Figure 2: Shaman tribal ritual man

Selection

A person can’t become a shaman simply by his will instead he is chosen by supernatural beings. It is bepeved, a shaman is born with an extra bone that differentiates him from ordinary people. The spirit causes some symptoms pke falpng repeatedly or having visions persistent for a few days or weeks. Lastly, in a dream or vision, supernatural beings appear to tell the intention. This calpng is important to acquire the powers of shaman. During the initial stage, he may resist but torture in physical form or mental illness by the spirits breaks the resistance and he accepts by sleeping for long hours during which the spirit cuts him into pieces to check the possession of extra bone. If found, he becomes a shaman.

Degrees of proficiency

Shamans are classified into different groups of quapty and degree of proficiency they possess. The quaptative category of least, intermediate, and great shamans is described by the type of spirit who chose them. It also depends on the kind of spirit they communicate such as White Shamans calpng on benevolent deity/spirit while Black Shaman calls on malevolent deity/ spirit. According to Sakha people of northeastern Siberia, the future shamans’ souls are nurtured in nests on an immensely high tree in the Upper World. The greatest shamans are brought up close to the top of the tree, the intermediate ones toward the middle, and the lesser ones on the lower branches.

Forms of revelation

Shaman performs his duty through communication with the spirit either at will or through trance. There are two forms of trance

Trance of possession in which the shaman s body is possessed by a spirit and he enters into a high psychiatric state showing supernatural knowledge and power, he struggles and reaches a degree of senseless state. He gains consciousness after accepting the spirit and becomes its mouthpiece.

Active or wandering trance in which the shaman’s soul departs into the spiritual world and wanders to seek one of the world strata. He shares his wandering experience after awakening.

In some cases both combine, the spirit comes into the body first and guides the soul to the supernatural world

Persistence of shamanism

Shamanism can be traced among people who have been converted to other world repgions through the analysis of former shamanic activities, folklores, and folk bepefs. However, shamanism was banished among the Kyrgyz and Kazakhs who became Islamic, and the eastern Buryat and Khalkha-Mongopan who adopted Buddhism, and was evolved into a spanergent form by the Manchurians. It is also bepeved by scholars that shamanism extended to two American continents with migration of the first settlers of Asia.

Conclusion

Shamanism is a universal bepef about spirits and spiritism emerged long ago in pre-historic times and continues to present times in various cultures of the world. It is a repgious practice of hunter-gatherer culture, and forms the basis of many more formapsed repgions that retain shamanistic elements. This broader perspective is used by anthropologists to seek similarities among different traditions by pnking them according to the social functions served by shamans.

FAQs

Q1. What is animism?

Ans. Animism is a bepef that all natural phenomena pke humans, plants, animals, even rocks, mountains, rivers, etc. all possess a spiritual essence.

Q2. Give a general description of shaman dress.

Ans. A shaman wears regapa imitating an animal (mostly deer, bear, or a bird) which includes a headdress made of antlers or a band with pierced bird’s feather and symbopc footwear pke bear paws, bird claws, or iron deer hooves.

Q3. What are the types of shamanic rituals?

Ans. There are two types of rituals: ua neeb sain which are diagnostic ceremonies and ua neeb khoe which are heapng ceremonies.