Seeing sound: consciousness and therapeutic acoustics in the inter-sensory shamanic epistemology of the Orang Sakai of Riau
Seeing sound: consciousness and therapeutic acoustics in the inter-sensory shamanic epistemology of the Orang Sakai of Riau
This article explores therapeutic shamanic sounds in relation to Orang Sakai ideas of (altered) consciousness. The argument given is that within a shamanic epistemology the very idea of producing sound involves an assumption of the material existence of non‐physical beings as sound‐makers. Such sounds are conceived to be as materially real as are ordinary physical sounds. The article argues further that sound is not only experienced through hearing but can also be inter‐sensorially experienced through the perception of sight. Moreover, ocular perception can refer to both seeing with the eyes and seeing with the ‘inner eye’, which for Sakais is an organ and not a mental function. Finally, given that sound can be inter‐sensorially experienced, this article questions the validity of the oral/aural concept for non‐literate societies.
sound, ritual, shamanism, synesthesia, healing, indigenous peoples, animism, orality
647-663
Porath, Nathan
3ec6e51c-ceb8-46e2-8fd0-71a416f0f095
13 August 2008
Porath, Nathan
3ec6e51c-ceb8-46e2-8fd0-71a416f0f095
Porath, Nathan
(2008)
Seeing sound: consciousness and therapeutic acoustics in the inter-sensory shamanic epistemology of the Orang Sakai of Riau.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 14 (3), .
(doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2008.00522.x).
Abstract
This article explores therapeutic shamanic sounds in relation to Orang Sakai ideas of (altered) consciousness. The argument given is that within a shamanic epistemology the very idea of producing sound involves an assumption of the material existence of non‐physical beings as sound‐makers. Such sounds are conceived to be as materially real as are ordinary physical sounds. The article argues further that sound is not only experienced through hearing but can also be inter‐sensorially experienced through the perception of sight. Moreover, ocular perception can refer to both seeing with the eyes and seeing with the ‘inner eye’, which for Sakais is an organ and not a mental function. Finally, given that sound can be inter‐sensorially experienced, this article questions the validity of the oral/aural concept for non‐literate societies.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 13 August 2008
Keywords:
sound, ritual, shamanism, synesthesia, healing, indigenous peoples, animism, orality
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 439260
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/439260
ISSN: 1359-0987
PURE UUID: 594641c8-1b7c-4478-818b-2bb8b3fdd842
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 07 Apr 2020 16:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:26
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics