{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"The shaman with a thousand faces","description":"When you hear the word "shaman," I'm guessing a web of associations starts to form in your mind. Perhaps you imagine strange ceremonies and strong substances; maybe you think of an earlier time when magic and superstition reigned. But shamanism is not just some relic of the past, or a curio from exotic lands. It's part of our present, and it will almost certainly be part of our future. This is because the roots of shamanism lie within us all. My guest today is Dr. Manvir Singh. Manvir is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis and a regular contributor to The New Yorker. He's also the author of a new book\u2014Shamanism: The Timeless Religion. Here, Manvir and I talk about his fieldwork with Mentawai shamans in Indonesia. We discuss what makes a shaman a shaman and consider the cognitive building blocks that make shamanism so widespread and so appealing. We discuss the shamanic origins of Abrahamic religions. We consider how, over the course of history, shamanism has repeatedly resurged, despite attempts to snuff it out. And we also talk about the various forms and flavors that shamanism takes in contemporary Western societies. Along the way, Manvir and I touch on: drumming, fasting, and the \u201cdark tent\u201d; Jesus; experimental Edens; witches, prophets, and messiahs; glossolalia; disenchantment and re-enchantment; the rise of neoshamanism; Paleolithic rock art; hedge wizards and tech CEOs; Western exceptionalism; and the routinization of charisma. If you enjoy this episode, I highly recommend that you check out Manvir's book\u2014it's a captivating blend of narrative and ideas and it goes far beyond what we were able to talk about here. I'll also flag that this is Manvir's second time on Many Minds. Back in July of 2020 we had another conversation\u2014broader in scope\u2014where we talked about shamanism but also Manvir's work on witches, stories, and music. So you might check that one out as well. Alright friends, on to my conversation with Dr. Manvir Singh. Enjoy!   A transcript of this episode is available here.   Notes and links 4:00 \u2013 For video examples of shamanic rituals from around the world, see Dr. Singh\u2019s recent thread on  Bluesky \/ Twitter. 12:30 \u2013 On the idea of \u201ccultural attraction\u201d and \u201ccultural attractors,\u201d see here and here. For a recent treatment of the idea of \u201csuper-attractors,\u201d see Dr. Singh\u2019s preprint here. 16:00 \u2013 On the case of cultural loss among the Northern Ach\u00e9, see the recent work by Dr. Singh and a colleague. 17:30 \u2013 For more on Dr. Singh\u2019s theoretical framework for understanding shamanism, see his earlier academic paper. 19:00 \u2013 The 2005 review of altered states of consciousness by Vaitl et al. For more on psychedelics and altered states, see our recent episode with Chris Letheby. 29:00 \u2013 Mircea Eliade\u2019s classic work on shamanism\u2014Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. 34:00 \u2013 For the book by Martin Riesebrodt on the nature of religion, see here. 36:00 \u2013 For more on the human propensity for ritual, see our earlier episode with Dimitris Xygalatas. 43:00 \u2013 For one influential interpretation of Paleolithic rock art as evidence for shamanism, see David Lewis-Williams\u2019 book, Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art. 52:00 \u2013 For a discussion of psychedelics and organized religion that touches on the \u201croutinization of charisma,\u201d see this article by Michael Pollan. 54:00 \u2013 For more about the case of Alice Auma, see Dr. Singh\u2019s recent piece in The New Yorker. 1:00:30 \u2013 For more about neoshamanism and Michael Harner, see the website of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies\u2014www.shamanism.org. 1:04:00 \u2013 For the analysis of financial managers by Samuel Johnson, see here.  1:06:00 \u2013 For more on the quasi-shamanic flavor of tech CEOs, see Rakesh Khurana\u2019s book, Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs. 1:08:00 \u2013 See, again, Dr. Singh\u2019s recent piece in The New Yorker in which he discusses Trump and prophet-like status. 1:13:00 \u2013 For Dr. Singh\u2019s work on other complex cultural traditions, see the website for his lab.   Recommendations The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality, and Change in Papua New Guinea, by Gilbert Herdt The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman, by Davi Kopenawa & Bruce Albert   Many Minds is a project of the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, which is made possible by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Indiana University. The show is hosted and produced by Kensy Cooperrider, with help from Assistant Producer Urte Laukaityte and with creative support from DISI Directors Erica Cartmill and Jacob Foster. Our artwork is by Ben Oldroyd. Our transcripts are created by Sarah Dopierala. Subscribe to Many Minds on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also now subscribe to the Many Minds newsletter here! We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions. Feel free to email us at: manymindspodcast@gmail.com. s For updates about the show, visit our website or follow us on Twitter (@ManyMindsPod) or Bluesky (@manymindspod.bsky.social). ","author_name":"Many Minds","author_url":"https:\/\/disi.org\/manyminds\/","html":"