Shamanism

Last updated

Shamanism or samanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman or saman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. [1] [2] The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world for the purpose of healing, divination, or to aid human beings in some other way. [1]

Contents

Beliefs and practices categorized as "shamanic" have attracted the interest of scholars from a variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, archeologists, historians, religious studies scholars, philosophers and psychologists. Hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism.

In the 20th century, non-Indigenous Westerners involved in countercultural movements, such as hippies and the New Age created modern magico-religious practices influenced by their ideas of various Indigenous religions, creating what has been termed neoshamanism or the neoshamanic movement. [3] It has affected the development of many neopagan practices, as well as faced a backlash and accusations of cultural appropriation, [4] exploitation and misrepresentation when outside observers have tried to practice the ceremonies of, or represent, centuries-old cultures to which they do not belong. [5]

Terminology

Etymology

The earliest known depiction of a Siberian shaman, by the Dutch explorer Nicolaes Witsen, 17th century. Witsen called him a "priest of the Devil" and drew clawed feet for the supposed demonic qualities. Witsen's Shaman.JPG
The earliest known depiction of a Siberian shaman, by the Dutch explorer Nicolaes Witsen, 17th century. Witsen called him a "priest of the Devil" and drew clawed feet for the supposed demonic qualities.

The Modern English word shamanism derives from the Russian word šamán, which itself comes from the word samān from a Tungusic language [7] – possibly from the southwestern dialect of the Evenki spoken by the Sym Evenki peoples, [8] or from the Manchu language. [9] The etymology of the word is sometimes connected to the Tungus root sā-, meaning "to know". [10] [11] However, Finnish ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen questions this connection on linguistic grounds: "The possibility cannot be completely rejected, but neither should it be accepted without reservation since the assumed derivational relationship is phonologically irregular (note especially the vowel quantities)." [12]

Mircea Eliade noted that the Sanskrit word śramaṇa , designating a wandering monastic or holy figure, has spread to many Central Asian languages along with Buddhism and could be the ultimate origin of the word shaman. [13] The word has been reported in Gandhari as ṣamana, in Tocharian A as ṣāmaṃ, in Tocharian B as ṣamāne and in Chinese as 沙門shāmén. [14]

The term was adopted by Russians interacting with the indigenous peoples in Siberia. It is found in the memoirs of the exiled Russian churchman Avvakum. [15] It was brought to Western Europe twenty years later by the Dutch traveler Nicolaes Witsen, who reported his stay and journeys among the Tungusic- and Samoyedic-speaking Indigenous peoples of Siberia in his book Noord en Oost Tataryen (1692). [16] Adam Brand, a merchant from Lübeck, published in 1698 his account of a Russian embassy to China; a translation of his book, published the same year, introduced the word shaman to English speakers. [17]

Anthropologist and archeologist Silvia Tomaskova argued that by the mid-1600s, many Europeans applied the Arabic term shaitan (meaning "devil") to the non-Christian practices and beliefs of Indigenous peoples beyond the Ural Mountains. [18] She suggests that shaman may have entered the various Tungus dialects as a corruption of this term, and then been told to Christian missionaries, explorers, soldiers and colonial administrators with whom the people had increasing contact for centuries.

A female shaman is sometimes called a shamanka, which is not an actual Tungus term but simply shaman plus the Russian suffix -ka (for feminine nouns). [19]

Definitions

An Altay shaman, Russian Empire, 1908 SB - Altay shaman with drum.jpg
An Altay shaman, Russian Empire, 1908

There is no single agreed-upon definition for the word "shamanism" among anthropologists. Thomas Downson suggests three shared elements of shamanism: practitioners consistently alter consciousness, the community regards altering consciousness as an important ritual practice, and the knowledge about the practice is controlled.

The English historian Ronald Hutton noted that by the dawn of the 21st century, there were four separate definitions of the term which appeared to be in use:

According to the Oxford English Dictionary , a shaman ( /ˈʃɑːmən/ SHAH-men, /ˈʃæmən/ or /ˈʃmən/ ) [23] is someone who is regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. [1] [23] The word "shaman" probably originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia. According to Juha Janhunen, "the word is attested in all of the Tungusic idioms" such as Negidal, Lamut, Udehe/Orochi, Nanai, Ilcha, Orok, Manchu and Ulcha, and "nothing seems to contradict the assumption that the meaning 'shaman' also derives from Proto-Tungusic" and may have roots that extend back in time at least two millennia. [24] The term was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic Khanate of Kazan in 1552.

The term "shamanism" was first applied by Western anthropologists as outside observers of the ancient religion of the Turks and Mongols, as well as those of the neighbouring Tungusic- and Samoyedic-speaking peoples. Upon observing more religious traditions around the world, some Western anthropologists began to also use the term in a very broad sense. The term was used to describe unrelated magicoreligious practices found within the ethnic religions of other parts of Asia, Africa, Australasia and even completely unrelated parts of the Americas, as they believed these practices to be similar to one another. [25] While the term has been incorrectly applied by cultural outsiders to many Indigenous spiritual practices, the words “shaman” and “shamanism” do not accurately describe the variety and complexity that is Indigenous spirituality. Each nation and tribe has its own way of life, and uses terms in their own languages. [26]

Mircea Eliade writes, "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = 'technique of religious ecstasy'." [27] Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments and illnesses by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul or spirit are believed to restore the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. Shamans also claim to enter supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans claim to visit other worlds or dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. Shamans operate primarily within the spiritual world, which, they believe, in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance is said to result in the elimination of the ailment. [27]

Criticism of the term

A tableau presenting figures from various cultures described as "shamans" in Western academic literature. Shaman tableau.png
A tableau presenting figures from various cultures described as "shamans" in Western academic literature.

The anthropologist Alice Kehoe criticizes the term "shaman" in her book Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking. Part of this criticism involves the notion of cultural appropriation. [4] This includes criticism of New Age and modern Western forms of shamanism, which, according to Kehoe, misrepresent or dilute Indigenous practices. Kehoe also believes that the term reinforces racist ideas such as the noble savage.

Kehoe is highly critical of Mircea Eliade's work on shamanism as an invention synthesized from various sources unsupported by more direct research. To Kehoe, citing practices such as drumming, trance, chanting, entheogen and hallucinogen use, spirit communication, and healing as definitive of shamanism ignores the fact that they exist outside of what is defined as shamanism and even play similar roles in nonshamanic cultures, for example chanting in the Abrahamic religions. She argues that these expression are unique to each culture that uses them and that such practices cannot be generalized easily, accurately, or usefully into a global religion of shamanism. Because of this, Kehoe is also highly critical of the hypothesis that shamanism is an ancient, unchanged, and surviving religion from the Paleolithic period. [4]

The term has been criticized[ by whom? ] for its perceived colonial roots, and as a tool to perpetuate perceived contemporary linguistic colonialism. By Western scholars, the term "shamanism" is used to refer to a variety of different cultures and practices around the world, which can vary dramatically and may not be accurately represented by a single concept. Billy-Ray Belcourt, an author and award-winning scholar from the Driftpile Cree Nation in Canada, argues that using language with the intention of simplifying culture that is diverse, such as Shamanism, as it is prevalent in communities around the world and is made up of many complex components, works to conceal the complexities of the social and political violence that Indigenous communities have experienced at the hands of settlers. [28] Belcourt argues that language used to imply “simplicity” in regards to Indigenous culture, is a tool used to belittle Indigenous cultures, as it views Indigenous communities solely as a result of a history embroiled in violence, that leaves Indigenous communities only capable of simplicity and plainness.

Anthropologist Mihály Hoppál also discusses whether the term "shamanism" is appropriate. He notes that for many readers, "-ism" implies a particular dogma, like Buddhism, Catholicism or Judaism. He recommends using the term "shamanhood" [29] or "shamanship" [30] (a term used in old Russian and German ethnographic reports at the beginning of the 20th century) for stressing the diversity and the specific features of the discussed cultures. He believes that this places more stress on the local variations [10] and emphasizes that shamanism is not a religion of sacred dogmas, but linked to the everyday life in a practical way. [31] Following similar thoughts, he also conjectures a contemporary paradigm shift. [29] Piers Vitebsky also mentions that, despite really astonishing similarities, there is no unity in shamanism. The various, fragmented shamanistic practices and beliefs coexist with other beliefs everywhere. There is no record of pure shamanistic societies (although their existence is not impossible). [32] Norwegian social anthropologist Hakan Rydving has likewise argued for the abandonment of the terms "shaman" and "shamanism" as "scientific illusions." [33]

Dulam Bumochir has affirmed the above critiques of "shamanism" as a Western construct created for comparative purposes and, in an extensive article, has documented the role of Mongols themselves, particularly "the partnership of scholars and shamans in the reconstruction of shamanism" in post-1990/post-communist Mongolia. [34] This process has also been documented by Swiss anthropologist Judith Hangartner in her landmark study of Darhad shamans in Mongolia. [35] Historian Karena Kollmar-Polenz argues that the social construction and reification of shamanism as a religious "other" actually began with the 18th-century writings of Tibetan Buddhist monks in Mongolia and later "probably influenced the formation of European discourse on Shamanism". [36]

History

Shamanism is a system of religious practice. [37] Historically, it is often associated with Indigenous and tribal societies, and involves belief that shamans, with a connection to the otherworld, have the power to heal the sick, communicate with spirits, and escort souls of the dead to the afterlife. The origins of Shamanism stem from indigenous peoples of far northern Europe and Siberia. [38]

Despite structural implications of colonialism and imperialism that have limited the ability of Indigenous peoples to practice traditional spiritualities, many communities are undergoing resurgence through self-determination [39] and the reclamation of dynamic traditions. [40] Other groups have been able to avoid some of these structural impediments by virtue of their isolation, such as the nomadic Tuvan (with an estimated population of 3000 people surviving from this tribe). [41] Tuva is one of the most isolated Asiatic tribes in Russia where the art of shamanism has been preserved until today due to its isolated existence, allowing it to be free from the influences of other major religions. [42]

Beliefs

There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world, but several common beliefs are shared by all forms of shamanism. Common beliefs identified by Eliade (1972) [27] are the following:

As Alice Kehoe [4] notes, Eliade's conceptualization of shamans produces a universalist image of Indigenous cultures, which perpetuates notions of the dead (or dying) Indian [43] as well as the noble savage. [44]

Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits which affect the lives of the living. [45] Although the causes of disease lie in the spiritual realm, inspired by malicious spirits, both spiritual and physical methods are used to heal. Commonly, a shaman "enters the body" of the patient to confront the spiritual infirmity and heals by banishing the infectious spirit.

Many shamans have expert knowledge of medicinal plants native to their area, and an herbal treatment is often prescribed. In many places shamans learn directly from the plants, harnessing their effects and healing properties, after obtaining permission from the indwelling or patron spirits. In the Peruvian Amazon Basin, shamans and curanderos use medicine songs called icaros to evoke spirits. Before a spirit can be summoned it must teach the shaman its song. [45] The use of totemic items such as rocks with special powers and an animating spirit is common.

Such practices are presumably very ancient. Plato wrote in his Phaedrus that the "first prophecies were the words of an oak", and that those who lived at that time found it rewarding enough to "listen to an oak or a stone, so long as it was telling the truth".

Belief in witchcraft and sorcery, known as brujería in Latin America, exists in many societies. Other societies assert all shamans have the power to both cure and kill. Those with shamanic knowledge usually enjoy great power and prestige in the community, but they may also be regarded suspiciously or fearfully as potentially harmful to others. [46]

By engaging in their work, a shaman is exposed to significant personal risk as shamanic plant materials can be toxic or fatal if misused. Spells are commonly used in an attempt to protect against these dangers, and the use of more dangerous plants is often very highly ritualized.

Soul and spirit concepts

Soul
Soul can generally explain more, seemingly unassociated phenomena in shamanism: [47] [48] [49]
Healing
Healing may be based closely on the soul concepts of the belief system of the people served by the shaman. [50] It may consist of the supposed retrieving the lost soul of the ill person. [51]
Scarcity of hunted game
Scarcity of hunted game can be solved by "releasing" the souls of the animals from their hidden abodes. Besides that, many taboos may prescribe the behavior of people towards game, so that the souls of the animals do not feel angry or hurt, or the pleased soul of the already killed prey can tell the other, still living animals, that they can allow themselves to be caught and killed. [52] [53]
Infertility of women
Infertility of women is thought to be cured by obtaining the soul of the expected child[ citation needed ]
Spirits
Spirits are invisible entities that only shamans can see. They are seen as persons that can assume a human or animal body. [54] Some animals in their physical forms are also seen as spirits such as the case of the eagle, snake, jaguar, and rat. [54] Beliefs related to spirits can explain many different phenomena. [55] For example, the importance of storytelling, or acting as a singer, can be understood better if the whole belief system is examined. A person who can memorize long texts or songs, and play an instrument, may be regarded as the beneficiary of contact with the spirits (e.g. Khanty people). [56]

Practice

Generally, shamans traverse the axis mundi and enter the "spirit world" by effecting a transition of consciousness, entering into an ecstatic trance, either autohypnotically or through the use of entheogens or ritual performances. [57] [58] The methods employed are diverse, and are often used together.

Music and songs

Just like shamanism itself, [10] music and songs related to it in various cultures are diverse. In several instances, songs related to shamanism are intended to imitate natural sounds, via onomatopoeia. [59]

Sound mimesis in various cultures may serve other functions not necessarily related to shamanism: practical goals such as luring game in the hunt; [60] or entertainment (Inuit throat singing). [60] [61]

Initiation and learning

Shamans often claim to have been called through dreams or signs. However, some say their powers are inherited. In traditional societies shamanic training varies in length, but generally takes years.

Turner and colleagues [62] mention a phenomenon called "shamanistic initiatory crisis", a rite of passage for shamans-to-be, commonly involving physical illness or psychological crisis. The significant role of initiatory illnesses in the calling of a shaman can be found in the case history of Chuonnasuan, who was one of the last shamans among the Tungus peoples in Northeast China. [63]

The wounded healer is an archetype for a shamanic trial and journey. This process is important to young shamans. They undergo a type of sickness that pushes them to the brink of death. This is said to happen for two reasons:

Other practices

Items used in spiritual practice

Shamans may employ varying materials in spiritual practice in different cultures.

Goldes shaman priest in his regalia Goldes shaman priest in his regalia.png
Goldes shaman priest in his regalia

Roles

South Moluccan shaman in an exorcism ritual involving children, Buru, Indonesia (1920) COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een shamaan op Zuid-Boeroe bezweert boze geesten de kinderen te verlaten waarbij hij een geldstuk en een sirihnoot offert TMnr 10001031.jpg
South Moluccan shaman in an exorcism ritual involving children, Buru, Indonesia (1920)
A shaman of the Itneg people in the Philippines renewing an offering to the spirit (anito) of a warrior's shield (kalasag) (1922) An Itneg shaman renewing an offering to the spirit shield (1922, Philippines).jpg
A shaman of the Itneg people in the Philippines renewing an offering to the spirit ( anito ) of a warrior's shield ( kalasag ) (1922)

Shamans have been conceptualized as those who are able to gain knowledge and power to heal in the spiritual world or dimension. Most shamans have dreams or visions that convey certain messages. Shamans may claim to have or have acquired many spirit guides, who they believe guide and direct them in their travels in the spirit world. These spirit guides are always thought to be present within the shaman, although others are said to encounter them only when the shaman is in a trance. The spirit guide energizes the shamans, enabling them to enter the spiritual dimension. Shamans claim to heal within the communities and the spiritual dimension by returning lost parts of the human soul from wherever they have gone. Shamans also claim to cleanse excess negative energies, which are said to confuse or pollute the soul. Shamans act as mediators in their cultures. [68] [69] Shamans claim to communicate with the spirits on behalf of the community, including the spirits of the deceased. Shamans believe they can communicate with both living and dead to alleviate unrest, unsettled issues, and to deliver gifts to the spirits.

Among the Selkups, the sea duck is a spirit animal. Ducks fly in the air and dive in the water and are thus believed to belong to both the upper world and the world below. [70] Among other Siberian peoples, these characteristics are attributed to waterfowl in general. [71] The upper world is the afterlife primarily associated with deceased humans and is believed to be accessed by soul journeying through a portal in the sky. The lower world or "world below" is the afterlife primarily associated with animals and is believed to be accessed by soul journeying through a portal in the earth. [72] In shamanic cultures, many animals are regarded as spirit animals.

Shamans perform a variety of functions depending upon their respective cultures; [73] healing, [50] [74] leading a sacrifice, [75] preserving traditions by storytelling and songs, [76] fortune-telling, [77] and acting as a psychopomp ("guide of souls"). [78] A single shaman may fulfill several of these functions. [73]

The responsibilities of a shaman may include either guiding to their proper abode the souls of the dead (which may be guided either one-at-a-time or in a group, depending on the culture), and the curing of ailments. The ailments may be either purely physical afflictions—such as disease, which are claimed to be cured by gifting, flattering, threatening, or wrestling the disease-spirit (sometimes trying all these, sequentially), and which may be completed by displaying a supposedly extracted token of the disease-spirit (displaying this, even if "fraudulent", is supposed to impress the disease-spirit that it has been, or is in the process of being, defeated so that it will retreat and stay out of the patient's body), or else mental (including psychosomatic) afflictions—such as persistent terror, which is likewise believed to be cured by similar methods. In most languages a different term other than the one translated "shaman" is usually applied to a religious official leading sacrificial rites ("priest"), or to a raconteur ("sage") of traditional lore; there may be more of an overlap in functions (with that of a shaman), however, in the case of an interpreter of omens or of dreams.

There are distinct types of shamans who perform more specialized functions. For example, among the Nanai people, a distinct kind of shaman acts as a psychopomp. [79] Other specialized shamans may be distinguished according to the type of spirits, or realms of the spirit world, with which the shaman most commonly interacts. These roles vary among the Nenets, Enets, and Selkup shamans. [80] [81]

The assistant of an Oroqen shaman (called jardalanin, or "second spirit") knows many things about the associated beliefs. He or she accompanies the rituals and interprets the behaviors of the shaman. [82] Despite these functions, the jardalanin is not a shaman. For this interpretative assistant, it would be unwelcome to fall into a trance. [83]

Ecological aspect

Among the Tucano people, a sophisticated system exists for environmental resources management and for avoiding resource depletion through overhunting. This system is conceptualized mythologically and symbolically by the belief that breaking hunting restrictions may cause illness. As the primary teacher of tribal symbolism, the shaman may have a leading role in this ecological management, actively restricting hunting and fishing. The shaman is able to "release" game animals, or their souls, from their hidden abodes. [84] [85] The Piaroa people have ecological concerns related to shamanism. [86] Among the Inuit the angakkuq (shamans) fetch the souls of game from remote places, [87] [88] or soul travel to ask for game from mythological beings like the Sea Woman. [89]

Economics

The way shamans get sustenance and take part in everyday life varies across cultures. In many Inuit groups, they provide services for the community and get a "due payment",[ who? ] and believe the payment is given to the helping spirits. [90] An account states that the gifts and payments that a shaman receives are given by his partner spirit. Since it obliges the shaman to use his gift and to work regularly in this capacity, the spirit rewards him with the goods that it receives. [91] These goods, however, are only "welcome addenda". They are not enough to enable a full-time shaman. Shamans live like any other member of the group, as a hunter or housewife. Due to the popularity of ayahuasca tourism in South America, there are practitioners in areas frequented by backpackers who make a living from leading ceremonies. [92] [90]

Furthermore, due to the predominant number of female shamans over males, shamanism was and continues to be an integral part of women’s economic liberation. [ citation needed ] Shamanism often serves as an economic resource due to the requirement of payment for service. This economic revenue was vital for female shamans, especially those living during the Chosun Dynasty in Korea (1392–1910 A.D.). In a culture that disapproved of female economic autonomy, the practice of shamanism allowed women to advance themselves financially and independently, in a way that had not been possible for them before. [93]

Academic study

Sami noaidi with his drum Shaman.jpg
Sámi noaidi with his drum

Cognitive and evolutionary approaches

There are two major frameworks among cognitive and evolutionary scientists for explaining shamanism. The first, proposed by anthropologist Michael Winkelman, is known as the "neurotheological theory". [94] [95] According to Winkelman, shamanism develops reliably in human societies because it provides valuable benefits to the practitioner, their group, and individual clients. In particular, the trance states induced by dancing, hallucinogens, and other triggers are hypothesized to have an "integrative" effect on cognition, allowing communication among mental systems that specialize in theory of mind, social intelligence, and natural history. [96] With this cognitive integration, the shaman can better predict the movement of animals, resolve group conflicts, plan migrations, and provide other useful services.

The neurotheological theory contrasts with the "by-product" or "subjective" model of shamanism developed by Harvard anthropologist Manvir Singh. [1] [97] [98] According to Singh, shamanism is a cultural technology that adapts to (or hacks) our psychological biases to convince us that a specialist can influence important but uncontrollable outcomes. [99] Citing work on the psychology of magic and superstition, Singh argues that humans search for ways of influencing uncertain events, such as healing illness, controlling rain, or attracting animals. As specialists compete to help their clients control these outcomes, they drive the evolution of psychologically compelling magic, producing traditions adapted to people's cognitive biases. Shamanism, Singh argues, is the culmination of this cultural evolutionary process—a psychologically appealing method for controlling uncertainty. For example, some shamanic practices exploit our intuitions about humanness: Practitioners use trance and dramatic initiations to seemingly become entities distinct from normal humans and thus more apparently capable of interacting with the invisible forces believed to oversee important outcomes. Influential cognitive and anthropological scientists such as Pascal Boyer and Nicholas Humphrey have endorsed Singh's approach, [100] [101] although other researchers have criticized Singh's dismissal of individual- and group-level benefits. [102]

David Lewis-Williams explains the origins of shamanic practice, and some of its precise forms, through aspects of human consciousness evinced in cave art and LSD experiments alike. [103]

Ecological approaches and systems theory

Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff relates these concepts to developments in the ways that modern science (systems theory, ecology, new approaches in anthropology and archeology) treats causality in a less linear fashion. [84] He also suggests a cooperation of modern science and Indigenous lore. [104]

Historical origins

Shamanic practices may originate as early as the Paleolithic, predating all organized religions, [105] [106] and certainly as early as the Neolithic period. [106] The earliest known undisputed burial of a shaman (and by extension the earliest undisputed evidence of shamans and shamanic practices) dates back to the early Upper Paleolithic era (c. 30,000 BP) in what is now the Czech Republic. [107]

Sanskrit scholar and comparative mythologist Michael Witzel proposes that all of the world's mythologies, and also the concepts and practices of shamans, can be traced to the migrations of two prehistoric populations: the "Gondwana" type (of circa 65,000 years ago) and the "Laurasian" type (of circa 40,000 years ago). [108]

In November 2008, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced the discovery of a 12,000-year-old site in Israel that is perceived as one of the earliest-known shaman burials. The elderly woman had been arranged on her side, with her legs apart and folded inward at the knee. Ten large stones were placed on the head, pelvis, and arms. Among her unusual grave goods were 50 complete tortoise shells, a human foot, and certain body parts from animals such as a cow tail and eagle wings. Other animal remains came from a boar, leopard, and two martens. "It seems that the woman … was perceived as being in a close relationship with these animal spirits", researchers noted. The grave was one of at least 28 graves at the site, located in a cave in lower Galilee and belonging to the Natufian culture, but is said to be unlike any other among the Epipaleolithic Natufians or in the Paleolithic period. [109]

Semiotic and hermeneutic approaches

A debated etymology of the word "shaman" is "one who knows", [11] [110] implying, among other things, that the shaman is an expert in keeping together the multiple codes of the society, and that to be effective, shamans must maintain a comprehensive view in their mind which gives them certainty of knowledge. [10] According to this view, the shaman uses (and the audience understands) multiple codes, expressing meanings in many ways: verbally, musically, artistically, and in dance. Meanings may be manifested in objects such as amulets. [110] If the shaman knows the culture of their community well, [69] [111] [112] and acts accordingly, their audience will know the used symbols and meanings and therefore trust the shamanic worker. [112] [113]

There are also semiotic, theoretical approaches to shamanism, [114] [115] [116] and examples of "mutually opposing symbols" in academic studies of Siberian lore, distinguishing a "white" shaman who contacts sky spirits for good aims by day, from a "black" shaman who contacts evil spirits for bad aims by night. [117] (Series of such opposing symbols referred to a world-view behind them. Analogously to the way grammar arranges words to express meanings and convey a world, also this formed a cognitive map). [10] [118] Shaman's lore is rooted in the folklore of the community, which provides a "mythological mental map". [119] [120] Juha Pentikäinen uses the concept "grammar of mind". [120] [121]

Armin Geertz coined and introduced the hermeneutics, [122] or "ethnohermeneutics", [118] interpretation. Hoppál extended the term to include not only the interpretation of oral and written texts, but that of "visual texts as well (including motions, gestures and more complex rituals, and ceremonies performed, for instance, by shamans)". [123] Revealing the animistic views in shamanism, but also their relevance to the contemporary world, where ecological problems have validated paradigms of balance and protection. [120]

Decline and revitalization and tradition-preserving movements

Traditional, Indigenous shamanism is believed to be declining around the world. Whalers who frequently interacted with Inuit groups are one source of this decline in that region. [124]

A shaman doctor of Kyzyl, 2005. Attempts are being made to preserve and revitalize Tuvan shamanism: former authentic shamans have begun to practice again, and young apprentices are being educated in an organized way. Kyzyl Shaman.jpg
A shaman doctor of Kyzyl, 2005. Attempts are being made to preserve and revitalize Tuvan shamanism: former authentic shamans have begun to practice again, and young apprentices are being educated in an organized way.

In many areas, former shamans ceased to fulfill the functions in the community they used to, as they felt mocked by their own community, [127] or regarded their own past as deprecated and were unwilling to talk about it to ethnographers. [128]

Besides personal communications of former shamans, folklore texts may narrate directly about a deterioration process. For example, a Buryat epic text details the wonderful deeds of the ancient "first shaman" Kara-Gürgän: [129] he could even compete with God, create life, steal back the soul of the sick from God without his consent. A subsequent text laments that shamans of older times were stronger, possessing capabilities like omnividence, [130] fortune-telling even for decades in the future, moving as fast as a bullet. [131]

In most affected areas, shamanic practices ceased to exist, with authentic shamans dying and their personal experiences dying with them. The loss of memories is not always lessened by the fact the shaman is not always the only person in a community who knows the beliefs and motives related to the local shaman-hood. [82] [83] Although the shaman is often believed and trusted precisely because they "accommodate" to the beliefs of the community, [112] several parts of the knowledge related to the local shamanhood consist of personal experiences of the shaman, or root in their family life, [132] thus, those are lost with their death. Besides that, in many cultures, the entire traditional belief system has become endangered (often together with a partial or total language shift), with the other people of the community remembering the associated beliefs and practices (or the language at all) grew old or died, many folklore memories songs, and texts were forgotten—which may threaten even such peoples who could preserve their isolation until the middle of the 20th century, like the Nganasan. [133]

Some areas could enjoy a prolonged resistance due to their remoteness.

After exemplifying the general decline even in the most remote areas, there are revitalizations or tradition-preserving efforts as a response. Besides collecting the memories, [138] there are also tradition-preserving [139] and even revitalization efforts, [140] led by authentic former shamans (for example among the Sakha people [141] and Tuvans). [126]

Native Americans in the United States do not call their traditional spiritual ways "shamanism". However, according to Richard L. Allen, research and policy analyst for the Cherokee Nation, they are regularly overwhelmed with inquiries by and about fraudulent shamans, aka ("plastic medicine people"). [142] He adds, "One may assume that anyone claiming to be a Cherokee 'shaman, spiritual healer, or pipe-carrier', is equivalent to a modern day medicine show and snake-oil vendor." [143]

There are also neoshamanistic movements, which usually differ from traditional shamanistic practice and beliefs in significant ways, and often have more connection to the New Age communities than traditional cultures. [144]

Regional variations

See also

Related Research Articles

Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as being animated, having agency and free will. Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. Animism is a metaphysical belief which focuses on the supernatural universe : specifically, on the concept of the immaterial soul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychopomp</span> Entity believed to escort deceased souls to an afterlife

Psychopomps are creatures, spirits, angels, demons, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inuit religion</span>

Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia and Greenland. Their religion shares many similarities with some Alaska Native religions. Traditional Inuit religious practices include animism and shamanism, in which spiritual healers mediate with spirits. Today many Inuit follow Christianity ; however, traditional Inuit spirituality continues as part of a living, oral tradition and part of contemporary Inuit society. Inuit who balance indigenous and Christian theology practice religious syncretism.

In Inuit religion, Silap Inua or Sila is similar to mana or ether, the primary component of everything that exists; it is also the breath of life and the method of locomotion for any movement or change. Silla was believed to control everything that goes on in one's life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ket people</span> Ethnic group in Siberia

Kets are a Yeniseian-speaking people in Siberia. During the Russian Empire, they were known as Ostyaks, without differentiating them from several other Siberian people. Later, they became known as Yenisei Ostyaks because they lived in the middle and lower basin of the Yenisei River in the Krasnoyarsk Krai district of Russia. The modern Kets lived along the eastern middle stretch of the river before being assimilated politically into Russia between the 17th and 19th centuries. According to the 2010 census, there were 1,220 Kets in Russia. According to the 2021 census, this number had declined to 1,088.

Tadibya is the mediator between the ordinary world and the upper- and underworlds of the spirits among the Nenets people. The Nenets rank their shamans by their spiritual attachment and function as well as their experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noaidi</span> Shaman of the Sami people in the Nordic countries

A noaidi is a shaman of the Sami people in the Nordic countries, playing a role in Sámi religious practices. Most noaidi practices died out during the 17th century, most likely because they resisted Christianization of the Sámi people and the king's authority. Their actions were referred to in courts as "magic" or "sorcery". Several Sámi shamanistic beliefs and practices are similar to those of some Siberian cultures.

Natural sounds are any sounds produced by non-human organisms as well as those generated by natural, non-biological sources within their normal soundscapes. It is a category whose definition is open for discussion. Natural sounds create an acoustic space.

Neoshamanism refers to new forms of shamanism. It usually means shamanism practiced by Western people as a type of New Age spirituality, without a connection to traditional shamanic societies. It is sometimes also used for modern shamanic rituals and practices which, although they have some connection to the traditional societies in which they originated, have been adapted somehow to modern circumstances. This can include "shamanic" rituals performed as an exhibition, either on stage or for shamanic tourism, as well as modern derivations of traditional systems that incorporate new technology and worldviews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamanism in Siberia</span> Indigenous religions in Siberia

A large minority of people in North Asia, particularly in Siberia, follow the religio-cultural practices of shamanism. Some researchers regard Siberia as the heartland of shamanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungarian mythology</span> Mythology of the Hungarians

Hungarian mythology includes the myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales and gods of the Hungarians, also known as the Magyarok.

Soul dualism, also called dualistic pluralism or multiple souls, is a range of beliefs that a person has two or more kinds of souls. In many cases, one of the souls is associated with body functions and the other one can leave the body. Sometimes the plethora of soul types can be even more complex. Sometimes, a shaman's "free soul" may be held to be able to undertake a spirit journey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska Native religion</span> Traditional indigenous cultural practices and beliefs

Traditional Alaskan Native religion involves mediation between people and spirits, souls, and other immortal beings. Such beliefs and practices were once widespread among Inuit, Yupik, Aleut, and Northwest Coastal Indian cultures, but today are less common. They were already in decline among many groups when the first major ethnological research was done. For example, at the end of the 19th century, Sagdloq, the last medicine man among what were then called in English, "Polar Eskimos", died; he was believed to be able to travel to the sky and under the sea, and was also known for using ventriloquism and sleight-of-hand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamanistic remnants in Hungarian folklore</span>

Hungarian shamanism is discovered through comparative methods in ethnology, designed to analyse and search ethnographic data of Hungarian folktales, songs, language, comparative cultures, and historical sources.

The imitation of natural sounds in various cultures is a diverse phenomenon and can fill in various functions. In several instances, it is related to the belief system. It may serve also such practical goals as luring in the hunt; or entertainment.

Shamanism in various cultures shows great diversity. In some cultures, shamanic music may intentionally mimic natural sounds, sometimes with onomatopoeia. Imitation of natural sounds may also serve other functions not necessarily related to shamanism, such as luring in the hunt; and entertainment.

Elements of a Proto-Uralic religion can be recovered from reconstructions of the Proto-Uralic language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamanic music</span> Ritualistic music genre

Shamanic Music is ritualistic music used in religious and spiritual ceremonies associated with the practice of shamanism. Shamanic music makes use of various means of producing music, with an emphasis on voice and rhythm. It can vary based on cultural, geographic, and religious influences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miao folk religion</span> Ethnic religion of Hmong peoples

Kev Dab Kev Qhuas is the common ethnic religion of the Miao people, best translated as the "practice of spirituality". The religion is also called Hmongism by a Hmong American church established in 2012 to organize it among Hmong people in the United States.

Shamanism is a religious practice present in various cultures and religions around the world. Shamanism takes on many different forms, which vary greatly by region and culture and are shaped by the distinct histories of its practitioners.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Singh, Manvir (2018). "The cultural evolution of shamanism". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 41: e66: 1–61. doi:10.1017/S0140525X17001893. PMID   28679454. S2CID   206264885.
  2. Mircea Eliade; Vilmos Diószegi (May 12, 2020). "Shamanism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 20, 2020. Shamanism, religious phenomenon centred on the shaman, a person believed to achieve various powers through trance or ecstatic religious experience. Although shamans' repertoires vary from one culture to the next, they are typically thought to have the ability to heal the sick, to communicate with the otherworld, and often to escort the souls of the dead to that otherworld.
  3. Gredig, Florian (2009). Finding New Cosmologies. Berlin: Lit Verlag Dr. W. Hopf.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kehoe, Alice Beck (2000). Shamans and religion : an anthropological exploration in critical thinking. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press. ISBN   978-1-57766-162-7.
  5. Wernitznig, Dagmar, Europe's Indians, Indians in Europe: European Perceptions and Appropriations of Native American Cultures from Pocahontas to the Present. University Press of America, 2007: p.132. "What happens further in the Plastic Shaman's [fictitious] story is highly irritating from a perspective of cultural hegemony. The Injun elder does not only willingly share their spirituality with the white intruder but, in fact, must come to the conclusion that this intruder is as good an Indian as they are themselves. Regarding Indian spirituality, the Plastic Shaman even out-Indians the actual ones. The messianic element, which Plastic Shamanism financially draws on, is installed in the Yoda-like elder themselves. They are the ones – while melodramatically parting from their spiritual offshoot – who urge the Plastic Shaman to share their gift with the rest of the world. Thus Plastic Shamans wipe their hands clean of any megalomaniac or missionizing undertones. Licensed by the authority of an Indian elder, they now have every right to spread their wisdom, and if they make (quite more than) a buck with it, then so be it.--The neocolonial ideology attached to this scenario leaves less room for cynicism."
  6. Hutton 2001. p. 32.
  7. Hutton, Ronald (2001). Shamans: Siberian Spirituality and the Western Imagination. TPB. OCLC   940167815.
  8. Juha Janhunan, Siberian shamanistic terminology, Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 1986, 194:97.
  9. Crossley, Pamela Kyle (1996). The Manchus. Blackwell Publishers. ISBN   978-1-55786-560-1.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Hoppál 2005: 15
  11. 1 2 Diószegi 1962: 13
  12. Januhnan, 1986: 98.
  13. Eliade, Mircea (1989). Shamanism. Arkana Books. p. 495.
  14. https://gandhari.org/1ṣamana
  15. Written before 1676, first printed in 1861; see Hutton 2001. p. vii.
  16. Hutton 2001, p. 32.
  17. Adam Brand, Driejaarige Reize naar China, Amsterdam 1698; transl. A Journal of an Ambassy, London 1698; see Laufer B., "Origin of the Word Shaman," American Anthropologist, 19 (1917): 361–71 and Bremmer J., "Travelling souls? Greek shamanism reconsidered", in Bremmer J.N. (ed.), The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife, London: Routledge, 2002, pp. 7–40. (PDF Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine )
  18. Tomaskova, 2013, 76–78, 104–105.
  19. Chadwick, Hector Munro; Chadwick, Nora Kershaw (1968). The Growth of Literature. The University Press. p. 13. The terms shaman and the Russianized feminine form shamanka, 'shamaness', 'seeress', are in general use to denote any persons of the Native professional class among the heathen Siberians and Tatars generally, and there can be no doubt that they have come to be applied to a large number of different classes of people.
  20. Hoppál, Mihály (2005). Sámánok Eurázsiában (in Hungarian). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN   978-963-05-8295-7. pp. 77, 287; Znamensky, Andrei A. (2005). "Az ősiség szépsége: altáji török sámánok a szibériai regionális gondolkodásban (1860–1920)". In Molnár, Ádám (ed.). Csodaszarvas. Őstörténet, vallás és néphagyomány. Vol. I (in Hungarian). Budapest: Molnár Kiadó. pp. 117–34. ISBN   978-963-218-200-1., p. 128
  21. Hutton 2001. pp. vii–viii.
  22. "Circle of Tengerism". Archived from the original on January 26, 2013.
  23. 1 2 "Definition of Shaman by Oxford Dictionaries". Archived from the original on April 2, 2017.
  24. Juha Janhunen, Siberian shamanistic terminology, Suomalais-ugrilaisen Seuran toimituksia/ Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne, 1986, 194: 97–98
  25. Alberts, Thomas (2015). Shamanism, Discourse, Modernity. Farnham: Ashgate. pp. 73–79. ISBN   978-1-4724-3986-4.
  26. "Fatal Naming Rituals". Hazlitt. July 19, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  27. 1 2 3 Mircea Eliade, Shamanism, Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Bollingen Series LXXVI, Princeton University Press 1972, pp. 3–7.
  28. Belcourt, Billy-Ray (July 19, 2018). "Fatal Naming Rituals". Hazlitt. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  29. 1 2 ISSR, 2001 Summer, abstract online in second half of second paragraph
  30. Hoppál & Szathmári & Takács 2006: 14
  31. Hoppál 1998: 40
  32. Vitebsky 1996: 11
  33. Rydving, Hakan (2011). "Le chamanisme aujourd'hui: constructions et deconstructions d'une illusion scientifique". Études Mongoles et Siberiennes, Centrasiatiques et Tibétaines. 42 (42). doi: 10.4000/emscat.1815 .
  34. Bumochir, Dulam (2014). "Institutionalization of Mongolian shamanism: from primitivism to civilization". Asian Ethnicity. 15 (4): 473–491. doi:10.1080/14631369.2014.939331. S2CID   145329835.
  35. Hangartner, Judith (2011). The Constitution and Contestation of Darhad Shamans' Power in Contemporary Mongolia. Leiden: Global Oriental. ISBN   978-1-906876-11-1.
  36. Kollmar-Paulenz, Karenina (2012). "The Invention of "Shamanism" in 18th Century Mongolian Elite Discourse". Rocznik Orientalistyczny. LXV (1): 90–106.
  37. "Shamanism | religion". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  38. "Definition of Shamanism". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  39. "Using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Litigation", Reflections on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Hart Publishing, 2011, doi:10.5040/9781472565358.ch-005, ISBN   978-1-84113-878-7
  40. Oosten, Jarich; Laugrand, Frédéric; Remie, Cornelius (Summer 2006). "Perceptions of Decline: Inuit Shamanism in the Canadian Arctic". Ethnohistory. 53 (3): 445–447. doi:10.1215/00141801-2006-001.
  41. "Mongolia's Lost Secrets in Pictures: The Last Tuvan Shaman". Lonely Planet. August 21, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  42. Jardine, Bradley; Kupfer, Matthew. "Welcome to the Tuva Republic". The Diplomat. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  43. KING, THOMAS. (2018). INCONVENIENT INDIAN : a curious account of native people in north america. UNIV OF MINNESOTA Press. ISBN   978-1-5179-0446-3. OCLC   1007305354.
  44. Ellingson, Ter (January 16, 2001), "The Ecologically Noble Savage", The Myth of the Noble Savage, University of California Press, pp. 342–358, doi:10.1525/california/9780520222687.003.0023, ISBN   978-0-520-22268-7
  45. 1 2 Salak, Kira. "Hell and Back". National Geographic Adventure.
  46. Wilbert, Johannes; Vidal, Silvia M. (2004). Whitehead, Neil L.; Wright, Robin (eds.). In Darkness and Secrecy: The Anthropology of Assault Sorcery and Witchcraft in Amazonia. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. doi:10.1215/9780822385837. ISBN   978-0-8223-3333-3. S2CID   146752685.
  47. Merkur 1985: 4
  48. Vitebsky 1996: 11–14, 107
  49. Hoppál 2005: 27, 30, 36
  50. 1 2 Sem, Tatyana. "Shamanic Healing Rituals". Russian Museum of Ethnography.
  51. Hoppál 2005: 27
  52. Kleivan & Sonne 1985: 7, 19–21
  53. Gabus, Jean: A karibu eszkimók. Gondolat Kiadó, Budapest, 1970. (Hungarian translation of the original: Vie et coutumes des Esquimaux Caribous, Libraire Payot Lausanne, 1944.) It describes the life of Caribou Eskimo groups.
  54. 1 2 Swancutt, Katherine; Mazard, Mireille (2018). Animism beyond the Soul: Ontology, Reflexivity, and the Making of Anthropological Knowledge. New York: Berghahn Books. p. 102. ISBN   978-1-78533-865-6.
  55. Hoppál 2007c: 18
  56. Hoppál 2005: 99
  57. McCoy, V. R. (March 30, 2018). Shaman-the Dawn's People. BookBaby. ISBN   978-1-7321874-0-5.[ permanent dead link ]
  58. Buenaflor, Erika (May 28, 2019). Curanderismo Soul Retrieval: Ancient Shamanic Wisdom to Restore the Sacred Energy of the Soul. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-59143-341-5.
  59. "healthCheck" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  60. 1 2 Nattiez: 5
  61. "Inuit Throat-Singing" . Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  62. Turner et al., p. 440
  63. Noll & Shi 2004 (avail. online: Internet Archive copy)
  64. Halifax, Joan (1982). Shaman: The Wounded Healer. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN   978-0-500-81029-3. OCLC   8800269.
  65. Barüske 1969: 24, 50–51
  66. Kleivan & Sonne 1985: 25
  67. Fay-Cooper Cole & Albert Gale (1922). "The Tinguian; Social, Religious, and Economic life of a Philippine tribe". Field Museum of Natural History: Anthropological Series. 14 (2): 235–493.
  68. Hoppál 2005: 45
  69. 1 2 Boglár 2001: 24
  70. Hoppál 2005: 94
  71. Vitebsky 1996: 46
  72. Ingerman, Sandra (2004). Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner's Guide. Sounds True. ISBN   978-1-59179-943-6.
  73. 1 2 Hoppál 2005: 25
  74. Hoppál 2005: 27–28
  75. Hoppál 2005: 28–33
  76. Hoppál 2005: 37
  77. Hoppál 2005: 34–35
  78. Hoppál 2005: 36
  79. Hoppál 2005: 61–64
  80. Hoppál 2005: 87–95
  81. "Shamanism in Siberia: Part III. Religion: Chapter IX. Types of Shamans" . Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  82. 1 2 Noll & Shi 2004: 10, footnote 10 (see online: Internet Archive copy)
  83. 1 2 Noll & Shi 2004: 8–9 (see online: Internet Archive copy)
  84. 1 2 Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997
  85. Vitebsky 1996: 107
  86. Boglár 2001: 26
  87. Merkur 1985: 5
  88. Vitebsky 1996: 108
  89. Kleivan & Sonne: 27–28
  90. 1 2 Merkur 1985: 3
  91. Oelschlaegel, Anett C. (2016). Plural World Interpretations. Berlin: LIT Verlag Münster. p. 206. ISBN   978-3-643-90788-2.
  92. Kleivan & Sonne 1985: 24
  93. Lee, Jonghyun (May 2009). "Shamanism and Its Emancipatory Power for Korean Women". Affilia. 24 (2): 186–198. doi:10.1177/0886109909331756. ISSN   0886-1099. S2CID   144331213.
  94. Winkelman, Michael (2000). Shamanism : the neural ecology of consciousness and healing. Bergin & Garvey. ISBN   978-0-89789-704-4. OCLC   1026223037.
  95. Winkelman, Michael. "Shamanism and cognitive evolution". Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 12 (1): 71–101. doi:10.1017/S0959774302000045. S2CID   162355879.
  96. Winkelman, Michael (1986). "Trance states: A theoretical model and cross-cultural analysis". Ethos. 14 (2): 174–203. doi:10.1525/eth.1986.14.2.02a00040.
  97. Reuell, Peter (2018). "The mystery of the medicine man". Harvard Gazette.
  98. Singh, Manvir (2018). "Why is there shamanism? Developing the cultural evolutionary theory and addressing alternative accounts". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 41: e92. doi:10.1017/S0140525X17002230. PMID   31064458. S2CID   147706275.
  99. Singh, Manvir (May 2, 2019). "Modern shamans: Financial managers, political pundits and others who help tame life's uncertainty". The Conversation. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  100. Boyer, Pascal (2018). "Missing links: The psychology and epidemiology of shamanistic beliefs". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 41: e71. doi:10.1017/S0140525X17002023. PMID   31064451. S2CID   147706563.
  101. Humphrey, Nicholas (2018). "Shamans as healers: When magical structure becomes practical function". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 41: e77. doi:10.1017/S0140525X17002084. PMID   31064454. S2CID   147706046.
  102. Watson-Jones, Rachel E.; Legare (2018). "The social functions of shamanism". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 41: e88. doi:10.1017/S0140525X17002199. PMC   10401513 . PMID   31064460. S2CID   147706978.
  103. David Lewis-Williams, The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 2002)
  104. Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff: A View from the Headwaters. The Ecologist, Vol. 29 No. 4, July 1999.
  105. Jean Clottes. "Shamanism in Prehistory". Bradshaw foundation. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2008.
  106. 1 2 Karl J. Narr. "Prehistoric religion". Britannica online encyclopedia 2008. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
  107. Tedlock, Barbara. 2005. The Woman in the Shaman's Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine. New York: Bantam
  108. Witzel, 2011.
  109. "Earliest known shaman grave site found: study", reported by Reuters via Yahoo! News, November 4, 2008, archived. see Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
  110. 1 2 Hoppál 2005: 14
  111. Pentikäinen 1995: 270
  112. 1 2 3 Hoppál 2005: 25–26,43
  113. Hoppál 2004: 14
  114. Hoppál 2005: 13–15, 58, 197
  115. Hoppál 2006a: 11
  116. Hoppál 2006b: 175
  117. Hoppál 2007c: 24–25
  118. 1 2 Hoppál, Mihály: Nature worship in Siberian shamanism
  119. Hoppál 2007b: 12–13
  120. 1 2 3 Hoppál 2007c: 25
  121. Pentikäinen 1995: 270–71
  122. Merkur 1985: v
  123. Hoppál 2007b: 13
  124. Oosten, Jarich; Laugrand, Frederic; Remie, Cornelius (2006). "Perceptions of Decline: Inuit Shamanism in the Canadian Arctic". Ethnohistory. 53 (3): 445–77. doi:10.1215/00141801-2006-001.
  125. Hoppál 2005: 117
  126. 1 2 Hoppál 2005: 259
  127. Boglár 2001: 19–20
  128. Diószegi 1960: 37–39
  129. Eliade 2001: 76 (Chpt 3 about obtaining shamanic capabilities)
  130. Omnividence: A word created by Edwin A. Abbott in his book titled Flatland
  131. Diószegi 1960: 88–89
  132. Hoppál 2005: 224
  133. Nagy 1998: 232
  134. Merkur 1985: 132
  135. Merkur 1985: 134
  136. Hoppál 2005: 92
  137. Hoppál 1994: 62
  138. Hoppál 2005: 88
  139. Hoppál 2005: 93
  140. Hoppál 2005: 111, 117–19, 128, 132, 133–34, 252–63
  141. Hoppál 2005: 257–58
  142. Hagan, Helene E. "The Plastic Medicine People Circle." Archived 2013-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Sonoma Free County Press. Accessed 31 Jan 2013.
  143. "Pseudo Shamans Cherokee Statement" . Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  144. Vitebsky 1996: 150–53

Sources

  • Barüske, Heinz (1969). Eskimo Märchen. Die Märchen der Weltliteratur (in German). Düsseldorf • Köln: Eugen Diederichs Verlag. The title means: "Eskimo tales", the series means: "The tales of world literature".
  • Boglár, Lajos (2001). A kultúra arcai. Mozaikok a kulturális antropológia köreiből. TÁRStudomány (in Hungarian). Budapest: Napvilág Kiadó. ISBN   978-963-9082-94-6. The title means "The faces of culture. Mosaics from the area of cultural anthropology".
  • Czaplicka, M.A. (1914). "Types of shaman". Shamanism in Siberia. Aboriginal Siberia. A study in social anthropology. preface by Marett, R.R. Somerville College, University of Oxford; Clarendon Press. ISBN   978-1-60506-060-6.
  • Deschênes, Bruno (2002). "Inuit Throat-Singing". Musical Traditions. The Magazine for Traditional Music Throughout the World.
  • Diószegi, Vilmos (1968). Tracing shamans in Siberia. The story of an ethnographical research expedition. Translated by Anita Rajkay Babó (from Hungarian). Oosterhout: Anthropological Publications.
  • Diószegi, Vilmos (1962). Samanizmus. Élet és Tudomány Kiskönyvtár (in Hungarian). Budapest: Gondolat. ISBN   978-963-9147-13-3. The title means: "Shamanism".
  • Diószegi, Vilmos (1998) [1958]. A sámánhit emlékei a magyar népi műveltségben (in Hungarian) (1st reprint ed.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN   978-963-05-7542-3. The title means: "Remnants of shamanistic beliefs in Hungarian folklore".
  • Fienup-Riordan, Ann (1994). Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN   978-0-585-12190-1.
  • Fock, Niels (1963). Waiwai. Religion and society of an Amazonian tribe. Nationalmuseets skrifter, Etnografisk Række (Ethnographical series), VIII. Copenhagen: The National Museum of Denmark.
  • Freuchen, Peter (1961). Book of the Eskimos. Cleveland • New York: The World Publishing Company. ISBN   978-0-449-30802-8.
  • Hajdú, Péter (1975). "A rokonság nyelvi háttere". In Hajdú, Péter (ed.). Uráli népek. Nyelvrokonaink kultúrája és hagyományai (in Hungarian). Budapest: Corvina Kiadó. ISBN   978-963-13-0900-3. The title means: "Uralic peoples. Culture and traditions of our linguistic relatives"; the chapter means "Linguistical background of the relationship".
  • Hoppál, Mihály (1994). Sámánok, lelkek és jelképek (in Hungarian). Budapest: Helikon Kiadó. ISBN   978-963-208-298-1. The title means "Shamans, souls and symbols".
  • Hoppál, Mihály (1998). "A honfoglalók hitvilága és a magyar samanizmus". Folklór és közösség (in Hungarian). Budapest: Széphalom Könyvműhely. pp. 40–45. ISBN   978-963-9028-14-2. The title means "The belief system of Hungarians when they entered the Pannonian Basin, and their shamanism".
  • Hoppál, Mihály (2005). Sámánok Eurázsiában (in Hungarian). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN   978-963-05-8295-7. The title means "Shamans in Eurasia", the book is published also in German, Estonian and Finnish. Site of publisher with short description on the book (in Hungarian) Archived 2010-01-02 at the Wayback Machine .
  • Hoppál, Mihály (2006a). "Sámánok, kultúrák és kutatók az ezredfordulón". In Hoppál, Mihály; Szathmári, Botond; Takács, András (eds.). Sámánok és kultúrák. Budapest: Gondolat. pp. 9–25. ISBN   978-963-9450-28-8. The chapter title means "Shamans, cultures and researchers in the millenary", the book title means "Shamans and cultures".
  • Hoppál, Mihály (2007b). "Is Shamanism a Folk Religion?". Shamans and Traditions (Vol. 13). Bibliotheca Shamanistica. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 11–16. ISBN   978-963-05-8521-7.
  • Hoppál, Mihály (2007c). "Eco-Animism of Siberian Shamanhood". Shamans and Traditions (Vol 13). Bibliotheca Shamanistica. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó. pp. 17–26. ISBN   978-963-05-8521-7.
  • Janhunen, Juha. Siberian shamanistic terminology. Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne, 1986, 194: 97–117.
  • Hugh-Jones, Christine (1980). From the Milk River: Spatial and Temporal Processes in Northwest Amazonia . Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-22544-1.
  • Hugh-Jones, Stephen (1980). The Palm and the Pleiades. Initiation and Cosmology in Northwest Amazonia . Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-21952-5.
  • Kleivan, Inge; B. Sonne (1985). Eskimos: Greenland and Canada. Iconography of religions, section VIII, "Arctic Peoples", fascicle 2. Leiden, The Netherlands: Institute of Religious Iconography • State University Groningen. E.J. Brill. ISBN   978-90-04-07160-5.
  • Menovščikov, G.A. (= Г. А. Меновщиков) (1968). "Popular Conceptions, Religious Beliefs and Rites of the Asiatic Eskimoes". In Diószegi, Vilmos (ed.). Popular beliefs and folklore tradition in Siberia. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
  • Nagy, Beáta Boglárka (1998). "Az északi szamojédok". In Csepregi, Márta (ed.). Finnugor kalauz. Panoráma (in Hungarian). Budapest: Medicina Könyvkiadó. pp. 221–34. ISBN   978-963-243-813-9. The chapter means "Northern Samoyedic peoples", the title means Finno-Ugric guide.
  • Nattiez, Jean Jacques. Inuit Games and Songs / Chants et Jeux des Inuit. Musiques & musiciens du monde / Musics & musicians of the world. Montreal: Research Group in Musical Semiotics, Faculty of Music, University of Montreal.. The songs are available online, on the ethnopoetics website curated by Jerome Rothenberg.
  • Noll, Richard; Shi, Kun (2004). "Chuonnasuan (Meng Jin Fu), The Last Shaman of the Oroqen of Northeast China" (PDF). 韓國宗敎硏究 (Journal of Korean Religions). Vol. 6. Seoul KR: 西江大學校. 宗教硏究所 (Sŏgang Taehakkyo. Chonggyo Yŏnʾguso.). pp. 135–62. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2020.. It describes the life of Chuonnasuan, the last shaman of the Oroqen of Northeast China.
  • Reinhard, Johan (1976) "Shamanism and Spirit Possession: The Definition Problem." In Spirit Possession in the Nepal Himalayas, J. Hitchcock & R. Jones (eds.), New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, pp. 12–20.
  • Shimamura, Ippei The roots Seekers: Shamanism and Ethnicity Among the Mongol Buryats. Yokohama, Japan: Shumpusha, 2014.
  • Singh, Manvir (2018). "The cultural evolution of shamanism". Behavioral & Brain Sciences. 41: e66, 1–61. doi:10.1017/S0140525X17001893. PMID   28679454. S2CID   206264885. Summary of the cultural evolutionary and cognitive foundations of shamanism; published with commentaries by 25 scholars (including anthropologists, philosophers, and psychologists).
  • Turner, Robert P.; Lukoff, David; Barnhouse, Ruth Tiffany & Lu, Francis G. (1995) Religious or Spiritual Problem. A Culturally Sensitive Diagnostic Category in the DSM-IV. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol.183, No. 7, pp. 435–44
  • Voigt, Miklós (2000). "Sámán – a szó és értelme". Világnak kezdetétől fogva. Történeti folklorisztikai tanulmányok (in Hungarian). Budapest: Universitas Könyvkiadó. pp. 41–45. ISBN   978-963-9104-39-6. The chapter discusses the etymology and meaning of word "shaman".
  • Winkelman, Michael (2000). Shamanism: The neural ecology of consciousness and healing. Westport, CT: Bergen & Gavey. ISBN   978-963-9104-39-6. Major work on the evolutionary and psychological origins of shamanism.
  • Witzel, Michael (2011). "Shamanism in Northern and Southern Eurasia: their distinctive methods and change of consciousness" (PDF). Social Science Information. 50 (1): 39–61. doi:10.1177/0539018410391044. S2CID   144745844.

Further reading