Microbes and Other Shamanic Beings

Microbes and Other Shamanic Beings
Author :
Publisher : Springer
Total Pages : 284
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783319713182
ISBN-13 : 3319713183
Rating : 4/5 (82 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Microbes and Other Shamanic Beings by : César E. Giraldo Herrera

Download or read book Microbes and Other Shamanic Beings written by César E. Giraldo Herrera and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-03-09 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shamanism is commonly understood through reference to spirits and souls. However, these terms were introduced by Christian missionaries as part of the colonial effort of conversion. So, rather than trying to comprehend shamanism through medieval European concepts, this book examines it through ideas that started developing in the West after encountering Amerindian shamans. Microbes and Other Shamanic Beings develops three major arguments: First, since their earliest accounts Amerindian shamanic notions have had more in common with current microbial ecology than with Christian religious beliefs. Second, the human senses allow the unaided perception of the microbial world; for example, entoptic vision allows one to see microscopic objects flowing through the retina and shamans employ techniques that enhance precisely these kinds of perception. Lastly, the theory that some diseases are produced by living agents acquired through contagion was proposed right after Contact in relation to syphilis, an important subject of pre-Contact Amerindian medicine and mythology, which was treasured and translated by European physicians. Despite these early translations, the West took four centuries to rediscover germs and bring microbiology into mainstream science. Giraldo Herrera reclaims this knowledge and lays the fundaments for an ethnomicrobiology. It will appeal to anyone curious about shamanism and willing to take it seriously and to those enquiring about the microbiome, our relations with microbes and the long history behind them.


Microbes and Other Shamanic Beings Related Books

Microbes and Other Shamanic Beings
Language: en
Pages: 284
Authors: César E. Giraldo Herrera
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-03-09 - Publisher: Springer

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Shamanism is commonly understood through reference to spirits and souls. However, these terms were introduced by Christian missionaries as part of the colonial
Metagenomic Futures
Language: en
Pages: 207
Authors: Roberta Raffaetà
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2022-11-30 - Publisher: Taylor & Francis

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is an ethnographic exploration of what it means to be human from a more-than-human perspective, the microbial perspective. It engages with the scienti
Chance Encounters
Language: en
Pages: 231
Authors: Kristien Hens
Categories: Medical
Type: BOOK - Published: 2022-12-09 - Publisher: Open Book Publishers

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this rigorous and necessary book, Kristien Hens brings together bioethics and the philosophy of biology to argue that it is ethically necessary for scientifi
The Routledge International Handbook of More-than-Human Studies
Language: en
Pages: 683
Authors: Adrian Franklin
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-11-24 - Publisher: Taylor & Francis

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume provides a state-of-the-art overview of the field of more-than-human studies, bringing together contemporary and essential content from leading auth
Fermentation as Metaphor
Language: en
Pages: 130
Authors: Sandor Ellix Katz
Categories: Cooking
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-10-15 - Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Bestselling author Sandor Katz—an “unlikely rock star of the American food scene” (New York Times)—delivers a mesmerizing treatise on the meaning of fer