Topics
Shamans of Eurasia, native traditions of the Americas, Africa and the diaspora, Oceania and Asia: the sacred of the peoples told with respect and through the sources.
Eurasian shamanism
Siberia, Central Asia, the Sami and Tengri: the drum, the journey and the shaman's worlds.
Native Americas
Traditions of North America, Mesoamerica, the Andes and Amazonia in history and anthropology.
Africa & diaspora
Ifá and the orishas, vodun, Bantu traditions and diaspora religions as history and culture.
Oceania & Asia
The Aboriginal Dreaming, Polynesian mana, Tibetan Bön and the peoples of South-East Asia.
Featured articles
The Kazakh and Kyrgyz baksy: the kobyz and the legend of Korkyt
The Central Asian baksy and his horsehair bowed instrument, the kobyz: the legend of Korkyt Ata who fled death, and shamanism meeting Islam.
Amazonian Perspectivism: the Jaguar and the Shaman
Amerindian perspectivism as described by Viveiros de Castro: animals who see themselves as people, the jaguar, and the shaman who travels between viewpoints.
The Akan of Ghana: the Golden Stool and the adinkra symbols
Akan religion and symbols: Nyame and Asase Yaa, the ancestors, the Asante Golden Stool brought down from the sky, and the language of adinkra symbols.
The Aboriginal Dreaming: Tjukurpa, Law and Country
What the Dreaming of Aboriginal Australians really means: not a dream, but a law binding together ancestors, land, kinship and everyday conduct.
Helper spirits and animal guides in Eurasian shamanisms
Who accompanies the shaman on the journey: helper spirits, animal guides, the Sakha animal-mother, Mongol and Buryat ongon and their bond with people.
Huacas and Ceques: the Sacred Geography of Inca Cusco
Andean huacas, sacred places and objects, and the ceque system of Cusco: lines radiating from the Coricancha, as described by the Jesuit Bernabé Cobo.
The Dogon of Mali: Amma, the Nommo, the masks and the Sigui
Dogon cosmology between sources and debate: Amma and the Nommo, Griaule and Ogotemmêli, the Awa mask society, the Sigui and the question of Sirius.
The Kula of the Trobriand Islands: Exchange, Magic and Prestige
The kula, the ceremonial exchange circuit of Melanesia: necklaces and armshells moving in opposite directions, canoe magic and the work of Malinowski.
Where the word «shaman» comes from: a Siberian story
The word shaman comes from a Tungusic language of Siberia, reached Europe through Russian and became a universal category, with several limitations.
Mictlan and the Day of the Dead: the journey of souls in Mexico
The Aztec Mictlan, the nine levels of the afterlife and the guiding dog, then the Day of the Dead: altars, marigolds and the Catrina, Indigenous and Christian.
Haitian Vodou: the lwa, the peristyle and the vèvè
Haitian Vodou beyond the stereotypes: Bondye and the lwa, the Rada and Petwo families, the peristyle with its poto mitan, vèvè drawn on the ground, Gede.
Papunya and Dot Painting: From the Desert to the Canvas
How Western Desert dot painting was born at Papunya in 1971: symbols, circles and tracks, the problem of sacred designs and the meaning of the dots.