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There are several additional ways in which historical
shamanismgrounds the relations among spatiality, spirituality, and
environmentalismin the novel. As in Pynchons text, the various
extraworldly forces towhich historical shamans are connected are
rarely simple. The difficultambiguities facing the Yakutsk shaman
are particularly relevant, for theirgods are not exclusively good
or evil, and it is sometimes difficult to determinewhether a
particular spirit is a vengeful, telluric one or a
morewell-disposed, uranian one (Eliade 18689). The divide suggested
bythis shamanistic understanding finds its echo not only in the
sometimesambiguous relation of Pynchons natural and underground
creatures toman but also in Bogomil theology, in which the blending
of Nature asthe object of sacrifice (asceticism) and sacrament
depends on the mergingof Christianity into the oppositional
position of dualism (Obolensky24). This concern again pushes our
understanding of the connectionsbetween shamanism and the rest of
Pynchons text beyond Orphism toBogomilism and Cyprian.Some other
aspects of shamanism reinforce its relation to Cypriansdualism.
Just as he serves as the medium of impregnation in his tryst
withYashmeen and Reef, the Yukagir shaman is often called upon to
transporta soul into a womans womb(Eliade 246). Likewise,
Cyprianscross-dressing and bisexuality resonate with the ritual
transvestitism,frequent hermaphroditism, and changing of sexual
behavior found in theshamanic traditions of a number of cultures
(Eliade 25758). Eliade argues
that these practices are often ritual efforts to establish
shamans as asexual,impotent androgynes, efforts important to the
shamans role as an intermediarybetween two worlds that are
themselves emblematic of thedivine coincidentia oppositorumof many
cosmological dualisms (Eliade352, 285). In this regard, Cyprians
sexual ambiguities not only preparehim for Bogomilism but attest to
the connection between that faith andshamanism. In addition, the
fact that the faith of the Bogomils was frequentlyassociated in the
popular conception with superstition and evenmagicsimilar to that
of shamanism is particularly striking (Obolensky164). The
aggressive environmentalism and political exceptionalism ofsome of
Pynchons shamans, such as the Doosra, are echoed by the
strongpolitical independence of the Bogomils, who suffered state
persecutionas early as the tenth century and were accused by Cosmas
of preaching
civil disobedience(Obolensky 13637). This accusation derived
from
