Sorcery in Amazonia

A Comparative Exploration of Magical Assault

edited by James Andrew Whitaker, Matthias Lewy and Tarryl Janik

Book cover: Sorcery in Amazonia

Extent: 238 pages

Publisher: Dietrich Reimer Verlag

Subjects: Anthropology, Religious Studies

Series: Biblioteca Antropologica Americana

Series volume number: 1

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(February 2025)

ISBN: 9783786129301

6.65 x 9.41 inches

Price: $99.00

In stock

The ethnographic literature focusing on sorcery in Amazonia has been sporadic and sparse. However sorcery is often of great importance in the lives and cosmologies of many people in different parts of lowland South America.


Although shamanism has become a well-developed and expansive topic within the anthropology of Amazonia, the ethnographic literature focusing on sorcery has been sporadic and sparse by comparison. This has particularly been the case since the death of Neil L. Whitehead in 2012. However, as this volume shows, sorcery is often of great importance in the lives and cosmologies of many people in different parts of lowland South America. Across the region, it takes a variety of forms and involves a diverse range of practices. This edited volume comparatively re-examines the topic of sorcery in Amazonia with particular emphases on local ontological frameworks, issues of embodiment, and related uses of sound. It highlights ethical approaches to research concerning sorcery and discusses the ethics within local communities of sorcery practices and accusations.

  • Edited by Tarryl Janik
  • Edited by Matthias Lewy
  • Edited by James Andrew Whitaker