How does one integrate lessons learned from nature in daily life? This feature documentary is an experiential journey into the mystical practices of Japanese mountain asceticism. In Shugendō (the way of acquiring power), practitioners perform ritual actions from shamanism, "Shintō," Daoism, and Tantric Buddhism. They seek experiential truth of the teachings during arduous climbs in sacred mountains. Through the peace and beauty of the natural...

Ms. Taki Kudo says she has been able to connect with deities since she was six or seven years old. Even in modern Japan, mediums like Ms. Kudo are in demand, providing such traditional services as expelling a curse and invoking spirits for health and long life.

A crusty old man and a beautiful young girl live on a fishing boat, which has been floating at sea for over 10 years. The old man plans to marry the 16-year-old on her next birthday, and counts the days down on his calendar. In addition to the girl, the old man also cherishes his bow, which he uses predominantly as a weapon to fight off would-be admirers of his lovely shipmate. However, the bow is also a useful device for shamanistic fortune-telling...

Cremation rites are the most elaborate rites of passage performed by Balinese householders. Poor families may wait years before accumulating enough resources to cremate their dead, who are buried in the meantime. In 1978 many more cremations than usual were carried out because of the great purification cermony, Eka Dasa Rudra, held at Bali's main temple, Besakih, in 1979. Religious officials recommended that all Balinese cleanse the island by cremating...

This is one of the few ethnographic films in which the anthropologist appears as one of the subjects, and as such it is a lively introduction to the nature of fieldwork.

Tierra del Fuego, "land of fire," was first discovered by Europeans early in the sixteenth century. A group of islands that had separated from the southern tip of the South American mainland long ago, Tierra del Fuego had probably been inhabited by different groups of Indians for at least 9000 years. The largest island in the zone, the "Great Island," now divided between Chile and Argentina, was the homeland of the Selk'nam Indians, sometimes known...

In the highlands of Northern Columbia the Ika live a strenuous and isolated life, economically dependent on small gardens and a handful of domestic animals. They are thought to be descendants of the Maya who fled from the turmoil of Central American High Civilizations warring states to the remote valleys of Colombias Sierra Nevadas.