Shamanism: Foreword

One of Eliade’s clearest methodological statements is the “Foreword” from Shamanism , which remains one of his most significant works, still found in many bookstores. It demonstrates his thesis that the historian of religions can most usefully be employed in such works of integration. Eliade here makes a reference to the “Graebner-Schmidt- Koppers method of cultural cycles.” It is worth pointing out for contemporary students who may be unfamiliar with this that Father Wilhelm Schmidt (1868–1954) was author of the twelve-volume Der Ursprung der Gottesidee , which argued for a primal monotheism. Along with another clergyman, Wilhelm Koppers (1886–1961 ), he led a Vienna School of Anthropology, largely built on the works of Fritz Graebner. Their central concept was that of Kulturkreis (more accurately the culture-circle) and their approach is thus referred to as Kulturkreislehre , which held that the primeval culture- circle could be reconstructed through its contemporary remnants. Secondary culture- circles came about through migrations and the combination of primary culture-circles. The present excerpt is from Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade, xi-xix (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964 ). All rights reserved. Copyright © 1964 by Bollingen; 1992 renewed Princeton University Press; 1972 paperback edition; 2004 2nd paperback edition with new foreword. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.