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Mircea Eliade - On heat and cold
Identifier
002423
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Mircea Eliade – Shamanism Archaic techniques of ecstasy
The idea of mystical heat is not an exclusive possession of shamanism; it belongs to ‘magic’ in general. Many primitive tribes conceive of magico religious power as ‘burning’ or express it in terms meaning ‘heat’, ‘burn’, ‘very hot’ and the like. In Dobu, the idea of ‘heat’ always accompanies that of sorcery. The same is true of Rossel Island, where ‘heat’ is the attribute of magicians. In the Soloman Islands anyone possessing a large quantity of mana is regarded as saka – burning. Elsewhere – in Sumatra and the Malay Archipelago, for example – words designating ‘heat’ also express the idea of evil, while the notions of bliss, peace, security are all rendered by words meaning coolness.