Not Quite Shamans: Spirit Worlds and Political Lives in Northern Mongolia by Morten Axel Pedersen (review)

Abstract

Not Quite Shamans is a welcome contribution to the literature on the occult and supernatural, shamanism, postsocialism, and Mongolia. Morten Axel Pedersen conducted his fieldwork in northern Mongolia—in Shishged Depression among Darhads, who are famous, at least in Mongolia, for having the most “authentic” shamans. When Pedersen arrived to conduct his research in late 1990s and early 2000s, however, he found a paradox: the homeland of shamanism, where shamans persevered even through the harshest persecution during socialism, was now barren. Instead of shamans, the place was full of boo shig or boorhuu individuals (shaman-like or sort-of-a-shaman-but-not-quite).