Overview

This book discusses the cultural importance of spirits, what spirits want, and how humans interact with them, using examples from around the world and through time. Examples range from the vengeful spirits of the Zulu that cast lightning bolts from clear skies to punish wrongdoers, to the benevolent Puebloan Kachina that encourage prosperity, safety, and rain in the arid American Southwest. The case studies illustrate how humans seek to cooperate (or counteract) spirits to heal the physical and spiritual ailments of their people, to divine the truth, or to gain resources. Building from their cross-cultural analyses, the authors further discuss how our physiology and psychology impact our interaction with the spirits. Readers will come away with an appreciation of the beauty and power of the spirits that continue to shape the lives of people around the world. 

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9783031259227

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​Christine S. VanPool earned her BS in anthropology at Eastern New Mexico University and her MA and PhD in anthropology from the University of New Mexico. She is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her research focuses on the anthropology of religion, especially shamanism among Native Americans. Many of her analyses use shamanic art to examine the cognitive structure of religious practices across the New World, especially the North American Southwest and Mesoamerica. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and books. Her works include Ancient Medicinal Plants of South America (2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) and Signs of the Casas Grandes Shamans (2007, University of Utah Press). Todd L. VanPool earned his BA in religion and anthropology at Eastern New Mexico University and his MA and PhD in anthropology from the University of New Mexico. He is a Professor ofAnthropology at the University of Missouri—Columbia. His research focuses on the archaeology of the North American Southwest, especially the religious and economic organization of the Casas Grandes culture of northern Chihuahua (Mexico) and southern New Mexico (USA). With Christine, he has led field work in the region for over two decades, and has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and books. His publications include: Religion in the Pre-Hispanic Southwest (2007, Altamira Press) and The Reality of Casas Grandes Potters: Realistic Portraits of Spirits and Shamans (2021, Religions).

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