Postmodern Trickster Strands in Shamanic Worlds

Authors

Jürgen W. Kremer, Santa Rosa Junior College

DOI

10.24972/ijts.2012.31.2.63

Abstract

This essay explores socio-philosophical meanings of shamanic cultures and practices and

their affirmation and revival. What is their potential significance for humanity’s future? I

argue that shamanism engages humans in practices that put us potentially at the center of

our creativity and creative visioning. The trickster figure, a pervasive indigenous presence,

so often seems pivotal in this process and this pervasively male figure plays an important

part in this regenerative interpretation of postmodernism; in fact, postmodernism can be

understood as trickster. Just like the trickster, the nature of postmodernism is ambiguous.

I explore this ambiguity and suggest that shamanic practices and paradigms may inspire a

way out of our contemporary conundra with trickster help. This essay is concerned with

paradigmatic issues, it presents broad brush strokes rather than ethnographic details. Its

form attempts to honor trickster storytelling.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Kremer, J. W. (2012). Kremer, J. W. (2012). Postmodern trickster strands in shamanic worlds. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 31(2), 63–71.. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 31 (2). https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2012.31.2.63