Shamanism

Singh is an excellent guide, well ordered in his thought, as well as curious and reasonable … he leads us through an initiation ceremony on Siberut, snorts hallucinogenic powder in the Orinoco basin, descends into cave systems in the Pyrenees, and attends Burning Man in Nevada – Chris Power * Observer *
A fascinating compendium of shamanistic behaviour and techniques… Singh writes with a beguiling mixture of erudition and sheer delight in his discoveries. He is also willing to put in the hard yards * Spectator *
Completely fascinating – Helen Lewis * Strong Message Here, BBC R4 *
Blending memoir, investigative journalism, and anthropological fieldwork, Shamanism is a deep dive into a religious tradition that is as mysterious as it is timeless * Time *
Monumental… stunningly well-researched… grounded on expert scholarship but for the general reader * Irish Times *
A vivid study of who shamans are, and why their practices, which predate organized religion, have endured for centuries. Singh deftly weaves together memoir and fieldwork, reporting from places as varied as Indonesia, the Amazon forest, and Burning Man, and reveals how shamanistic traditions have infiltrated both our culture and our politics * New Yorker *
A panoramic survey: Singh has done the fieldwork, the legwork, and the drugwork * The Atlantic *
An erudite, engaging and deeply personal journey into this ancient, yet ever-evolving, religious practice * Weird Walk *
Deftly interweaving memoir, journalism, his own anthropological fieldwork, and cutting-edge archaeology, Manvir Singh’s Shamanism provides a bracing new look at one of our species’ oldest and most characteristically human experiences—reaching into the spiritual realm through the powerful figure of the shaman. Traveling from the Indonesian forest to the wilds of Burning Man, Singh takes us deep into history and the human heart, showing us that this ancient religion is very much present in our lives today – Charles C. Mann, author of The Wizard and the Prophet
Singh’s Shamanism is a fast-paced, erudite, lyrical adventure through time and space that explores who shamans are, where they come from, what they do, and why we believe—or don’t—in their supposed powers. This wildly enjoyable book will transform how you think about the human mind and the nature of culture – Daniel Lieberman, author of Exercised
Way back in the Pleistocene, shamanic voyaging may well have ignited the strange kind of consciousness we call our own. We’ve been constitutionally shamanic since. Singh’s splendid, vibrant, fast-paced account shows us what sort of creatures we were, are, and might be. Read it to know your ancestors, yourself and your descendants – Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild
What does the practice of shamanism tell us about how the mind works? Through vivid field encounters and cutting-edge research, Manvir Singh shows that shamanism is a psychological universal, emerging wherever humans gather, from Amazonian healing ceremonies to Wall Street trading floors. Singh is a brilliant young scholar and a gifted writer, and this remarkable book will change how you think about religion, spirituality, consciousness, and human nature – Paul Bloom, author of Psych: The Story of the Human Mind
Singh’s analysis of the timeless appeal of one of humanity’s most peculiar practices is a gripping read. Shamanism is both a convincing explanation of enigmatic behavior in unfamiliar societies and a seductive gateway to rethinking some of the oddities of life in contemporary globalized cultures – Richard Wrangham, author of The Goodness Paradox
What a pleasure to read a book so broad and deep, including as it does both a history of shamanism and a provocative vision of how it manifests in our world today. Shifting easily between personal experience and scholarship, Singh weaves an instructive and entertaining story – Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry for the Future

Manvir Singh is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis. He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker, and his writings have also appeared in Wired, Vice, and The Guardian, as well as leading academic journals such as Science. He has studied psychedelic use in the Colombian Amazon and conducted ethnographic fieldwork with Mentawai communities on Siberut Island, Indonesia.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.