Catalpa Bow

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The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan by Carmen BlackerReview by: I. M. LewisReligious Studies, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Sep., 1977), pp. 374-375Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20005433 .Accessed: 18/03/2014 04:36

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374 REVIEWS

dialogue is considerable. For the most part, discussion has centred on thepossible compatibility of the two movements. The merit of Machovec s studyis to suggest that not only is there a basic compatibility in the shared concern

with man s situation and future, but further that each has something tocontribute to the other. For as he notes, Marxism can supply new emphasison the future from a socially-critical perspective inwhich human phenomenaare to be understood in terms of human beings; and conversely, as theproblems we face are not only economic, but moral as well, Marxists whoare interested in going beyond mere recitation of the party line need to facethis other aspect of human reality. On the whole, then, Machovec seemscorrect when he states: .. . the Marxism of the twentieth century can betruly faithful to itself only when it has the courage to open itself wholeheartedly to this fruitful dialogue with the central problems of the Westerntradition (38).

The translation, from the German edition, reads smoothly, and no misprints were detected. But one should note that in the Czech language theauthor s name iswritten as Machovec, and not as Machovec. RegrettablyPeter Hebblethwaite s introduction contains a large number of minorfactual errors, such as statements that Milan Priuha was a professor of

philosophy in Charles University, when in fact he was a researcher in theAcademy of Sciences, or that Dr Erika Kadlecova had ministerial rank inthe government, when in fact she did not, etc. The factual inaccuracies inthe introduction, for which the author cannot be held responsible, constitutethe single weakness of an otherwise valuable book.

TOM ROCKMORE

Carmen Blacker. The Catalpa Bow:a

study of Shamanistic Practicesin

japan.Pp. 376, illus. (London: Allen and Unwin, I975.) ?8.75.

This comprehensive study by a Japanese specialist is a welcome addition tothe modern literature on shamanism. With stylish scholarship Dr Blackerexplores the changing significance of shamanistic symbolism and institutionsin the culture history of Japan. Her impressive control of her textual source

material is supplemented by her own vivid first-hand experience of a numberof the more gruelling shamanistic pilgrimages and ordeals (including fire

walking). Dr Blacker is clearly a sympathetic as well as a meticulous observerand successfully conveys her nostalgia at the passing away, as she sees it, ofthis attractive old tradition in the face of garish modernity. Traditionally,and even today despite the aggressive secularism of the times, Dr Blackeremphasizes how often the source of human calamities is sought in the

spiritual realm , whose mysterious forces shamanism seeks to locate, control

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REVIEWS 375

and contain. Typically, this requires the collaboration of two complementaryfigures: the ecstatic female medium (miko) and the ascetic male exorcist(shamon). Both intermediaries allow communication to take place between

mortals and spiritual powers. Strumming the magical Catalpa Bow or usingother techniques, the ecstatic medium becomes possessed by spirits whothus express their demands. Her male collaborator then directly enters thespiritual realm, either sending his soul (spirit) on dangerous cosmic missions,or confronting symbolic representations of the spirit world in this.

Each style of mystical communication has its own distinctive form oftrance: the first, involving spirit possession, is correspondingly violent; thesecond, involving what anthropologists call soul-loss is passive, the shamanbeing in a deep, even comatose state of suspended animation . Dr Blackerinsists, rightly, I think, that both these figures are technically shamans andstresses the pervasive importance of shamanism in Japanese religion downthe centuries. This perspective, emphasizing what anthropologists mightcall practical religion, makes nonsense , Dr Blacker explains, of the conventional distinction between Shinto and Buddhism and is even reflectedin the No plays many of which, the author considers, are concealedshamanistic rituals . This pragmatic stress on actual local beliefs and

practices, however at variance with the high literate tradition, naturallycommends itself to the anthropological reader and greatly enhances thevalue of Dr Blacker s subtle analysis of shamanistic ritual and symbolism.For those who are not experts on Japan, however, the quest is sometimesarduous and demands alert attention as the reader is whisked backwardsand forwards across the centuries in pursuit of a particular religious theme.This somewhat unsettling experience (exhilerating though it is) is for thesocial anthropologist compounded by an often tantalising lack of informationon the social context of shamanistic activity. The prominence of women

mediums (or shamans) is noted at many points in the book and, towardsthe end of the book, elucidated in terms of the customary constraints imposedon young housewives in Japan. But such sociological data as the reader isvouchsafed tend to be impressionistic and vague. But then Dr Blackermakes no claims to expertise in this direction. There is also an intriguingparadox. Authentic shamanistic practices are dying out, Dr Blacker tellsus, and with them the truth and beauty of the ritual . Yet reference isalso made to the rise of the new Japanese religions and their shamanisticconnexions. Is it not thus perhaps possible that here, as elsewhere, the

relentless march ofmaterialism

usually eventually promotes its own antithesis with a renewed quest for the occult womb ?I. M. LEWIS

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