SHAMANISM

Shamanism

Shamanism

Introduction

Anthropologists use shaman in several different ways. Most narrowly, and arguably most appropriately, it denotes magicoreligious specialists of the Siberian Tungus people. The word saman comes from the Tungus verb sa-“to know.” Noting similarities and cultural diffusion, scholars expanded the term to indicate similar practitioners in other circumboreal cultures and central Asia. Most commonly, shaman refers to a theoretical category of magicoreligious specialists in cultures all over the world and across time. Scholars debate vigorously about what constitutes shamanism in this broader sense. Indeed, they argue about whether such a global phenomenon really exists, or is just a construction of the modern Western imagination (Noll, 1985).

The term shamanism was applied indiscriminately to almost anything “supernatural” outside the “world religions” and became virtually meaningless. To discover their essential characteristics, Shirokogoroff (1935) returned to the Tungus shamans. Acknowledging that shamanic methods differ from culture to culture, he perceived a complex that extends beyond cultural boundaries that would be recognizable to the shamans themselves. He reported that the Tungus shamans and the Manchu shamans recognize each other's power without knowing each other's methods.

Shirokogoroff's Definition

Shirokogoroff proposed six formal characteristics of shamanism. First and putatively most important, shamans are masters of spirits. Shamans control the spirits and their interactions with them in sharp contrast to those controlled or possessed by the spirits (Shirokogoroff, 1935).

Second, the shaman masters numerous spirits. The spirits in the shaman's arsenal have various qualities under the shaman's command. Typically, the shaman begins with one or a few spirits, and then learns to master others with their help. In many cultures, the assessment of a shaman's power is directly proportionate to the number of spirits mastered (Bourguignon, 1976).

Third, there are culturally recognized methods for working with spirits. The techniques include means of contact and breaking contact, and ways of attracting and caring for spirits and maintaining right relations with them. These practices vary from culture to culture and continually develop and change, yet they exist in some form wherever there is shamanism (Balzer, 1990).

Fourth, except perhaps where shamanism has been outlawed, shamans in every culture use paraphernalia, costumes, or special equipment to enhance their power (Hultkrantz, 1973).

Fifth, for shamanism to exist, there must be some accepted theoretical basis. A belief in spirits and an understanding of their characteristics and modes of operation is essential. Moreover, people must believe that humans can interact with spirits and “master” them. The level of theoretical sophistication varies from shaman to shaman, but shamanism is always rooted in a theoretical foundation.

Finally, shamans play a recognized and integral role in their culture. A shaman does not master spirits for the sake of mastering spirits, but to serve the community (Shirokogoroff, 1935).

Eliade's Theory of Shamanism

Shirokogoroff's work strongly influenced the Romanian historian of religion Mircea Eliade (1951/1964). Eliade was not an anthropologist. He was the quintessential armchair scholar, fluent in several European languages (but not native languages) and well versed in the literature. Philosophically, Eliade believed in a core human nature and therefore common types of ...