Altered States of Consciousness in North American Indian Ceremonials
Ethos December 1, 1982 Wolfgang G. Jilek 58 citations
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Wolfgang G. Jilek
University of British Columbia
4 papers in the library · 64 citations · publishing 1982-2021
Papers
The Renaissance of Shamanic Dance in Indian Populations of North America
Diogenes June 1, 1992 Wolfgang G. Jilek 5 citations
Paleolithic migrants crossing the Bering land bridge from Siberia to North America between 80,000 and 7,000 b.c. brought shamanic practices that prevailed until European colonization 400 years ago. Colonial authorities and some modern experts have misrepresented shamans as charlatans, imposters, or mentally ill, a Eurocentric fallacy rooted in misinterpretations of altered states of consciousness during rituals. Legal suppression of shamanic ceremonies in the United States intensified after the Ghost Dance, a shaman-inspired movement originating in the Prophet Dance of the Pacific Northwest, which culminated in the Sioux uprising of 1890 and the tragedy of Wounded Knee.
Culture and Psychopathology Revisited
Culture December 2, 2021 Wolfgang G. Jilek 1 citation
Cultural factors can cause mental illness, especially during rapid social change. Specific conditions arise in different groups: anomic depression among North American Indians and transient psychotic reactions (bouffée délirante) among Africans. Beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery often shape psychotic symptoms in marginalized Africans and tradition-bound Southern Europeans. So-called culture-bound syndromes emerge, transform, and spread epidemically under shifting socioeconomic and political conditions. Ritualized possession, trance states, and religious rituals should be distinguished from psychopathological phenomena to avoid Eurocentric and positivistic errors in psychiatric diagnosis.
Psychohygienic and therapeutic aspects of the Salish guardian spirit ceremonial
cIRcle (University of British Columbia) January 1, 2011 Wolfgang G. Jilek
The Coast Salish guardian spirit complex historically combined the spirit quest of Plateau tribes with secret society features of Northwest Coast culture. After suppression by church and government following White intrusion, spirit dancing revived in the Fraser Valley. Altered states of consciousness were essential to traditional ceremonies, with spirit illness serving as a stereotyped prelude to public spirit powers. Today, this illness often fuses with psychophysiologic symptoms amid cultural deprivation, termed anomic depression. Diagnosis as spirit illness allows re-identification with aboriginal culture through initiation, which uses shock, sensory deprivation, and indoctrination for personality depatterning.