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Shaman
Shaman, religious specialist, originally found in hunting-gathering
cultures, which are loosely structured, technologically
simple, and homogeneous.
The
word shaman is derived from a word in the Tungusic language
of Siberia, one of the areas in which the classical
form of shamanism is found.
Several
forms of shamanism have been observed in widely distributed
nonliterate societies located in Central Asia, North
America, and Oceania.
Although a shaman can achieve religious status by heredity,
personal quest, or vocation, the recognition and call
of the individual is always an essential part of that
individual's elevation to the new status.
The
shaman, usually a man, is essentially a medium, a mouthpiece
of the spirits who became his familiars at his initiation,
during which he frequently undergoes prolonged fasts,
seclusion, and other ordeals leading to dreams and visions.
Training by experienced shamans follows.
The
main religious tasks of a shaman are healing and divination.
Both are achieved either by spirit possession or by
the departure of the shaman's soul to heaven or to the
underworld.
Shamans
also divine the whereabouts of game, the position of
the enemy, and the best way of safeguarding and increasing
the food supply. Shamans may occupy an elevated social
and economic position, especially if they are successful
healers. Attempts to explain the shamans and their cures
have been numerous.
Some
scholars have drawn parallels between shamanistic healing
and psychoanalytic cures and have concluded that in
both instances efficacious and therapeutic symbols are
created, leading to psychological release and physiological
curing (Faith Healing).
Several
anthropologists, rejecting a theory that shamans are
basically neurotics or psychotics, have suggested that
shamans possess certain cognitive abilities that are
distinguishably superior to those of the rest of the
community. Other scholars simply explain shamanism as
the precursor of a more organized religious system or
as a technique for achieving ecstasy.
-
see also Native
American Religions -
Contributed
By: John A. Saliba, S.J., Ph.D. Associate Professor
of Religious Studies, University of Detroit. Contributor
to Anthropologica and other publications.
"Shaman,"
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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