For decades, the phenomenon of shamanism has aroused enormous interest among the scientific community and the non-specialist public. Since the 1970s, a popular Western neo-shamanism also began to spread, usually linked to personal growth movements.

This book is an updated review of the basic concepts of the phenomenon, notably the figure of the shaman and the mental, cultural, therapeutic and cognitive phenomena that are hidden under this archetype. It is also a lucid, sharp and not without irony critique of some versions of neo-shamanism and of the supermarket of beliefs that modern Western society has become.