Shamanism as Evolutionary Psychology

Shamanism has achieved a dramatic modern resurgence. A recent study by one of the foremost scholars on shamanism today reveals that the contemporary world still hungers for transcendent experiences because the shamanic narrative is hard-wired in us all. In his 2010 book, Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing, Michael Winkelman presents the shamanic paradigm within a biopsychosocial framework for explaining successful human evolution through group rituals. According to Winkelman, shamanism is based in innate functions of the brain, mind, and consciousness. Shamanic experiences such as trance states, soul flight, and death and rebirth are natural manifestations of human consciousness rooted in psychobiological structures. The psychobiological basis of shamanism provided it with functional roles in survival and cultural evolution, producing an evolved psychology that has applications in relatively intractable modern problems such as the treatment of addictions and in addressing the consequences of violence, trauma, alienation, and disconnectedness. Read more