ŠAMANIZMAS IR NEOŠAMANIZMAS: LYGINIMO GALIMYBĖS IR SUPRATIMO PROBLEMATIKA
Shamanism and Neoshamanism: Possibilities for Comparison and Problems in Understanding

Summary/Abstract: Neoshamanism is contemporary religious practices which use the technique of ecstasy and revive the shamanic worldview of various cultures. A comparison with shamanism as a primal phenomenon is a typical strategy in explaining neoshamanic practices. The author analyzes the problems of shamanist and neoshamanist research and the possibilities for their comparison, and discusses the validity of various divides, and the questions raised by the interaction between shamans, neoshamans and researchers, as well as by the alternation of tradition. The authenticity vs inauthenticity, sociality vs individualism divides show cultural primitivism and reveal little about shamanism and neoshamanism. The border between these phenomena moreover becomes blurred due the interaction of "traditional" shamanic communities, neoshamans and researchers. Problems also arise because of the frequent disregard of the diversity of neoshamanic practices. All these problems require us to revise our former conceptions of shamanism, primitive societies and their religiosity, and opens up new possibilities for research.

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