The Living Ancestors

Shamanism, Cosmos and Cultural Change among the Yanomami of the Upper Orinoco

Zeljko Jokic

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781785335129
• eBook ISBN: 9781782388180
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This phenomenologically oriented ethnography focuses on experiential aspects of Yanomami shamanism, including shamanistic activities in the context of cultural change. The author interweaves ethnographic material with theoretical components of a holographic principle, or the idea that the "part is equal to the whole," which is embedded in the nature of the Yanomami macrocosm, human dwelling, multiple-soul components, and shamans' relationships with embodied spirit-helpers. This book fills an important gap in the regional study of Yanomami people, and, on a broader scale, enriches understanding of this ancient phenomenon by focusing on the consciousness involved in shamanism through firsthand experiential involvement.

Table of contents

• The Living Ancestors
• Imprint
• Dedication
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• Map
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Life on Top of the Old Sky
• Chapter 2: Inside the Boa's Abdomen
• Chapter 3: Hekura, the Body and Illness
• Chapter 4: Hekuraprai
• Chapter 5: Oneiric Encounters
• Chapter 6: Shamnanic Battlefield
• Chapter 7: Two Pathways to Finding a Cure
• Chapter 8: Return of the Ancestors
• Postscript
• Glossary of Yanomami Terms
• Bibliography
• Index