Oceania & Asia
The Aboriginal Dreaming, Polynesian mana, Tibetan Bön and the peoples of South-East Asia.
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.
The Babaylan of the Philippines: Mediators Between Humans and Anito
Who the babaylan of the precolonial Philippines were: ritual role, anito and diwata, Spanish sources, missionary repression and modern memory.
The Nats of Burma: the Thirty-Seven Spirits and Mount Popa
The nat cult in Myanmar: spirits born of violent deaths, the pantheon of thirty-seven fixed at the court of Bagan, Mount Popa and the nat kadaw mediums.
Cargo Cults in Melanesia: John Frum and the Promise of Goods
What the cargo cults of Melanesia really were: the John Frum movement on Tanna, colonial origins, anthropological readings and the limits of the label.
Khwan and the Baci Ceremony: Calling Back the Soul in Laos and Thailand
Khwan, the vital essence of the Tai peoples, can flee the body: how the baci rite calls it back with white wrist strings, offerings and blessings.
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.
Mana and Tapu in Polynesia: Power, the Sacred and Prohibition
Mana and tapu in Polynesian cultures: what they really mean, how they governed chiefs, places and food, and how the word taboo reached European languages.
The Māori Marae and the Pōwhiri: the Ritual of Welcome
The Māori marae and the pōwhiri step by step: challenge, karanga, speeches, songs, hongi and shared meal, and the meaning of the ancestral house as a body.
Mount Kailash: the Sacred Mountain of Four Religions
Kailash in western Tibet for Bönpo, Buddhists, Hindus and Jains: names, myths, Lake Manasarovar and the meaning of the kora around the mountain.
Nyepi in Bali: the Day of Silence and the Ogoh-ogoh
The Balinese New Year between purification and silence: Melasti at the sea, the ogoh-ogoh night against the bhuta kala and the four abstentions.
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.
Pele and Hula: the Volcano and the Sacred Dance of Hawaii
Pele, goddess of the Hawaiian volcanoes, and hula as sacred dance: the voyage from Kahiki, Hiʻiaka and Laka, hula kahiko and its cultural revival.
The Rainbow Serpent in Aboriginal Australian Traditions
The Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent between water, rain and law: local names such as Ngalyod and Waugal, stories, rock art and the meaning of its power.
Rangi and Papa: Māori Cosmogony and the Separation of Sky and Earth
The Māori myth of Ranginui and Papatūānuku: from nothingness to light, the separation made by Tāne, the revolt of Tāwhirimātea and their children.
Songlines: the Song Paths of Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal songlines as sung maps: ancestral routes that link places, peoples and stars, combining wayfinding, exchange and ceremonial memory.
The Birdman of Rapa Nui: Orongo and the Tangata Manu Cult
The tangata manu cult on Easter Island: the god Makemake, the village of Orongo and the race for the first sooty tern egg on the islet of Motu Nui.
Tatau and Tā Moko: the Meaning of Polynesian Tattoo
Polynesian tattoo: the word tatau, the Samoan pe'a and malu, Māori tā moko carved with a chisel, the tapu of the rite and the modern revival.
Spirit Houses in Thailand: San Phra Phum and the Phi
Why miniature temples stand in front of Thai homes, shops and buildings: the phi, the guardian of the land, daily offerings and the rules for placement.
Tibetan Bön: Origins, History and the Way of Yungdrung
What Bön is, the Tibetan religion that looks back to Tonpa Shenrab and Zhang Zhung: historical distinctions, doctrines, monasteries and practices.
The Spirits of the Tibetan Landscape: Lha, Lu, Nyen and Sadag
Mountains, lakes, rocks and soil inhabited by presences to respect: the main classes of Tibetan landscape spirits and the gestures that honour them.
The Tiwah of the Ngaju Dayak: the Second Funeral in Borneo
The Kaharingan religion of the Ngaju Dayak of Borneo and the tiwah, the second funeral that guides the soul to the heavenly village of ancestors.
The Toraja of Sulawesi: Rambu Solo' and the Way of the Ancestors
The funeral traditions of the Toraja of Sulawesi: aluk to dolo, the «sick» dead kept at home, buffalo, cliff tombs and the tau-tau effigies.
Uluru and the Anangu: History of and Respect for a Sacred Place
Uluru as seen by the Anangu: the Tjukurpa stories of Kuniya and Liru, the 1985 handback, the closure of the climb in 2019 and how to visit with respect.
The Wandjina of the Kimberley and Aboriginal Rock Art
The Wandjina of the Kimberley, mouthless rain beings, the Gwion Gwion figures and the X-ray style: how to approach and read Aboriginal Australian rock art.
Javanese Wayang Kulit: Shadow Theatre as Ritual
Javanese shadow theatre between performance and ritual: the dalang, the screen and lamp, the gunungan, the god Semar and the ruwatan against Kala.