The Radical Otherness That Heals proposes an interesting theoretical advance in various schools of local and regional, and national and transnational analysis. It is based on a multilocal ethnography and a detailed sociological and political reading of the interactions between institutions and social and cultural representations of otherness. The original theoretical proposal consists of reading the reconfiguration of shamanisms stemming from processes of ethnicization and patrimonialization, and skillfully reconstructing the national ideological space and the most recent effects of multiculturalism through representations of otherness Anne-Marie Losonczy, Director of Studies at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris “The concept of the yagecero field serves as the axis of this innovative research that intertwines a multi-sited ethnography with a biographical approach to the actors. An extensive review of the literature on indigenous shamanisms, their networks, national politics, inter-ethnic relations and representations of the radical alterity that heals makes it possible for the reader to draw near, based on the close proximity of neo-shamanic practices, to perceive the national and transnational influences that are an integral part of the ongoing dynamics of this phenomenon. The analysis of neo-shamanism and the practices of the taita yageceros in Colombia contributes to deepening current debates on contemporary shamanisms and the broader issue of new religiosities, the transformations of indigenous groups and their politics of identify. This book provides a valuable input to the characterization of New Age spirituality from its understanding as a localized practice. It opens a space to compare the aforementioned manifestations in Colombia with similar ones in different countries.” Esther Jean Langdon, Professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
Content
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Shamanism and its overflows
Some methodological considerations
Contexts
The shamanic networks of the north-western Amazon
Shaman and curandero networks
Shamanic power: Learning and acquiring power
The auca and the power of difference
The Indian as Other: Representations of Otherness
“The path of the Indians”: A neoyagecero initiation
“Building bridges”: Javier Lasso
“Weavibg alliances”: Kajuyali Tsamani
“Think beautiful”: Orlando Gaitán
“Summoning the bloodline”: Florentino Ágreda
New taita yageceros
Initiation ang legitimation of the new taita yageceros
Neoshamanisms in action
Yagé sessions
The malocas
The neoyageceros
Preparations
The ritual prescriptions
“Health and good pintas”: A ritual device of Yagé sessions
Ritual adaptations
Malocas and the path of yagé
Contamination and purification
The path of yage
Communities: Orders and hierarchies
The altar at Cruz del Sur
The altar at Sol Nacie nte (Carare comunity)
Ritual gatherings
Authenticity and shmanic power
Reinventing tradition: Taita Pacho Piaguaje
The power of the city
Medcalisation of yage sessions
Heritagisation of ritual yage consumption
Yacegeros and Indian authenticity
From shamanism as a cure and the Indian as a remedy
Who are the urban yageceros?
The radical otherness that heals
The healing
The sacred
Indianness
The New Age
Brujería as the reverse side
The new horizons of yagecero shamanism in Colombia
Bibliography