![]() ![]() ![]() Among nomads of Arctic Siberia, spirits of places and animals partly survived the Soviet state's destruction of the shamans who managed relations with them, and they still regulate human movement. Religious change erodes some relations and creates others, and conversion or enforced atheism can do this suddenly, leading to ontological confusion and emotional derangement. How can we think that non-human entities resemble us, and that they want human-like relations with us? How does one regulate such unstable contacts with such intangible realities? And what happens to these when societies change religion? I shall examine some examples of mutual desire and neediness between humans and a range of gods and spirits, expressed through genres of communion such as sacrifice, prayer, and sexual intercourse. "Homer made his humans into gods for their strength, and his gods into humans by making them suffer conflict, revenge, tears and bondage" (paraphrased from Longinus, On the Sublime, 1st century CE, section 9.7). ![]()
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