Stein Ch 6 - Religious Specialists

shamans of central Siberia

- Yakut shamans - healing is main function of these shamans - use handheld drums and spirit helpers to help community - in altered states, communicate with spirits of other realms

Pentacostal healers as shamans

- achieve altered states of consciousness through the use of rhythmic speech and music -They also perform a healing ritual, know as "laying on hands" - report having been called by the supernatural, in this case God, and describe prophetic dreams and visions

Korean shamans

- called to perform shamanic rituals such as guiding the dead to the otherworld, to cure illness, for divination, and to ensure the good fortune of the family and community - once politically powerful, has been driven somewhat underground - becoming important part of Korean culture again

healer

often used to refer to a priest or shaman, especially when the individual is focused on the curing of illness or injury

yuta

one of two key religious specialists in Okinawa, a shaman-like practitioner.

kaminchu

one of two key religious specialists in Okinawa, a sort of priestess.

rituals

usually are performed by most or all of the adult members of the community in small scale societies with relatively simple technologies

priest duties

•A priest acts as a representative of the community in dealing with the deity or deities •Priests are responsible for the performance of prescribed rituals •They also perform rites of passage

neoshamans

•Those who use techniques like those proposed by Castaneda and Harner •focused on an individual, often as a self-help means of improving one's life •choose to participate and focus on what they consider the positive aspects of shamanism

Diviner

Someone who practices divination, a series of techniques and activities that are used to obtain information about things that are not normally knowable

axis mundi

central vertical axis linking the upper, middle, and lower worlds.

Tensegrity

A technique of body movements whose aim is to increase awareness of the energy field that, according to Carlos Castaneda, humans are made of

herbalist

A type of healer that is a specialist in the use of plant and other material as cures

Priests

Full-time religious specialists associated with formalized religious institutions that may be linked with kinship groups, communities, or larger political units and are given religious authority by those units or by formal religious organizations. Found in more complex, food producing societies.

shaman

He or she acquires status and abilities, such as healing, through personal communication with the supernatural during shamanic trances or altered states of consciousness.

religious specialists

In larger and more technologically complex societies we see the development of many occupational specializations, including:

shamanic training

Main purpose is to learn how to make contact with the supernatural, and how to manipulate the supernatural world to achieve some specified end

central to role of a shaman

The control of spirit helpers and the ability to enter altered states of consciousness

Core shamanism

The near universal methods of shamanism without a specific cultural perspective," according to Michael Harner

shaman and priest

Two major categories used to categorize religious specialists

shamanism

techniques used by specific kinds of religious specialists and that shamans can be found in a wide variety of cultures and religions