Ethnobotanists, people who study the relationship between plants and people, have long documented the extensive use of medicinal plants by indigenous shamans in places around the world, including the Amazon. But few have reported on the actual process by which traditional healers diagnose and treat disease. >>>

Arriving at Lara Djonggrang restaurant in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on the evening of Halloween, I was surprised to see a traditional market occupying the courtyard.

Illuminated with torches and oil lamps, open bamboo huts showcased traditional delicacies from Cirebon, West Java, such as tahu gejrot (crisp-fried tofu bathed in a thin, dark sauce flavored with green chili and shallots), empal gentong (tender beef in creamy turmeric and coconut soup) and nasi lengko (steamed rice served with marinated tofu, soybean cake and vegetables).>>>

Everyone knows something is going to happen Dec. 21, 2012.

It's what that something is that's up for debate. Either:
# The world will end.
# A new age of harmony will begin, or,
# Panic will ensue as men around the world wake up to realize there are only four shopping days left until Christmas.
In any event, we have another much-publicized doomsday deadline fast approaching and filmmakers and book publishers know it. According to the Mayan calendar — which can't be purchased at your local Hallmark store because it hasn't been used since the 1500s>>>

A female shaman performs the ’Jindo Sitgimgut,’ a shamanist ritual for cleansing the soul of deceased persons, for women in the entertainment industry including Jang Ja-yeon, who committed suicide in March.>>>

When Degi, a 24-year-old web designer in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, hit a pedestrian in July 2008 with his Daewoo sedan, his luck took a turn for the worse. His company didn’t get a contract he was hoping for, and misfortune seemed to hover over his personal life. The family of the victim extorted money from him, threatening to sue and warning him that they had connections in the courts. So Degi, like many Mongolians, took his troubles to a shaman.>>>