Introductions -- Shamanism and the issue of religion -- A history of shamanic encounters -- Shamanism in archaeological evidence -- Shamanic soteriology and ritual -- Cosmology and the work of the shaman -- The call and initiation -- Mediating the spirit world : shamanic roles and careers -- Examining ritual effectiveness -- Seance, trance, and the shamanic mind -- Shamans, clients, and healing -- The shamanic arsenal -- Music and entheogens : pathways to ecstasy -- The material culture of shamanism -- Shamanic verbal art -- Shamanic politics in a changing world -- Shamanism under attack -- Shamanic revitalizations -- Neoshamanism.