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This article is about the practice of shamanism; for other uses, see Shaman (disambiguation).

Image:Kyzyl Shaman.jpg Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices similar to Animism that claim the ability to diagnose and cure human suffering and, in some societies, the ability to cause suffering. This is believed to be accomplished by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. Shamans have been credited with the ability to control the weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams, astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds. Shamanistic traditions have existed throughout the world since prehistoric times.

Some anthropologists and religion scholars define a shaman as an intermediary between the natural and spiritual world, who travels between worlds in a trance state. Once in the spirit world, the shaman would commune with the spirits for assistance in healing, hunting or weather management. Ripinsky-Naxon describes shamans as, “People who have a strong interest in their surrounding environment and the society of which they are a part.”

Other anthropologists critique the term "shamanism", arguing that it is a culturally specific word and institution and that by expanding it to fit any healer from any traditional society it produces a false unity between these cultures and creates a false idea of an initial human religion predating all others. However, others say that these anthropologists simply fail to recognize the commonalities between otherwise diverse traditional societies.

Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits that affect the lives of the living. In contrast to animism and animatism, which any and usually all members of a society practice, shamanism requires specialized knowledge or abilities. It could be said that shamans are the experts employed by animists or animist communities. Shamans are not, however, often organized into full-time ritual or spiritual associations, as are priests.

Contents 1 Etymology 1.1 Criticism of the term "Shaman" 2 Function 3 History 4 Europe 5 Asia 5.1 Siberia 5.2 Korea 5.3 Other Asian areas 6 Americas 6.1 Initiation and learning 6.2 Shamanic illness 6.3 Practice and method 6.4 Shamanic technology 6.5 Gender and sexuality 7 Shamanism and New Age movement 8 Shamans in the Media 9 See also 10 Notes 11 Further reading 12 External links

[edit] Etymology

Shaman originally referred to the traditional healers of Turkic-Mongol areas such as Northern Asia (Siberia) and Mongolia, a "shaman" being the Turkic-Tungus word for such a practitioner and literally meaning "he (or she) who knows." In Turkic shamans were called mostly Kam and sometimes Baksı.

The Tungusic word šamán is from Chinese sha men "Buddhist monk," borrowed from Pali śamana, ultimately from Sanskrit śramana "ascetic," from śramati "he fatigues" (see shramana). The word passed through Russian and German before it was adopted into English.

Another explanation analyzes this Tungusic word as containing root “sa-”, this means “to know”. “Shaman” is “he/she who knows” <ref name=etym>Etymolgy of term “shaman”: p. 15 of Hop:SamEu, p. 13 of Dio:Sam</ref> <ref name=dio-sam>Diószegi, Vilmos: Samanizmus. Gondolat (series: Élet és Tudomány Kiskönyvtár), Budapest, 1962.</ref>: a person who is an expert in keeping together the multiple codes through which this complex belief system appears, and has a comprehensive view on it in his/her mind with certainty of knowledge <ref name=know>Notion of knowledge (with certainty), felt by shaman: p. 15 of Hop:SamEu</ref>. The shaman uses (and the audience understands) multiple codes: he/she expresses meanings in many ways (in musical, verbal, choreographic forms, and meanings are manifested also in objects, e.g. amulets). The shaman knows the culture of the community (he/she lives in) well, and acts accordingly. Thus his/her audience knows the used symbols and meanings — that's why shamanism can be efficient: people (in the community) trust it <ref name=trust>Trust felt by audience: pp. 26, 43 of Hop:SamEu</ref>. Such belief system can appear to its members with certainty of knowledge — this explains the above described etymology for the word “shaman” <ref name=etym2> Etymology 2: p. 14 of Hop:SamEu</ref>. Hoppál <ref name=hop-sameu>Hoppál, Mihály: Sámánok Eurázsiában. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 2005. ISBN 963-05-8295-3. (The title means “Shamans in Eurasia”, the book is written in Hungarian, but it is published also in German, Estonian and Finnish.) Site of publisher with short description on the book (in Hungarian).</ref> mentions such semiotic approaches to shamanism also in <ref name=hop-natworsib>Hoppál, Mihály: Nature worship in Siberian shamanism</ref> (online available), and at the bottom of the same writing, he refers to Juha Pentikäinen's “grammar of mind” approach (also in <ref name=cogmap>Cognitive map: p. 15 of Hop:SamEu, or also Dan:Aill</ref> mentions it shortly: “Juha Pentikäinen, in his introduction to Shamanism and Northern Ecology, explains how the Sámi drum embodies Sámi worldviews. He considers shamanism to be a ‘grammar of mind’ (10), because shamans need to be experts in the folklore of their cultures (11)” <ref name=dan-aill>Dana, Kathleen Osgood: Áillohaš and his image drum: the native poet as shaman.</ref>). Another interesting concept mentioned in the conclusion part of <ref name=hop-natworsib/> is “ethnohermeneutics”. (See here what hermeneutics is.)

Accordingly, the only proper plural form of the word is shamans and not shamen, as it is unrelated to the English word "man".

In its common usage, it has replaced the older English language term witch doctor, a term which unites the two stereotypical functions of the shaman: knowledge of magical and other lore, and the ability to cure a person and mend a situation. However, this term is generally considered to be pejorative and anthropologically inaccurate. Objections to the use of shaman as a generic term have been raised as well, by both academics and traditional healers themselves, given that the word comes from a specific place, people, and set of practices.

[edit] Criticism of the term "Shaman"

Certain anthropologists, most notably Alice Kehoe in her book "Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking", are highly critical of the term. Part of this criticism involves the notion of cultural appropriation. This includes criticism of New Age and modern Western forms of Shamanism, which may not only misrepresent or 'dilute' genuine indigenous practices but do so in a way that, according to Kehoe, reinforces subtly racist ideas such as the Noble Savage.

Kehoe is highly critical of Mircea Eliade's work. Eliade, being a historian rather than an anthropologist, had never done any field work or made any direct contact with 'shamans' or cultures practicing 'shamanism'. According to Kehoe, Eliade's 'shamanism' is an invention synthesized from various sources unsupported by more direct research. To Kehoe, what Eliade and other scholars of shamanism treat as being definitive of shamanism, most notably drumming, trance, chanting, entheogens and hallucinogenics, spirit communication and healing, are practices that

• exist outside of what is defined as shamanism and play similar roles even in non-shamanic cultures (such as the role of chanting in Judeo-Christian rituals)
• in their expression is unique to each culture that uses them and cannot be generalized easily, accurately or usefully into a global ‘religion’ such as shamanism.

Because of this, Kehoe is also highly critical of the notion that shamanism is an ancient, unchanged, and surviving religion from the Paleolithic period.

(see also Plastic shaman)

Also Hoppál discusses, whether the term “shamanism” is appropriate. He recommends using term “shamanhood” for stressing the diversity, the specific features of the discussed cultures. This is a term used in old Russian and German ethnographic reports at the beginning of the 20^th century (p. 15, par. 3 of <ref name=hop-sameu/>). This term may suggest generalizations less and stress the local variations more. He mentions similar thoughts on ISSR, 2001 Summer (abstract online in 2^nd half of 2^nd paragraph), he conjectures also a contemporary paradigm shift.

See also online abstracts of the following books written or (co)edited by Juha Pentikäinen <ref name=pen-shamhsym>Pentikäinen, Juha: Shamanhood symbolism and epic. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 2001. ISBN 963-05-7811-5. See also abstract online.</ref> <ref name=pensim:shamhendl>Pentikäinen, Juha and Simoncsics, Péter (eds): Shamanhood. An endangered language. The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, 2005. (Series B, 117). ISBN 82-7099-391-3. See abstract online.</ref>, because they mention this topic, too.

[edit] Function

The shaman may fulfill multiple functions in his/her community <ref name=multfunc>Multiple functions of shaman: p. 25 of Hop:SamEu</ref>, e.g.

• healing (very detailed on healing, see <ref name=sem-shamheal>Sem, Tatyana: Shamanic Healing Rituals. Russian Museum of Ethnography. Online available.</ref>, online available)
• leading a sacrifice,
• telling fortune
• acting as psychopompos (lit. “guide of souls”): accompanying the coming soul of the newborn <ref name=psychopomp>Psychopompos: p. 36 of Hop:SamEu</ref> or vice versa, that of the dead,
• keeping the tradition e.g. by memorizing long songs and tales.

These various functions may seem as rather distinct tasks, but some important underlying concepts join them.

Soul concept

E.g. healing may be based closely on soul concepts of the belief system (<ref name=sem-shamheal/>, online available): retrieving lost soul of the ill person <ref name=resoul>Retrieving lost soul of the ill person: p. 27 of Hop:SamEu</ref>; see also dual soul concept <ref name=dualsoul>Dual soul: online Hop:NatWorSib, p. 225 of Hop:UrNepHied, p. 13 of Hop:SamLelkJelk, p. 27 of Hop:SamEu, p. 26 of Dio:Sam</ref> <ref name=hop-urnephied>Hoppál, Mihály: Az uráli népek hiedelemvilága és a samanizmus. (It means: “The belief system of Uralic peoples and the shamanism”.) In: Hajdú Péter (ed.): Uráli népek / Nyelvrokonaink kultúrája és hagyományai. (Meaning: “Uralic peoples / Culture and traditions of our linguistic relatives”.) Corvina Kiadó, Budapest, 1975.</ref> <ref name=hop-samlelkjelk>Hoppál, Mihály: Sámánok / Lelkek és jelképek. Helikon Kiadó, Budapest, 1994. Title mans: “Shamans / Souls and symbols”.</ref>.

Spirits

E.g. story-telling, or acting as a singer is also related to the belief system: a person who is able to memorize long texts or songs (and play an instrument) may be regarded as having achieved his/her ability by standing in contact with spirits <ref name=singtellplay>Storytelling, singing, playing instrument are thought to be abilities gotten by contact with spirits: p. 99 of Hop:SamEu describing an example observed at Khanty people</ref>.

Shaman acts as a mediator in his/her culture, in multiple sense <ref name=mediator>Shaman as mediator: p 45. of Hop:SamEu</ref>, he/she is thought to do for his/her community the following “conveying”, “mediating”, “transmitting” functions: e.g. accompanying the soul or communicating with the dead, keeping myths of the past for recent times, interacting with spirits etc.

In some cultures, this mediator function complex of the shaman may be illustrated well by some of his/her objects and symbols, e.g.:

• At the Selkups, a report mentions a water fowl species as spirit-animal: ducks are capable of both flying and diving, thus they are regarded belonging to both the upper world and the world underneath <ref name=duckbothworld>Duck belongs to both upper world and lower world: p. 94 of Hop:SamEu</ref>.
• “Shaman's tree” is another symbol used at several cultures (Yakuts, Dolgans, Evenks). Also it is a good symbol for modelling mediation: tree is a being whose roots belong to the world underneath, but its trunk belongs to the middle, human-inhabited word, and its top is related to the upper world <ref name=treebothworld>Tree belongs to both upper world and lower world (and also to middle world): p. 249 of Hop:SamEu</ref>.

In some cultures, there may be more type of shamans: they may be specialised

• according to their functions (e.g. at Nanai people, a distinct kind of shaman to act as psychopompos, see p. 36 of <ref name=hop-sameu/>),
• or according to other classifications, e.g. distinct shaman for spirits of the upper word etc., see examples of Nenets, Enets, Selkup (pp. 87–95 of Hop:SamEu).

See also Types of shamans of <ref>Czaplicka, M.A. with a preface by Marett, R.R.: Shamanism in Siberia. Aboriginal Siberia. A study in social anthropology. Sommerville College, University of Oxford, Clarendon Press, 194.</ref>.

[edit] History

Shamanistic practices are sometimes claimed to predate all organized religions, and certainly date back to the Neolithic period ^{[citation needed]}. Aspects of shamanism are encountered in later, organized religions, generally in their mystic and symbolic practices. Greek paganism was influenced by shamanism, as reflected in the stories of Tantalus, Prometheus, Medea, and Calypso among others, as well as in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and other mysteries. Some of the shamanic practices of the Greek religion later merged into the Roman religion.

The shamanic practices of many cultures were marginalized with the spread of monotheism in Europe and the Middle East. In Europe, starting around 400, the Catholic Church was instrumental in the collapse of the Greek and Roman religions. Temples were systematically destroyed and key ceremonies were outlawed or appropriated. The Early Modern witch trials may have further eliminated lingering remnants of European shamanism (if in fact "shamanism" can even be used to accurately describe the beliefs and practices of those cultures).

The repression of shamanism continued as Catholic influence spread with Spanish colonization. In the Caribbean, and Central and South America, Catholic priests followed in the footsteps of the Conquistadors and were instrumental in the destruction of the local traditions, denouncing practitioners as "devil worshippers" and having them executed. In North America, the English Puritans conducted periodic campaigns against individuals perceived as witches. More recently, attacks ^{[citation needed]}on shamanic practitioners have been carried out at the hands of Christian missionaries to third world countries. As recently as the nineteen seventies, historic petroglyphs were being defaced by missionaries in the Amazon. A similarly destructive story can be told of the encounter between Buddhists and shamans, e.g., in Mongolia (See Caroline Humphrey with Urgunge Onon, 1996).

Today, shamanism survives primarily among indigenous peoples. Shamanic practice continues today in the tundras, jungles, deserts, and other rural areas, and also in cities, towns, suburbs, and shantytowns all over the world. This is especially widespread in Africa as well as South America, where "mestizo shamanism" is widespread.

[edit] Europe

While shamanism had a strong tradition in Europe before the rise of monotheism, shamanism remains as a traditional, organized religion only in Mari-El and Udmurtia, two semi-autonomous provinces of Russia with large Finnic minority populations.<ref>Staff writer. "The dying fish swims in water", The Economist, December 24 2005 - January 6 2006, pp. 73-74.</ref>

[edit] Asia

[edit] Siberia

Main article: Shamanistic cultures in Siberia

Siberia is regarded as the locus classicus of shamanism <ref name=hop-sameu/>. It is inhabited by many different peoples. Many of its Uralic, Altaic, Paleosiberian (see the main article) peoples had living shamanistic practices even in modern times. Many classical ethnograpical sources of “shamanism” were recoded at Siberian peoples.

Many hunter-gatherer groups, or reindeer breeders practiced shamanism as a living tradition also in modern times (e.g. Samoyedic people), especially those living in isolation until recent times (Nganasans) <ref name=hop-sameu/>.

When the People's Republic of China was formed in 1949 and the border with Russian Siberia was formally sealed, many nomadic Tungus groups that practiced shamanism were confined in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. These include the Ewenki and the Oroqen. the last shaman of the Oroqen, Chuonnasuan (Meng Jin Fu), died in October 2000.

In many other cases, shamanism was in decline even at the beginning of 20^th century (Selkups) <ref name=hop-sameu/>.

More detailed discussion (where living shamanistic practices were documented also in modern times) can be found in the main article.

[edit] Korea

Main article: Korean shamanism

Shamanism is still practiced in South Korea, where the role of a shaman is most frequently taken by women known as mudangs.

[edit] Other Asian areas

There is a strong shamanistic influence in the Bön religion of some Central Asians, and in Tibetan Buddhism. Buddhism became popular with shamanic peoples such as the Tibetans, Mongols, and Manchu beginning in the eighth century. Forms of shamanistic ritual combined with Tibetan Buddhism became institutionalized as the state religion under the Chinese Yuan dynasty and Qing dynasty. According to some, one common element of shamanism and Buddhism is the attainment of spiritual realization, at times mediated by entheogenic (psychedelic) substances. However, in the shamanic cultures still practiced by various ethnic groups in areas such as Nepal and northern India, shamans are not necessarily considered enlightened, and often are even feared for their ability to use their power to carry out malicious intent.

In Tibet, the Nyingma schools in particular, had a Tantric tradition that had married "priests" known as Ngakpas or Ngakmas/mos (fem.). The Ngakpas were often employed or commissioned to rid the villages of demons or disease, creations of protective amulets, the carrying out of religious rites etc. The Ngakpas were often looked down upon by Tibetan hierarchs in the monasteries. The monasteries, as in many conventional religious institutions, wished to preserve their own traditions, sometimes at the expense of others. The monasteries depended upon the excesses of patrons for support. This situation often led to a clash between the more grassroots and shamanic character of the travelling Chodpa and Ngakpa culture and the more conservative religious monastic system.<ref>Economy of Excess. George Bataille.</ref>

Shamanism is still practiced in the Ryūkyū Islands (Okinawa), where shamans are known as nuru, and in a few rural areas in Japan proper. Many Korean believed that the Shinto religion is the result of the transformation of a shamanistic tradition into a state religion.

[edit] Americas

Image:White indian conjuror.jpg

Native American and First Nations cultures have diverse religious beliefs. There was never one, universal Native American religion or spiritual system. Though many Native American cultures have traditional healers, ritualists, singers, mystics, lore-keepers and "Medicine People", none of them ever used, or use, the term "shaman" to describe these religous leaders. Rather, like other indigenous cultures the world over, their spiritual functionaries are described by words in their own languages, and in many cases are not taught to outsiders.

Many of these indigenous religions have been grossly misrepresented by outside observers and anthropologists, even to the extent of superficial or seriously mistaken anthropological accounts being taken as "more authentic" than the accounts of actual members of the cultures and religions in question. Often these accounts suffer from "Noble Savage"-type romanticism and racism. Some contribute to the fallacy that Native American cultures and religions are something that only existed in the past, and which can be mined for data despite the opinions of Native communities.

Not all Indigenous communities have roles for specific individuals who mediate with the spirit world on behalf of the community. Among those that do have this sort religious structure, spiritual methods and beliefs may have some commonalities, though many of these commonalities are due to some nations being closely-related, from the same region, or through post-Colonial governmental policies leading to the combining of formerly-independent nations on reservations. This can sometimes lead to the impression that there is more unity among belief systems than there was in antiquity.

Among the Mapuche people of South America, the community "shaman", usually a woman, is known as the Machi, and serves the community by performing ceremonies to cure diseases, ward off evil, influence the weather and harvest, and by practicing other forms of healing such as herbalism.

Navajo medicine men, known as "Hatałii", use several methods to diagnose the patient's ailments. These may include using special tools such as crystal rocks, and abilities such as hand-trembling and trances, sometimes accompanied by chanting. The Hatałii will select a specific healing chant for that type of ailment. Navajo healers must be able to correctly perform a healing ceremony from beginning to end. If they don't, the ceremony will not work. Training a Hatałii to perform ceremonies is extensive, arduous, and takes many years, and is not unlike priesthood. The apprentice learns everything by watching his teacher, and memorizes the words to all the chants. Many times, a medicine man cannot learn all sixty of the traditional ceremonies, so he will opt to specialize in a select few.

[edit] Initiation and learning

In the world's Shamanic cultures, the shaman plays a priest-like role; however, there is an essential difference between the two, as Joseph Campbell describes:

"The priest is the socially initiated, ceremonially inducted member of a recognized religious organization, where he holds a certain rank and functions as the tenant of an office that was held by others before him, while the shaman is one who, as a consequence of a personal psychological crisis, has gained a certain power of his own." (1969, p. 231)

A shaman may be initiated via a serious illness, by being struck by lightning and dreaming of thunder to become a Heyoka, or by a near-death experience (e.g., the shaman Black Elk), or one might follow a "calling" to become a shaman. There is usually a set of cultural imagery expected to be experienced during shamanic initiation regardless of the method of induction. According to Mircea Eliade, such imagery often includes being transported to the spirit world and interacting with beings inhabiting the distant world of spirits, meeting a spiritual guide, being devoured by some being and emerging transformed, and/or being "dismantled" and "reassembled" again, often with implanted amulets such as magical crystals. The imagery of initiation generally speaks of transformation and the granting powers to transcend death and rebirth.

In some societies shamanic powers are considered to be inherited, whereas in other places of the world shamans are considered to have been "called" and require lengthy training. Among the Siberian Chukchis one may behave in ways that "Western" bio-medical clinicians would perhaps characterize as psychotic, but which Siberian peoples may interpret as possession by a spirit who demands that one assume the shamanic vocation. Among the South American Tapirape shamans are called in their dreams. In other societies shamans choose their career. In North America, First Nations peoples would seek communion with spirits through a "vision quest"; whereas South American Shuar, seeking the power to defend their family against enemies, apprentice themselves to accomplished shamans. Similarly the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia have an elaborate cosomoligcal system predicated on the ritual consumption of ayahuasca. Coupled with milleanrian impulses, Urarina ayahuasca shamanism is a key feature of this poorly documented society[1].

Putatively customary shamanic "traditions" can also be noted among indigenous Kuna peoples of Panama, who rely on shamanic powers and sacred talismans to heal. As such, they enjoy a popular postition among local peoples.

[edit] Shamanic illness

Shamanic illness, also called shamanistic inititatory crisis, is a psycho-spiritual crisis, or a rite of passage, observed among those becoming shamans. The episode often marks the beginning of a time-limited episode of confusion or disturbing behavior where the shamanic initiate might sing or dance in an unconventional fashion, or have an experience of being "disturbed by spirits". The symptoms are usually not considered to be signs of mental illness by interpreters in the shamanic culture; rather, they are interpreted as introductory signposts for the individual who is meant to take the office of shaman (Lukoff et.al, 1992). The significant role of initiatory illnesses in the calling of a shaman can be found in the detailed case history of Chuonnasuan, the last master shaman among the Tungus peoples in Northeast China (Noo and Shi, 2004).

[edit] Practice and method

The shaman plays the role of healer in shamanic societies; shamans gain knowledge and power by traversing the axis mundi and bringing back knowledge from the heavens. Even in western society, this ancient practice of healing is referenced by the use of the caduceus as the symbol of medicine. Oftentimes the shaman has, or acquires, one or more familiar helping entities in the spirit world; these are often spirits in animal form, spirits of healing plants, or (sometimes) those of departed shamans. In many shamanic societies, magic, magical force, and knowledge are all denoted by one word, such as the Quechua term "yachay".

While the causes of disease are considered to lie in the spiritual realm, being effected by malicious spirits or witchcraft, both spiritual and physical methods are used to heal. Commonly, a shaman will "enter the body" of the patient to confront the spirit making the patient sick, and heal the patient by banishing the infectious spirit. Many shamans have expert knowledge of the plant life in their area, and an herbal regimen is often prescribed as treatment. In many places shamans claim to learn directly from the plants, and to be capable of harnessing their effects and healing properties only after obtaining permission from its abiding or patron spirit. In South America, individual spirits are summoned by the singing of songs called icaros; before a spirit can be summoned the spirit must teach the shaman its song. The use of totem items such as rocks is common; these items are believed to have special powers and an animating spirit. Such practices are presumably very ancient; in about 368 BCE, Plato wrote in the Phaedrus that the "first prophecies were the words of an oak", and that everyone 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".

The belief in witchcraft and sorcery, known as brujeria in South America, is prevalent in many shamanic societies. Some societies distinguish shamans who cure from sorcerers who harm; others believe that all shamans have the power to both cure and kill; that is, shamans are in some societies also thought of as being capable of harm. The shaman usually enjoys great power and prestige in the community, and is renowned for their powers and knowledge; but they may also be suspected of harming others and thus feared.

By engaging in this work, the shaman exposes himself to significant personal risk, from the spirit world, from any enemy shamans, as well as from the means employed to alter his state of consciousness. Certain of the plant materials used can be fatal, and the failure to return from an out-of-body journey can lead to physical death. Spells are commonly used to protect against these dangers, and the use of more dangerous plants is usually very highly ritualized.

[edit] Shamanic technology

Generally, the shaman traverses the axis mundi and enters the spirit world by effecting a change of consciousness in himself, entering into an ecstatic trance, either autohypnotically or through the use of entheogens. The methods used are diverse, and are often used together. Some of the methods for effecting such altered states of consciousness are:

• Drumming
• Singing
• Fasting
• Listening to music
• Sweat lodge
• Vision quests / vigils
• Dancing
• Use of "power" or "master" plants to induce altered states or aromatics used as incense such as
  • Ayahuasca - Quechua for Vine of the Dead; also called yage
  • Cannabis
  • Cedar
  • Datura
  • Deadly nightshade
  • Fly agaric
  • Iboga
  • Morning glory
  • Peyote
  • Psychedelic mushrooms - alluded to euphemistically as holy children by Mazatec shamans such as Maria Sabina.
  • Sweetgrass
  • Sage
  • Salvia divinorum - sometimes called Diviners' sage
  • San Pedro cactus - named after (St. Peter), guardian and holding the keys to the gates of heaven, by the Andean peoples; Quechua name: Huachuma
  • Tobacco

Shamans will often observe dietary or customary restrictions particular to their tradition. Sometimes these restrictions are more than just cultural. For example, the diet followed by shamans and apprentices prior to participating in an Ayahuasca ceremony includes foods rich in tryptophan (a biosynthetic precursor to serotonin) as well as avoiding foods rich in tyramine, which could induce hypertensive crisis if ingested with MAOIs such as are found in Ayahuasca brews.

[edit] Gender and sexuality

While some cultures have had higher numbers of male shamans, others have had a preference for females. Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest known shamans—dating to the Upper Paleolithic era in what is now the Czech Republic—were women<ref>Tedlock, Barbara. 2005. The Woman in the Shaman's Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine. New York: Bantam.</ref>.

In some societies, shamans exhibit a two-spirit identity, assuming the dress and attributes of the opposite sex from a young age, for example, a man taking on the role of a wife in an otherwise ordinary marriage. This practice is common, and found among the Chukchi, Sea Dyak, Patagonians, Araucanians, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Navajo, Pawnee, Lakota, and Ute, as well as many other Native American tribes. Indeed, these two spirited shamans were so widespread as to suggest a very ancient origin of the practice. See, for example, Joseph Campbell's map in his The Historical Atlas of World Mythology: [Vol I: The Way of the Animal Powers: Part 2: pg 174] Such two-spirit shamans are thought to be especially powerful, and Shamanism so important to ancestral populations that it may have contributed to the maintenance of genes for transgenered individuals in breeding populations over evolutionary time through the mechanism of "kin selection." [see final chapter of E.O. Wilson's "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis] They are highly respected and sought out in their tribes, as they will bring high status to their mates.

In Korea, almost all of the shamans are female.

Duality and bisexuality are also found in the shamans of the Dogon people of Mali (Africa). References to this can be found in several works of Malidoma Some, a writer who was born and initiated there.

Tuva is the only region in the world to have shamanism as an official religion. The Tuvans' higher than average syphilis infection rate (according to the Moscow Times, 2.5% of the population) has been blamed on a Shamanist tradition of the Republic, which says a woman is more fertile if she has had a large number of sexual partners before marriage. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Shamanism and New Age movement

Main article: Neoshamanism

The New Age movement has appropriated some ideas from shamanism as well as beliefs and practices from Eastern religions and a variety of indigenous cultures. As with other such appropriations, the original practiotioners of these traditions frequently condemn New Age use as misunderstood or superficially understood and/or applied.[2]

There is an endeavor in some occult and esoteric circles to reinvent shamanism in a modern form, drawing from core shamanism - a set of beliefs and practices synthesized by the controversial Michael Harner - often revolving around the use of ritual drumming and dance, and Harner's interpretations of various indigenous religions. Harner has faced much criticism for implying that pieces of diverse religions can be taken out of context to form some sort of "universal" shamanic tradition. Some of these neoshamans also focus on the ritual use of entheogens, as well as chaos magic. Allegedly, European-based Neoshamanic traditions are focused upon the researched or imagined traditions of ancient Europe, where they believe many mystical practices and belief systems were suppressed by the Christian church. Some of these practitioners express a desire to practice a system that is based upon their own ancestral traditions. Some anthropologists and practitioners have discussed the impact of such "neoshamanism" as 'giving extra pay' (Harvey, 1997 and elsewhere) to indigenous American traditions, particularly as many Pagan- or Heathen-'shamanic practitioners' of legitimate cultural traditions do not call themselves shamans, but instead use specific names derived from the older European traditions - the völva or seidkona (seid-woman) of the sagas being an example (see Blain 2002, Wallis 2003).

[edit] Shamans in the Media

• World of Warcraft — A certain type of player class in the MMORPG World of Warcraft.
• Brother Bear — A Walt Disney feature length Motion Picture that has a Shaman Theme.
• The Mighty Boosh — The character of Naboo the Shaman, a parody of the traditional shaman appears throughout the shows.
• Shaman King — A manga and anime series about shamans.

[edit] See also

• Animism
• Ayahuasca
• Core Shamanism
• Entheogen
• Manna
• Machi (Shaman)
• Neuroanthropology
• Neurotheology — speculation regarding the biological basis of spirituality and spiritual practices
• Peyote
• Plastic shaman
• Psychopomp
• Shaman's Drum Journal

[edit] Notes

<references/>

[edit] Further reading

• Blain, Jenny, Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism. 2002. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25651-8
• Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology. 1959; reprint, New York and London: Penguin Books, 1976. ISBN 0-14-019443-6
• Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. 1964; reprint, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-691-11942-2
• Michael Harner: The Way of the Shaman. 1980, new edition, HarperSanFrancisco, 1990, ISBN 0-06-250373-1
• Åke Hultkrantz (Honorary Editor in Chief): Shaman. Journal of the International Society for Shamanistic Research
• Joan Halifax, ed. Shamanic Voices: A Survey of Visionary Narratives. 1979; reprint, New York and London: Penguin, 1991. ISBN 0-14-019348-0
• Graham Harvey, ed. Shamanism: A Reader. New York and London: Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-25330-6.
• Sandra Ingerman. Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self. HarperSanFrancicso, 2006. ISBN 0-06-122786-2 [3]
• Alice Kehoe, Shamans and Religion: An Anthropoligical Exploration in Critical Thinking. 2000. London: Waveland Press. ISBN 1-57766-162-1
• Jeremy Narby and Francis Huxley, eds. Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge. 2001; reprint, New York: Tarcher, 2004. ISBN 0-500-28327-3
• John Perkins. The World Is As You Dream It: Shamanic Teachings from the Amazon and Andes. Rochester, Vt.: Park Street, 1994. ISBN 0-89281-459-4 [4]
• Daniel Pinchbeck, Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism. New York: Broadway Books, 2002. ISBN 0-7679-0742-6
• Piers Vitebsky, The Shaman: Voyages of the Soul - Trance, Ecstasy and Healing from Siberia to the Amazon, Duncan Baird, 2001. ISBN 1-903296-18-8
• Robert J. Wallis, Shamans/neo-Shamans: Ecstasy, Alternative Archaeologies and Contemporary Pagans. London: Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-30203-X
• Andrei Znamenski, ed. Shamanism: Critical Concepts, 3 vols. London: Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0-415-31192-6
• The Don Juan Papers: Further Castaneda Controversies by Richard de Mille (1973)
• Daniel C. Noel, Soul Of Shamanism: Western Fantasies, Imaginal Realities, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 0-8264-1081-2
• Jay Courtney Fikes, Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties,Millennia Press, Canada, 1993ISBN 0-9696960-0-0
• Philip Jenkins, Dream Catchers: How Mainstream America Discovered Native Spirituality. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-516115-7
• Winkelman, Michael (2000) Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

[edit] External links

• Buryat-Mongol Shamanism
• Flight of the Condor - Contemporary Shamanism Essays on ancient and contemporary shamanism
• General shamanism page with American traditions dominant
• Global Shamanic Circles
• NAFPS New age Fraud and Plastic Shamans NAFPS or New age Fraud and Plastic Shamans is essential reading about fraudulent people, websites and organisations who exploit native American cultures and budding shamans for their own financial gain.
• Scandinavian Center of Shamanic Studies Dedicated to the contemporary practice of shamanism
• Religion and Spirituality: Shamanism at the Open Directory Project
• Toltec Initiation An Introduction to the work of Carlos Castaneda
• The website of Sacred Hoop Magazine promoting the spiritual traditions of shamanism and animism

az:Şamanizm

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