Kateřina Petružálková: The Ayahuasca Subculture in Prague Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Department of Cultural Studies, MA Thesis, 95 pages, 2013 The aim of the thesis is to describe the phenomenon of ayahuasca, the sacred amazonian psychotropic beverage. The structure of the thesis is divided into the theoretical and practical part. In the theoretical part the thesis deals with the attributes of ayahuasca, shamanism in the Upper Amazon, globalization of ayahuasca and ayahuasca syncretic churches. It is also described a variety of ritualized usage of ayahuasca and the current position in the Czech Republic. The practical part consists of a qualitative research among the members of ayahuasca subculture in Prague and self reflection of ayahuasca experience. Keywords: ayahuasca, shamanism, Upper Amazon, ritual

Este trabalho propôs analisar a cerâmica ritual produzida pelos Mochica, sociedade que ocupou a costa norte peruana entre os séculos I e VIII d.C., com base em três eixos principais: o papel mediador de personagens geralmente entendidos como xamãs, ou sacerdotes; os rituais de sacrifício humano e os processos de verticalização do poder político; e as dinâmicas de transformação e suas implicações nas relações entre entes humanos e não humanos. Estes temas, observados na iconografia e morfologia dos artefatos estudados, orientaram o processo de identificação dos conjuntos cerâmicos selecionados para esta pesquisa. A análise pautou-se na identificação de atributos de personagens classificados como xamãs, curandeiros e sacerdotes, com o objetivo de problematizar a utilização de tais categorias no estudo da cultura material relacionada às práticas rituais Mochica. O debate sobre xamanismo foi inspirado pela teoria antropológica contemporânea que discute o \"multinaturalismo ameríndio\". A reflexão centrou-se nos conceitos de transição, movimento e transformação, temas estruturantes das práticas xamânicas e organização sociocosmológica andina. / This dissertation proposes the analysis of ritual ceramic produced by the Mochica, society that occupied the Peruvian north coast between I and VIII centuries, based in three main axis: the mediator role of characters commonly interpreted as shamans or priests; the human sacrifices rituals and the increase of political power processes; and the transformation dynamics and their implications in the relations between humans and non-humans. This themes, observed in the iconography e morphology of the artifacts served as guide for the identification process of the selected ceramic conjuncts which were used in this study. The analysis was guided in the identification of characters classified as shamans, healers and priests, with the objective of problematize such categories in the studies of material culture related to Mochica mortuary practices. The debate about shamanism was inspired by contemporary anthropological theory that concerns to \"multinaturalismo amerindio\". Transitions concepts, movement and transformation, shamanic practices and cosmological of Andean organization are the topic of thoughts in the research.

This research is a study of the Female Metaphor in her three aspects of Virgin, Mother and Crone. It is an interpretation of these three faces as representing the Dynamic by which the Cosmos unfolds, that is, the extant Creativity that is in continual transformation and has always been so. Accordingly, as this thesis takes the Cosmos to be a seamless whole, the conscious alignment with the continual process of transformation innate to Being. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme call the composition of these three, cosmic grammar. The ritual celebration of seasonal points are then developed as a method of embodying and sensualizing, and speaking this deep Dynamic of Creativity. These ritual celebrations are based in ancient Western spiritual practice that relates with Earth's cyclical transitions. Through methods of ritual, meditation, imagination, dance and storytelling, over the period of the annual seasonal cycle, I created a context, which sought to enable more harmonious relationship with self, other and Cosmos through identification of the self with an organic and primordial process innate to the unfolding Cosmos. I found it to be a process that catalyzed personal transformation of the participants over time - a transformation that has clear and inevitable cultural implications. While it is not the focus of this thesis to track these cultural changes, such change is implicit in the personal and relational changes experienced and noted, since the personal and the cultural are mutually embedded in a shamanic process like this is. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Watermana is a concept, the title of this thesis and the title of the work produced in conjunction with this thesis. The word 'mana' loosely translates as a form of spiritual power. In the form of Water Mana, it specifically means spiritual empowerment of feelings or emotions. This work is closely entwined with the video 'Watermana'. The research documented here both leads to the work and arose from its process. It reflects finding connections with Celtic shamanistic practices, and utilizing them in a modern urban context. It also explores poetry, its relationship to shamanism, and its possible structural relationships to film. 'Watermana' is a twelve-minute video produced using three-dimensional computer modelling and animation and live video, edited and composited digitally. It is a representation of a shamanistic journey and an introduction to the shamanistic process. / Master of Arts (Hons)

<p>Syftet jag har med min uppsats är att ge fyra olika perspektiv på fenomenet shamanism för att komma närmare svaret på min fråga: Vad är shamanism för något?</p><p>Perspektiven jag ger är shamanism ur ett historiskt, religionsfenomenologiskt, parapsykologiskt och kulturellt perspektiv.</p>

This is a study of Prehistoric musical instruments from Scandinavia and the different meanings they could have had in the Prehistoric society. I have described the different types of possible music instruments and the different categories that they belong to. I have also written about their different functions that could have been for example ritual artefacts, shamanic tools or useful instruments in hunting. Two case studies are also presented in the essay, the Falköpingsflute and the Balkåkradrum.

Syftet jag har med min uppsats är att ge fyra olika perspektiv på fenomenet shamanism för att komma närmare svaret på min fråga: Vad är shamanism för något? Perspektiven jag ger är shamanism ur ett historiskt, religionsfenomenologiskt, parapsykologiskt och kulturellt perspektiv.

Durant le dernier demi-siècle, la religion, comme tous les autres domaines d’activité humaine, a connu plusieurs transformations importantes. La diminution considérable, durant cette période, de la pratique religieuse institutionnalisée est accompagnée de l’apparition d’une multitude de nouvelles formes de spiritualités qui tentent de répondre aux besoins religieux de l’homme occidental. Parmi les multiples manifestations de ce genre, on découvre une spiritualité distincte, appelée néo-chamanisme ou chamanisme urbain, réunissant de nombreuses pratiques contemporaines qui se définissent comme chamaniques. Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, nous nous sommes concentrés sur l’étude du phénomène néo-chamanique de Michael Harner, ex-professeur et directeur du département d’anthropologie au Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research à New York, et fondateur de la Foundation for Shamanic Studies (à l’avenir : FSS). La présente recherche a pour but d’analyser le néo-chamanisme de Harner et de définir sa place parmi les nouvelles formes de religiosités. La théorie de la recomposition du religieux de Danièle Hervieu-Léger sert de cadre d’analyse pour cette nouvelle forme de spiritualité. Dans la première partie, nous traitons le phénomène religieux contemporain sous l’angle socioreligieux. Nous présentons un aperçu global des transformations que celui-ci subit en modernité sous l’impact de la sécularisation. À l’aide de la théorie des nouvelles formes religieuses de Danièle Hervieu-Léger, nous mettons en lumière les principales règles selon lesquelles une nouvelle configuration du religieux se déploie dans le contexte occidental contemporain. Dans la seconde partie, nous examinons le chamanisme traditionnel sous l’angle anthropologique. Nous faisons la lecture d’études classiques sur le chamanisme. Il apparaît que le chamanisme classique est communautaire, réservé à quelques personnes choisies par les esprits et que le processus laborieux d’initiation permettant d’accéder à cette fonction implique certains éléments spécifiques parmi lesquels on compte la maladie initiatique, la mort rituelle et la résurrection de la personne. Dans la troisième partie, nous examinons le néo-chamanisme de Harner. Nous rendons compte de son ouvrage majeur La voie spirituelle du chamane : Le Secret d'un sorcier indien d’Amérique du Nord et nous examinons l’expérience chamanique de la Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS). Il se dégage de cette étude que l’approche de Harner se veut l’expression d’un chamanisme fondamental et universel adapté à la société contemporaine. La pratique néo-chamanique de Harner se focalise sur le voyage chamanique et sur le contact avec le monde des esprits comme des éléments qui sont au cœur du chamanisme traditionnel. C’est une pratique axée principalement sur l’individu à des fins d’accomplissement de soi et d’(auto)guérison. Elle attire généralement des personnes dont le niveau de scolarité est élevé, disposées à payer pour les services fournis par la fondation. À la fin de notre étude, nous dégageons les conclusions générales suivantes : le néo-chamanisme de Harner s’éloigne de la tradition chamanique et la transforme en une spiritualité nouvelle adaptée aux besoins des Occidentaux; il reflète les transformations subies par le fait religieux pendant la période moderne; il s’adresse principalement à un public en quête de services spirituels ciblés et ponctuels et il favorise une forme de communalisation temporaire et intense; cependant, l’individuation de la pratique chamanique est porteuse de ses effets politiques et néocoloniaux. / Since the last half century, religion as all the other human working fields has passed through lots of significant transformations. The considerable diminishing, during that period, of the institutionalized religious practice is accompanied by the apparition of a multitude of new forms of spirituality that tempt to answer to the western human religious needs. Through the multiple manifestations of this kind it has been discovered a distinct spirituality named neo-shamanism or urban shamanism that gathers under this name a multitude of contemporaneous practices that are defined as shamanic. We focused on Michael Harner’s study about the neo-shamanism phenomenon, ex-professor and manager of the department of anthropology to Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York and founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies (from now: FSS). The present research objective is to analyze Harner’s neo-shamanism and to identify its place between the new religious contemporary forms .The concept of recomposing Harner’s religious ideology becomes the focus of the analysis of this new form of spirituality. In the first part, we address the religious contemporary phenomenon from a socio religious point of view. We present a global view over the transformations that this phenomenon suffered during the modern period under the influence of secularisation. With the help of the new religious forms theory of Danièle Hervieu-Léger, we emphasize the main rules that run the religious configuration in the contemporary western context. In the second part we analyse the traditional shamanism from an anthropological point of view. We are skimming the prior classical studies about shamanism. It seems that the classical shamanism is communitarian, reserved to some persons that are chosen by spirits and that the hardworking process of initiation allowing to have access to this function implies some specific elements like the initiatic illness, the ritual death and the person’s resurrection. In the third part, we analyse Harner’s neo-shamanism. We focused our analyzing on his main work La voie spirituelle du chamane: Le Secret d'un sorcier indien d’Amérique du Nord and we analyse the shamanic experience from Foundation for Shamanic Studies. The idea that gets out from this study is that Harner’s shamanic approach wants to be the expression of a fundamental one and universally adapted to the contemporary society. Harner’s neo-shamanic practice is focused on the shamanic trip and on the contact with the spirit’s world as being elements that make up the core of the traditional shamanism. It’s a practice mainly focused on the individual that has self accomplishments and (self) healing ends. It appeals generally to persons highly educated and ready to pay for the foundation’s services. At the end of our study, we get out the following conclusions: Harner’s neo-shamanism gets distance from the shamanic tradition and turns it into a new spirituality adapted to western people’s needs; Harner’s neo-shamanism reflects the transformations that the religions suffers during the modern period. It addresses mainly to a public in quest of concrete spiritual services and it gives advantage to a form of temporary and intense communalisation; however, the individualisation of the shamanic practice is carries its political and neo-colonial effects.

Responding to twofold question how did the transition occur; and what were its implications for the ancient cultures? - this thesis places an emphasis upon the transition as an indigenous movement, involving a transformation of the ancient. The primary focus is comprised of the Aleut and Alutiiq peoples who converted virtually as whole nations in the later 18th century. They then maintained this faith themselves within their village structures, a premise that will be substantiated in the Introduction. While a similar ingrafting occurred among other Alaskan peoples as well, an amount of published evidence is available for the Aleuts and Alutiiqs that can render the premise especially secure for them. These other Alaskan peoples - the Yupiit, the "Ingalik" Athapascans, the Kolchan Athapascans, the Denaᐟina Athapascans, the historical Eyak, and the Tlingit have provided corroborative ethnographical and social anthropological material; and the main concepts articulated in this study could potentially be extended to them as well, and extended further to peoples of similar cultures across northern Eurasia who were part of this history (as explained in Chapter 1 and in the epilogue in Chapter 6). [continued in text ...]

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Manitoba, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.