'Singh is a brilliant young scholar and a gifted writer, and this remarkable book will change how you think about religion, spirituality, consciousness, and human nature' Paul BloomWhat are the origins of shamanism and what is its future? Do shamans believe in their powers? What exactly is trance? And what can we learn from indigenous healing practices?In this enlightening book, anthropologist Manvir Singh offers a new explanation for one of the most misunderstood religious traditions. Travelling from Indonesia to the Amazon, living with shamans and observing music, drug use and indigenous curing ceremonies, he journeys into the origins of shamanism. Fundamentally, shamans are specialists who use altered states to engage with unseen realities and provide services like healing and divination. As Singh shows, shamanism s ubiquity stems from its psychological resonance. Its core appeal is transformation: a specialist uses initiations, deprivation and non-ordinary states to seemingly become a different kind of human, one possessed with the superpowers necessary to tame life s uncertainty. Following a fascinating cast of characters, Singh tells