Born in Bucharest in 1907, Mircea Eliade was for many years Sewell L. Avery Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. He is author of, among other books, "Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism, Myth of the Eternal Return", and "Yoga: Immortality and Freedom" (all Princeton). Wendy Doniger is Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. Her books include "The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade, The Implied Spider", and "Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India". Her translations of such texts as "The Rig Veda, The Law of Manu", and the "Kamasutra" have garnered wide praise.

Forward to the 2004 Edition xi
Foreward xvii
Note on Othography xxix
CHAPTER 1: General Considerations. Recruiting Methods. Shamanism and Mystical Vocation 3
CHAPTER 2: Initiatory Sickness and Dreams 33
CHAPTER 3: Obtaining Shamanic Powers 67
CHAPTER 4: Shamanic Initiation 110
CHAPTER 5: Symbolism of the Shaman's Costume and Drum 145
CHAPTER 6: Shamanism in Central and North Asia: I. Celestial Ascents. Descents to the Underworld 181
CHAPTER 7: Shamanism in Central and North Asia: II. Magial Cures. The Shaman as Psychopomp 215
CHAPTER 8: Shamanism and Cosmology 259
CHAPTER 9: Shamanism in North and South America 288
CHAPTER 10: Southeast Asian and Oceanian Shamanism 337
CHAPTER 11: Shamanic Ideologies and Techniques among the Indo-Europeans 375
CHAPTER 12: Shamanic Symbolisms and Techniques in Tibet, China, and the Far East 428
CHAPTER 13: Parallel Myths, Symbols, and Rites 466
CHAPTER 14: Conclusion 495
Epilogue 508
List of Works Cited 513
Index 571