Mariko Namba Walter – Shamanism. An Encyclopedia

Автор: Mariko Namba Walter
Название книги: Shamanism. An Encyclopedia
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Культура и Искусство
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

A guide to worldwide shamanism and shamanistic practices, emphasizing historical and current cultural adaptations.

• Nearly 200 entries on shamanic belief systems, practices, rituals, and related phenomena

• 152 contributors including international experts and pioneering researchers in the field

• 100 photos, charts, and tables

• Multicultural bibliography of significant materials from the fields of history, ethnography, and anthropology

Shamanism is a living, vital phenomenon, one that interests a wide range of people. Today it is
clear that shamanism, as an area of academic study, is a rich and rapidly evolving field. This
encyclopedia represents a wide range of perspectives and approaches of over 180 contributors
according to their academic specialties. Thus it is not the intent of this encyclopedia to present a
homogenized picture, either of the phenomenon of shamanism or of the present state of shamanism
as a field of study. The reader will find the story of the development of the field and some of
the most pertinent theoretical and historical issues addressed in the Introduction, as well as in related
entries.
Shamans are globally distributed and shamanism is an ancient spiritual practice. Thus this encyclopedia
covers this most human spiritual endeavor in its worldwide manifestations, with the goal
of developing an inclusive and multidimensional picture of shamanism as currently and historically
encountered throughout the world. The scope of the entries in these two volumes is broad:
the reader will find considerations of the earliest indications of shamanism in rock art, of early historical
writings that portray various aspects of shamanistic worship and practice, of later manifestations
attested to by European and Russian ethnographers, and of current research in the field all
over the world. The reader will be able to see how shamanism has developed and changed over the
centuries, allowing shamanic practices to remain significant in present-day cultures. Some of the
entries focus on universal aspects of shamanism, but of course shamanism is not one uniform phenomenon
over a wide range of time and space; each culture lays its own imprint on the belief system,
practices, and outward appearances of its shamanic practitioners. For this reason, in the majority
of the entries the focus is on the way shamanism is practiced within a particular culture, and
to provide an understanding of the cultural specifics of this phenomenon.
Most basically, shamanism can be defined as a religious belief system in which the shaman is the
specialist in knowledge. The shaman knows the spirit world and human soul through “ecstasy,” the
power of an altered state of consciousness, or trance, which is used to make a connection to the
world of the spirits in order to bring about benefits to the community. Mircea Eliade, in his book
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, saw the essence of shamanism in the techniques by which
the shaman is able to travel into the supernatural world in a state of ecstasy induced by drumming
or other means. The broader definition of shamanism adopted for the purposes of this encyclopedia
includes not only the kind of ecstatic relationship to the spiritual world involved in such journeys—
the kind in which the shaman deliberately goes to meet the spirits and is in control of them
or “masters” them—but also the phenomenon of possession, in which the spirits take the initiative,
and the shaman is “possessed” by the spirits who then speak through the shaman as a vessel.
The hallmarks of shamanism as a religious phenomenon are most clearly seen, historically and
currently, in Siberia, Mongolia, and the Inner Asian geographical area, an area often referred to as
Eurasia. As noted by a number of scholars in the field, shamanism as a phenomenon or system of
religious belief is most closely allied with hunting and gathering societies. The human need to exert
some control or influence over the natural world on which subsistence depended provided the
impulse for the development of the concepts and practices of shamanism. The cosmology of
hunters and gatherers included deities who could influence weather and the harvesting of flora and
particularly fauna; the shaman was a member of the community who had special abilities to influence
the deities responsible for the well-being of the group. Only the shaman, in a state of trance,
was able to offer the appropriate prayers and entreaties to the deities, so that the deity, as master of
the animals, would feel honored and let more animals be caught, or, in later pastoral societies, so
that the deities in control of the weather would make it auspicious for the growth of grain or grass
in order to feed the flocks. In other words, in a society in which human beings were dependent on
natural forces for their sustenance, it was important to continually interact with the natural world,
a world seen as driven by spiritual forces, so that these forces would act in a benevolent manner toward
human beings.
Thus shamanism in what is generally considered its most classical form was based on a particular
cosmology and belief system, one in which the community depended on the shaman, a person
with exceptional powers and abilities, to communicate while in trance with spirits and deities for
the benefit of the community. Even in Siberia and Inner Asia, this classical form did not last;
hunters and gatherers became pastoral nomads or, due to political pressures, settled in villages and
towns. In Russia, for example, the emphasis in the previous century and currently is on the
shaman as healer of the soul and body of individuals, as well as healer of the community at large in
the performance of rituals for the general well-being.
Although many scholars believe that shamanism is an ancient and universal belief system held
by hunting and gathering peoples, there is only limited evidence of its most ancient aspects. This
encyclopedia includes several entries on those ancient practices of shamanism based on evidence
from archaeology and historical documentation. Most of the historical information on shamanism
dates back to practices and practitioners who were observed and studied in the nineteenth century
as missionaries, explorers, and finally anthropologists began to take note of religious practices of
indigenous peoples, practices that up to that time had received scant Western attention. Therefore,
many of the entries reflect shamanism as it was practiced at the beginning of the twentieth century;
contributors often also describe the current state of shamanism in these cultural groups. A
number of essays (included under “General Themes in World Shamanism”) deal with new constructions
of shamanism.
The organizational principles of the encyclopedia are covered in more detail in the last section
of the Introduction, but some preliminary account may be given here. Because one important
purpose of this work is to provide a cross-cultural view of shamanism in its universal as well as its
particular and local aspects, the encyclopedia has two parts. The general entries, found under the
title “General Themes in World Shamanism” in volume 1, offer information on broader aspects of
shamanism; the rest of the encyclopedia consists of regional entries, which examine shamanism
within a particular cultural group or region, providing an in-depth understanding of the particular
and local manifestations of shamanism. The criteria for selection of topics were developed in consultation
with scholars of shamanism from all over the world.
The regional entries are grouped into ten sections on a geographical basis: North America; Central
and South America; Europe; Eurasia; Korea and Japan; China and Sino-Asia; South Asia, the
Himalayas, and Tibet; Southeast Asia; Australasia and Oceania; and Africa. Within each of these
regions, there are certain cultural commonalities in the concepts and practices of shamanism.
Consequently, this geographical approach provides a broader and more comprehensive view of
these particular shamanic complexes, reflected in the regional overview with which each section
begins. The relation of shamanic belief systems and practices to their particular geographic and
cultural locales can be seen in the specific rituals and prayers used, and in the way shamans interact
with their communities. Since shamanism is community-based, shamans receive their sanction,
and any temporal powers they may possess, from their communities. Shamans are therefore closely
interwoven in community life, even though they also stand outside it as spiritual specialists. In the
entries in the regional section, the specific beliefs and practices of the shamans treated have accordingly
been discussed within their geographical, historical, and cultural context.
The reader will notice that there has been no attempt to provide the same number of entries in
each region. Thus, for example, the region of Eurasia has the largest number of entries; as the area
generally considered the core of shamanism, it has received the most attention from scholars in the
field. These entries offer a detailed view of classical aspects of shamanism, as well as current adaptations
in the post-Soviet world. Even in Eurasia, however, there are many cultural groups that are
not represented. Considerations of inclusion were based not only on size constraints and the need
for some degree of balance with all other regions, but also on the principle of selecting the most
representative and important shamanic complexes. Some were excluded simply because they were
so similar to others that were included, and hence it was thought that the material would be too
repetitive. At the same time, in some cultures such interesting work has been done on specific aspects
of shamanism, such as masks or music, that separate entries have been included on those aspects.
In the other regions, such as Europe, shamanic complexes are far more limited and scarce,
and hence fewer entries are included.
The largest number of entries fall under the title “General Themes in World Shamanism.” This
large grouping includes many important aspects of shamanism that can usefully be studied across
cultures, not only as part of a specific cultural complex. For instance, there are entries such as
“Bioenergetic Healing,” “Divination,” “Healing and Shamanism,” “Soul Retrieval,” and “Transformation,”
to name a few examples. Thus “General Themes in World Shamanism” provides a
more inclusive, less regional view of shamanism, not only to allow the reader to look at the phenomena
cross-culturally, but also to make possible an understanding of the more universal nature
of certain practices and beliefs. The general entries may also fill in gaps with respect to particular
cultural aspects that may not have been discussed in some of the culture-specific entries. Where
subtopics such as costume, music, literature, dance, or specific types of healers have not been
treated for some cultures, some of these absences may be compensated for, when scholarly research
is available, in the “General Themes in World Shamanism” section.
We have made every effort to be as inclusive, complete, and up-to-date as possible within the
confines of a two-volume encyclopedia. Shamanism is, however, an evolving and rapidly changing
phenomenon, most obviously in areas where religion was repressed in recent historical memory,
though not only there. At the same time that new forms of shamanism have emerged, new research
on historical complexes has become possible, as documentation becomes accessible in less
repressive times, and so understanding of earlier and contemporary forms of shamanism has increased.
There are many new scholars working in all areas. This encyclopedia provides an introduction
to a dynamic field, in which relevant new material allows constant revision of our present
knowledge.
This encyclopedia is intended for the general reader as well as for the scholarly community. It is
intended to be useful for a range of readers, from the high school student who has an interest in
exploring these questions, to college and graduate school students and scholars in other fields who
want to understand and explore this topic. Bibliographic references at the end of each entry are
designed to lead the reader into further research, and cross references to other relevant subjects accompany
each entry. An alphabetical list of entries, found on page xxix, will assist the reader in locating
cross-referenced topics.