Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy

Shamanism is an essential work on the study of this mysterious and fascinating phenomenon. The founder of the modern study of the history of religion, Mircea Eliade, surveys the tradition through two and a half millennia of human history, moving from the shamanic traditions of Siberia and Central Asia-where shamanism was first observed-to North and South America, Indonesia, Tibet, China, and beyond. In this authoritative survey, Eliade illuminates the magico-religious life of societies that give primacy of place to the figure of the shaman-at once magician and medicine man, healer and miracle-doer, priest, mystic, and poet. Synthesising the approaches of psychology, sociology, and ethnology, Shamanism remains the reference book of choice for those interested in this practice.

‘Eliade writes of the shamans with [a] masterly combination of sympathy and detachment.’ - New York Times Book Review

‘Eliade is the most informative guide to the modern mythologies.’ - Frank Kermode, New Statesman

‘A close and detailed yet comparative study of shamanism…[It] has become the standard work on the subject.’ - Times Literary Supplement

‘Clearly the best work on Shamanism published so far.’ - Review of Religion