Fortune and the Cursed : The Sliding Scale of Time in Mongolian Divination EPUB

by Katherine Swancutt

Part of the Epistemologies of Healing series

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Innovation-making is a classic theme in anthropology that reveals how people fine-tune their ontologies, live in the world and conceive of it as they do.

This ethnographic study is an entrance into the world of Buryat Mongol divination, where a group of cursed shamans undertake the â€˜race against timeâ€™ to produce innovative remedies that will improve their fallen fortunes at an unconventional pace.

Drawing on parallels between social anthropology and chaos theory, the author gives an in-depth account of how Buryat shamans and their notion of fortune operate as â€˜strange attractorsâ€™ who propagate the ongoing process of innovation-making.

With its view into this long-term â€˜cursing warâ€™ between two shamanic factions in a rural Mongolian district, and the comparative findings on cursing in rural China, this book is a needed resource for anyone with an interest in the anthropology of religion, shamanism, witchcraft and genealogical change.