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Illustration of a machi healing a patient, from ‘Atlas of Physical and Political History of Chile’ (‘Atlas de la historia física y política de Chile’), by Claudio Gay. A machi is a Chilean traditional healer. Since ancient times, tobacco has been a popular substance used in shamanic practices in Chile.
30 November, 2018 - 18:58 Alicia McDermott

Lethal Effects of Ancient Tobacco Consumption Identified in the Miscarried Baby of a Shamaness

2,400 years ago a shamaness suffered a miscarriage. The remains of that baby were found in a rock shelter in Northern Chile and have the earliest known traces of ancient tobacco found in biological...
Hubert Vos' painting of a young Manchu man. Manchu shaman were important cultural icons
24 November, 2018 - 18:45 ashley cowie

The Heavenly Legacy of the Ancient Manchu Shaman

The Manchu people are an ethnic minority in China sometimes called "red-tasseled Manchus", a reference to the ornamentation on traditional Manchu shaman’ hats. Shamanism was the dominant religion of...
Women shaman of Ireland in trance - magic rotates the leaves.
17 November, 2018 - 23:08 David Halpin

Ancient Women Shaman of Ireland: Goddesses of Prophecy and Omens

The Celtic scholar Nora Chadwick notes that in Irish mythology the prophetess Fedelm tells Queen Medb that she has been in the land of Alba learning the art of the Filidect. Medb asks if she has...
Gothic queen in red dress doing magic
17 November, 2018 - 13:54 David Halpin

Ancient Women Shaman of Ireland: Healers, Priestesses and Diviners

All around the world many of the oldest ceremonial megalithic sites are associated with women shaman and oracular tradition and prophecy. A good example of this is Napta Playa which was linked to...
Human skulls have been found with evidence of craniotomy.
12 November, 2018 - 22:58 Ed Whelan

Skulls Show Evidence Ancient Chinese Brain Surgeons Operated 3,000 Years Ago

Chinese experts have determined that two skulls found in a historic site show evidence of ancient craniotomy. The finds are being taken to demonstrate that craniotomy, along with other advanced...
Siglo Cero brand of the Mayan pox alcoholic drink.
28 October, 2018 - 13:24 ashley cowie

Ancient Mayan Pox, a Spiritual Drink Lifting North American Nightlife and Exaggerating Hangovers

Pox, (pronounced posh ) is an ancient Mayan alcohol drink traditionally prepared by shamans in the mountains of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Now, you can find swanky city bars offering Pox on their...
Tlingit Indian by Cenk Unver (Fotolia) and Alaskan background (Fotolia)
26 October, 2018 - 16:21 ashley cowie

The Supernatural Traditions of the Alaskan Shaman

When the word ‘shaman’ is mentioned, it is common for one to visualize semi-naked cat-skin clad witchdoctors, wheeling around fires in mild southern climates. Less often does one picture holy men...
Peterborough Petroglyph
8 October, 2018 - 22:50 Michelle Freson

Petroglyphs Provincial Park: Home to Canada’s Greatest Collection of Rock Carvings

In Petroglyphs Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, Canada, rock art is generally divided into two categories. Pictographs are painted onto rocks using a variety of natural colors such as red, brown,...
The Great Spirit petroglyph at Petroglyphs Park Woodview
30 September, 2018 - 01:48 Ed Whelan

Petroglyphs Park Woodview in Ontario, Canada Has Over 1,000 Petroglyphs

The First Nation peoples of Canada have left many remains of their long and varied history on the Canadian landscape. In the Peterborough Park Woodview, Ontario there is a series of their petroglyphs...
Life-size Dorset masks. (500-1000 AD) The masks were carved from driftwood and painted. They also once had fur moustaches and eyebrows attached with pegs. Scholars believe that the masks were probably used by shamans in rituals to cure illness, control the weather, or to aid in hunts.
15 September, 2018 - 03:49 Alicia McDermott

Preserved in Legends and Ice: What Led to the Extinction of the Dorset Culture?

Before the Inuit’s ancestors conquered the Arctic region of what we now call Canada and Greenland, there is evidence of another remarkable Paleo-Eskimo culture– the Dorset. Soon after the arrival of...
Thunderbird Shaman. (Deriv Liz Leafloor)
10 August, 2018 - 20:01 Andrew Collins

The Coming of the Thunder People: Denisovan Hybrids, Shamanism and the American Genesis

In 2010 the existence of a previously unknown archaic human population was revealed following the DNA sequencing of a finger bone over 41,000 years old. It was discovered in 2008 in the Denisova Cave...
A Sámi family in front of goahti and lavvu housing, early 1900s, Norway
24 July, 2018 - 13:27 Alicia McDermott

A Window into the Traditional Sami Culture: Reindeer and a Worldview

The Sámi are an indigenous people with a rich cultural history. They have lived in northern Europe for thousands of years. The area they live in, Sápmi, includes the northern sectors of Norway,...
Shaman, Shaman and Chief from Father Crespi tablets photos. Images provided by the author.
19 April, 2018 - 13:58 Clyde Winters

Representation of Sumerian Elites Detected in the Crespi Gold Tablets

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Sumerians had established a colony in South America called Kuga-Ki. Kuga-Ki was the "Tin Land of the West" or the "Sunset Land", in Sumerian inscriptions...
Pomo Tule Canoe (Edward Curtis).
16 April, 2018 - 22:55 Birdog

Stone Hatchet Man & The Troubling Unfinished Journeys to the Spirit World for Native American Bones

It was July of 1923, and a hot day in Clearlake Park, California. Charles Hesse had been excavating a pit for his new septic tank all morning. Just before lunch, Charlie dug a good-sized, waist deep...
Open Sky and a Yurt in the Orkhon Valley
24 January, 2018 - 15:24 Alicia McDermott

The Tapestry of Early Turkic Myth is Woven with Tales of Wolves, Horses and a Great Tree of Life

Turkic peoples comprise a variety of ethnic groups living in northern, eastern, central and western Asia, northwestern China and some parts of eastern Europe. Historically they were established in...
Illustration of the "Emmons mask", a Mississippian culture carved cedarwood human face shaped object once covered in copper and painted with galena and used as part of a headdress
14 December, 2017 - 23:00 jason and sarah

Adena Axis Mundi & Large Skeletal Remains: Travelling to the Realm of the Dead at Grave Creek Mound - Part II

The large Grave Creek Mound proved to be an irresistible attraction to early antiquarians and curiosity seekers. In 1823, John Haywood mentioned the impressive mound: “of a conical form, 75 feet high...

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