In the World of Spirits: An Attempt to Comprehend Shamanic Healing In Nepal
Humanity has long suspected that there is more to the world than the senses perceive and has developed models of reality attributing causation to invisible agents in order to make sense of it and allow for manipulations to improve life including health.
Since prehistory transpersonal healing, the use of altered states of consciousness and possession to deal with entities from another dimension have been taken in high esteem. A culturally recognized phenomenon.
Societies have since long recognized healers as spiritual masters, health being positioned in a reciprocal relation with this parallel world. Mental and physical well-being are considered interrelated in a single system where distinctions between cause and effect are blurred. Therefore the duty of shamans is to heal affections estimated to be caused by supernatural forces only, not those of bio-physical origin and to act as mediators to re-establish harmony in familial and social relations as well as with the pantheon of entities pervading the environment.
Originally an economist, the author, a French national who carried on with anthropological studies as been living in Nepal for almost forty years and has spent his time observing the tribal culture of various communities during his stay and has amassed almost thirty thousand photographs related to shamanism, a few of which are depicted in this book.
