Chapter 6 ANTH 130

Becoming a Shaman

o Chosen by spirits o Can come in a dream or a trance, an altered state of consciousness o Spirits commonly call during a difficult time in someone's life, making them known as "wounded healers" o Spirits test the initiate and the symbolism of death, transformation, and rebirth o Shaman undergoes training with an older shaman o Learn religious knowledge - making contact with supernatural, and manipulating it o Main goal is to learn to enter into and control the experience of an altered state of consciousness

Shamanic Role and Rituals Pt. 2

o Movement of shaman between the realm of the natural and supernatural is related to humans living in a middle zone between an upper and lower world • The three worlds are seen linked by a central vertical axis (Axis Mundi or Axis of the World) • Shaman is able to travel between these worlds o Shaman can transform into animals or other beings; can take on gender transformation, or seen as sexually ambiguous o Can cause and cure sickness rendering them suspicious in others' eyes

Michael Harner

o Shamanism from the Jivaro were applicable to all people in all places o Core shamanism is the near universal methods of shamanism without a specific cultural perspective o Centered on the use of drug ayahuasca • Criticized for presenting shamanic beliefs and practices out of their cultural context through such concepts, such as core shamanism

Shamanic Role and Rituals Pt. 1

o Successful shamans know how to successfully establish contact and have some measure of control over the supernatural o Control of spirit helpers and ability to enter into altered states of consciousness is important • Helps fight hostile spirits • Helps shaman diagnose and treat illnesses o Ritual may be public or one-on-one

Diviners

practice divination, a series of techniques and activities are used to obtain information about things not normally knowable o Things that occur at the present time but at a distance o Things that touch the supernatural (i.e. I.D. of a witch) o Can enter an altered state of consciousness and obtain information o Usually work for private clients and are paid for their services

Pentecostal Healers as Shamans

• Altered states of consciousness achieved through use of rhythmic speech and music • Takes place during a service - "laying on hands" is the healing ritual • Pentecostal preachers are similar to shamans - use altered state of consciousness to directly contact and experience the supernatural o Many report having been called by the supernatural

Priests (2)

• Associated with generalized rituals o Reinforcement of the belief system, establishment of the ethical code • Personify the image of the ideal person: model of ethics and morality in their communities, and they are held to higher standards of behavior • Training involves memorization of vast knowledge • Reasons to become a priest: an inherited responsibility, priestly lineages (Levites of Old Testament), or priestly classes or castes • Conclusion of training is marked by a rite of passage, such as an ordination

Okinawan Priestesses (Japan)

• Based on animism and shamanism • Kami = a myriad of supernatural beings • Kaminchu and Yuta who are shamanlike practitioners • Variety of religious specialists, all of whom are women

Neoshamanism

• Focus on an individual as a self-help means of improving one's life • Criticized for presenting shamanic beliefs and practices out of their cultural context through concepts such as core shamanism

Religious Specialists

• May be full-time and derive their income primarily from the performance of religious rituals • May be supported by the community • May be found in a marketplace • May attain important political and economic positions • Split into two categories: shaman and priest (not mutually exclusive)

Korean Shamanism

• Most shamans are women today o Provides a good source of income and a degree of influence over a community o Targets those who are vulnerable o Those selected are manifested as possession illness or 'sinbyong' o Enters a trance state and is ill with possession sickness until she accepts the call of the spirit • Perform shamanic rituals to: guide the dead to the otherworld, cure illnesses, for divination, to ensure good fortune of the family and community

Yakut Shamanism

• Northeastern Siberia • Increased frequency in shamanic rituals, and traditional beliefs were taught in the schools • Had Christian elements blended into shamanism

Healers and Diviners

• Not just shamans but there are other specialized healers o Like medical practitioners in the U.S. • Divination is only performed if it is assisting in healing • Term healer is often used to refer to a priest or shaman, especially when the individual is focused on the curing of illness or injury

Eastern Orthodox Priests (1)

• Orthodox Churches consist of a series of independent religious organizations • Individuals separate themselves from the everyday world and spend lives as monks and nuns • Monks are ordained priests o Don't function in the outside world o Live in various types of isolated communities such as monasteries or small villages

Development of Part-time specialists

• People who earn their living through an economic task, like hunting or farming, but called on to perform rituals with their knowledge

Eastern Orthodox Priests (2)

• Priests participate in education, counseling, and performing rituals o Performance of social rites of intensification that center around the Divine Liturgy or communion service o Birth, baptism, marriage, and death o Perform rites of passage • Within the church are many religious specialists who fall within our defintion of priest o These specialists are organized in a complex religious hierarchy (bishops, priests, and deacons)

Shamans

• Receives his/her power directly from the spirit world • Acquires status and abilities such as healing through personal communication with the supernatural during trances or altered states of consciousness

Prophets

• Role is to communicate the words and will of the gods to their community • Intermediary between gods and the people • Handsome Lake - prophet of the Seneca tribe o Had a vision of three messengers that revealed God's will to him - had to carry the message back to his people

Siberian Shamanism

• Use hand-held drums and spirit helpers • Perform rituals to heal sick, divine the future, and ensure successful hunting • Division into three realms o Upper: light and good spirits o Middle: People and spirits of the earth o Lower: Darkness and evil spirits • Communicates with spirits to learn what they want • Can dispel a disease-causing spirit or retrieve a lost soul • Can contact spirits to help ensure a successful hunt

Zuni Priests (American South)

• Young males are inducted into one of six kiva groups • Priest's responsibility is the accurate performance of rituals • Recognizes other priesthoods, like priests of the twelve medicine societies

Tensegrity

increase awareness of the energy fields that humans are made of (by Carlos Castaneda) o Through body movements and breathing o Daoism (Taichi)

Yuta (shaman)

mediates between villagers and the supernatural by communication with ancestors and the kami o practice divination and healing rituals o has one or more kami she communicates regularly with o involved in serious psychological, physical, or social dysfunction o overcoming the illness shows effectiveness of the yuta

Nuer

cattle-herding people in Eastern Sudan area o Ngundeng was a prophet born with power to contact with the supernatural • Possessed by a god called Deng • Began to make prophecies and developed a reputation as a peacemaker because Deng controlled life and death • Had a dang (ceremonial rod) inherited by his son o Belief that prophets are chosen by a god then able to predict the future, cure the sick, ensure the fertility of women and cows, influence crop growth

Kaminchu (priestesses)

embodies a particular kami associated with the clan o Funded by village council or clan o Their presence is the most significant part o Do very little during rituals o Sit in certain places on certain days and receive food offerings from the villagers o Role of chief for a village is traditionally passed from mother to daughter o Report minor illnesses that generally involved some sort of bleeding or other bodily rupture

Priests (1)

full-time religious specialists associated with formalized religious institutions that may be linked with kinship groups, communities, or larger political units • Given religious authority by certain units or by formal religious organizations • Representative of a community in dealing with the deity or deities • Responsible for performances of prescribed rituals • Performs rites of passage (birth and death rituals, and weddings)

Religious activities

not clearly delineated from nonreligious activities in small-scale societies • Interwoven with secular activities

Kiva (Zuni)

a ceremonial chamber (similar to a shrine or temple) o Rectangular rooms built above ground o Associated with the six cardinal directions o Ritual responsibilities rotate among the six groups o Accumulation of ritual knowledge over time is associated with prestige and political authority

Herbalists

specialists that use plant and other material as cures o May prescribe the material or provide material as prescribed by a healer o Familiar with the plant materials in the habitat and gather, process o Administers various medicines made from materials