of the field. Unfortunately, it is one of the most confused and misleading books I have ever seen published by an academic press.

The first thing the reader will notice is that this is not a coherent, flowing text at all. Stutley has simply thrown a series of factual assertions onto the page without linking it all together. From one paragraph to the next -- or even within paragraphs -- she suddenly jumps from one subject to another, or from one people in one area to another people many thousands of kilometres away.

Another appalling tendency is for Stutley to bring up a particular tradition (for example, the koori bird) without even mentioning what people it is from. Failing to link specific trends with specific peoples feels like dishonest scholarship, reducing all these individual traditions, each with its own distinctions, to a generic oversimplification. Where, oh where, was Routledge's editor in this sorry production?

As a linguist specializing in a language family (Uralic) many of whose speakers have historically pursued shamanism, I know that many aspects of texts gathered from these peoples in the 19th century and later are debated. Stutley never grapples with these contentious accounts. Furthermore, some of her citations, at least to judge by the Uralistics ones I am familiar with, are to dodgy, second-rate scholarship. My jaw hit the floor in one passage where she unquestionally passes along a claim by some Soviet ethnographers that Siberian shamans are capable of true ESP-level telepathy between each other over long distances.

Stay far away from this book. If you want to read accounts of shamanism based on both rigorous firsthand fieldwork and grappling with the philological issues of collected texts, then Anna-Leena Siikala’s bibliography is worth looking through, though her works are not quite as accessible as the “An Introduction” which Stutley's book was meant to serve as.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic introduction to shamanism, although it does come across as not as in-depth as the neophyte might want to go. A decent starting place. Read more here: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[Nrtashi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is pretty useless as it is;constant arrogant remarks directed against monotheisms(Christanity in particular) don't make it any better.