Shamanic Rites Seen from a Shamanic Perspective
Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis January 1, 1993 Jonathan Horwitz 3 citations
Previous research on shamanic rites has captured only part of the phenomenon. To understand it fully, scholars must examine the rite's content from the shaman's own perspective, treating the shaman's descriptions as valid accounts of experience. Outside observers have historically dismissed these experiences as religious faith, imagination, superstition, or performance because their own conception of reality was too narrow. The shaman's work is fundamentally experiential, and accepting that experience as real is essential for a complete understanding.