Shamanic Worlds: Rituals and Lore of Siberia and Central Asia

by Marjorie M. Balzer (Editor)

The ancient heartland of shamanism is no longer forbidden territory - to travelers or to the spirits. But the spirits never left the vastnesses of Siberia and Central Asia, as these writings reveal. Russian and native experts, and an American cultural anthropologist who has done fieldwork in the region, introduce us to shamans as the poets, therapists, healers, and even leaders of their communities. Among the special features of this collection are remarkable transcriptions of shamanic exhortations and a pathbreaking study of shamanic tales and rituals.

Genres: Anthropology

292 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1996

About the author

Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer is a Faculty Fellow in the School of Foreign Service at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, of Georgetown University

Reviews

[Begum Sacak Sarilar]

This book is a comprehensive account of how Shamanism has been practiced until today. It was impressive to see how beliefs are shaped in certain ways in terms of needs of certain societies. The book is divided into different sections which include different societies practicing shamanism. The book gives much information about how rituals are performed, what shamans do and how challenging it is for them to preserve their ancient beliefs. As a person familiar with Turkic cultures, I enjoyed the section about Turks living in Siberia and the way they practice their belief. It is also amazing to see how modern religions still have traces of this ancient belief and how modern day shamans/shamanes carry on their beliefs by merging it with modern religions. I would recommend this book to those who have been wondering about what shamanism is and what cultural roots underlie them.

[Kelland]

Only a little about Kazakh / central asian. Mostly about Siberian ethnic groups