Esotericism in Botswana: Shamanism, Ancestral Reverence and New Age
The article argues that “esotericism” can usefully be applied to a number of religious currents in Southern Africa. With a focus on Botswana, we survey a range of practices, from traditional “shamanic” healing to Pentecostal NRM s to New Age spiritualities and neoshamanism, some presented here for t...
| Published in: | Aries |
|---|---|
| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2022
|
| In: |
Aries
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Botswana
/ Shamanism
/ Ancestor cult
/ New Age
/ Esotericism
|
| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion AZ New religious movements KBN Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Further subjects: | B
Divination
B indigenous esotericism B New Age B Shamanism B Colonialism B Botswana B sangoma |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The article argues that “esotericism” can usefully be applied to a number of religious currents in Southern Africa. With a focus on Botswana, we survey a range of practices, from traditional “shamanic” healing to Pentecostal NRM s to New Age spiritualities and neoshamanism, some presented here for the first time. The term esotericism is useful for analysing the religious situation in Southern African contexts for three reasons. First, through a typological understanding of esotericism as initiation-based knowledge systems, we define one part of the landscape (usually termed “shamanism”) as constituting a form of “indigenous esotericism”. Second, through the European colonial expansion, this indigenous esotericism faced a violent rejection campaign that parallels the construction of “rejected knowledge” in Europe. While this forced many practices underground, they have resurfaced within Southern African Christianity. Third, “western” esoteric currents have recently been imported to Southern Africa and enter into dialogues with the “indigenous” forms. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1570-0593 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Aries
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700593-20211008 |