The Beauty of the Primitive
July 1, 2007
Andrei A. Znamenski
2 citations
In the United States around the 1970s, the countercultural revolution waned, and many spiritual seekers grew tired of psychedelic and communal lifestyles, turning instead toward natural, individual spirituality. Anthropologist Michael Harner, grounded in the countercultural community, experimented with drugless spiritual techniques from native North American, Siberian, and Sami traditions, using drumming, rattling, chanting, and guided meditation. His workshops gained popularity, and in 1980 he founded the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, the first school of modern shamanism, which organizes and disseminates archaic knowledge worldwide. This chapter discusses neo-shamanism in Europe and North America and Harner's spiritual experiences.
The Beauty of the Primitive
July 1, 2007
Andrei A. Znamenski
1 citation
Since the 1960s, growing attention to shamanism in humanities and popular culture is linked to Mircea Eliade and Carlos Castaneda. Eliade, a Romanian philosopher and religious scholar, published the first major treatise on shamanism, which became an academic bestseller after its revised English translation in 1964. Castaneda, also an immigrant, published an experiential novel in 1968 that captivated spiritual seekers and inspired literary emulators, later becoming an informal apostle of the New Age community. This chapter discusses their contributions to shamanology and places them in the historical context that fueled rising interest in shamanism.
The Beauty of the Primitive
July 1, 2007
Andrei A. Znamenski
Carlos Castaneda's first book, The Teachings of Don Juan, and two subsequent texts were presented as anthropological accounts, lending them credibility. Because the accounts came from the Sonoran Desert, they appeared authentic to readers. Castaneda's refusal to specify character identities added intrigue, allowing readers to imagine or find cultural parallels. Castaneda and Don Juan became attractive cultural and intellectual models that inspired spiritual seekers to replicate their experiences.