Sources

Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/shamanism-archaic-techniques-of-ecstasy.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/shamanism-archaic-techniques-of-ecstasy

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-shamanism-archaic-techniques-of-ecstasy,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/sources/shamanism-archaic-techniques-of-ecstasy},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Mircea Eliade's study is the founding work that established shamanism as a comparative category of religious study, working from a wide survey of ethnographic reports across Siberia, Central Asia and beyond to argue for a universal structure underlying diverse local practices. This record states its own place in the field honestly: it is the universalising account that later scholarship, Hutton's among it, specifically sets its critiques against, so it is cited here as the origin point of the comparative shamanism concept rather than as the current scholarly consensus on how shamanic practice actually varies by culture. Use it to establish Eliade's own influential comparative framework; a claim about how a specific culture's shamanic practice actually works needs a dedicated regional ethnographic source, and a claim about the category's own construction needs a critical source such as Hutton's.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Mircea Eliade's foundational scholarly study that first proposed shamanism as a cross-cultural category, published by Princeton University Press; cited as the universalizing account against which later critical scholarship is set, not as the last word on the category's validity.

Notes

The universalising account of shamanism that the entry names and then sets the later critiques against.

Citation

Author

Mircea Eliade

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Publication Year

1951

URL

https://archive.org/details/shamanismarchaic0000elia

Source Type

academic monograph

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Asia

This source names Asia directly: "reports across Siberia, Central Asia and beyond to argue for a universal structure underlying diverse local practices."

Source Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of EcstasyMircea Eliade

Claims Backed By This Source (118 claims)

This source backs 118 claims across the atlas. As facts: 75 well-attested. As cited relationships: 20 holds. Plus 23 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Deities, 35 claims: 26 well-attested, 4 holds, 5 general references.
Articles, 27 claims: 24 well-attested, 1 holds, 2 general references.
Sacred Objects & Ritual Items, 20 claims: 9 well-attested, 6 holds, 5 general references.
Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
Disciplines, 8 claims: 7 holds, 1 general references.
Religions, 5 claims: 3 well-attested, 2 general references.
Religious Roles & Titles, 5 claims: 1 well-attested, 4 general references.
Prayers, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
Religious Dress & Vestments, 3 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Sacred Sites, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Regions, 1 claims: 1 general references.