The Power of Communitas

Edith Turner offers an excerpt from the preface of her book, Communitas: The Anthropology of Collective Joy. In the excerpt, she recounts an incident while doing fieldwork among whale hunters in Alaska when a moment of "collective effervescence" was generated by the community in an effort to influence environmental conditions to better support their whale hunting activities. When anthropological research enters a culture for the purposes of fieldwork, it may exist as a strange seed inside the womb of that culture. It grows and strains against its flesh, producing something entirely new—a combination of that culture’s own truth, and the gift of a vision of what that society is really like. This book describes scenes where light dawns for all kinds of groups, times, and places, where people stumble on “the best time they’ve ever had” – the time of communitas, unexpected and extraordinary. Read more.

Shamanism and Entheogens

While the use of mind-altering drugs is prohibited in many religions, other traditions around the world have long celebrated their spiritual and medicinal benefits. Entheogens used in a religious or spiritual context, include psychedelics such as peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, and ayahuasca, and the substances often supplement practices geared toward achieving transcendence. Further, many believe entheogens foster communication with the spirit world and help heal addiction, trauma, and depression. A growing interest in entheogens is evident in several books coming from religion and spirituality publishers in the coming year. Shamanic teachers Hank Wesselman and José Luis Stevens are among the authors coming out with new books. Check out a few titles that explore the intersection of drugs and spiritual development here.

Wolf in the Northern Lights

Photo by Marja-Terttu Karlsson

Marja-Terttu Karlsson, who resides in Pajala, Swedish Lapland, did not realize how lucky she had been when she went out to photograph the northern lights. Only when she uploaded the images to her computer, did she recognize the familiar shape that appeared right before her eyes. Northern lights are common in the arctic region of the northern hemisphere and are caused by the solar wind colliding with the atmosphere. Northern lights have been getting more common, caused by increased solar activity.

Forest Therapy

Scottish literary giant Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that it’s "not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit." Forests have long been a place we go to clear our minds. But the simple act of strolling through woods isn't so common these days. That could change if former wilderness guide Amos Clifford, who founded the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy in 2012, has his way. He's formed a 'forest therapy' group for one reason: to preach the gospel of a new form of preventative healthcare known as "forest bathing" (a poetic term for using our five senses to absorb a forest's atmosphere). Read more.

Women Artists of the Canadian Inuits

Kenojuak Ashevak, Spirit of the Raven

In sharp contrast to the Western art world where women have been largely sidelined or excluded, in the Canadian Inuit society of Cape Dorset, it is the women who are recognized as the leaders of the contemporary Inuit art movement. It is women artists who have won the most awards and accolades, and who have achieved the highest prices at auction for their artworks and received worldwide recognition. Co-operatives were created in which art could be produced in a changing economy for the Inuit people. Women artists often shared any economic gain, investing into the artistic processes in order to maintain community productivity. Many of the works contain a ritualistic and spiritual significance relating to the shamanic beliefs of the people. Read more.