Medieval Shaman Village Design SETAfrican MutiSouthern AfricaAyurveda DoshaMVAHBalneotherapyBrazilianBush medicineCambodianChinese Blood stasisChinese herbologyDit daGua shaGill plate tradeMeridianMoxibustionPressure pointQiSan JiaoTui naZang-fuChumashCuranderoFaith healingHilotIranianJamuKamboJapaneseKoreanMien ShiangMongolianProphetic medicineShamanismShiatsuSiddhaSri LankanThai massageTibetanUnaniVietnameseDiagnosesvteShamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance.[1][2] The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world for the purpose of healing, divination or to in some other way aid human beings.[1]

Beliefs and practices categorized as shamanic have attracted the interest of scholars from a variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, religious studies scholars, philosophers and psychologists. Hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism.

In the 20th century, non-Indigenous Westerners involved in counter-cultural movements, such as hippies and the New Age created modern magico-religious practices influenced by their ideas of various Indigenous religions, creating what has been termed neoshamanism or the neoshamanic movement.[3] It has affected the development of many neopagan practices, as well as faced a backlash and accusations of cultural appropriation,[4] exploitation and misrepresentation when outside observers have tried to practice the ceremonies of, or represent, cultures to which they do not belong......................The Modern English word shamanism derives from the Russian word šamán, which itself comes from the word samān from a Tungusic language[7] – possibly from the southwestern dialect of the Evenki spoken by the Sym Evenki peoples,[8] or from the Manchu language.[9] The etymology of the word is sometimes connected to the Tungus root sā-, meaning to know.[10][11] However, Juha Janhunen questions this connection on linguistic grounds: The possibility cannot be completely rejected, but neither should it be accepted without reservation since the assumed derivational relationship is phonologically irregular (note especially the vowel quantities).[12]

Mircea Eliade noted that the Sanskrit word śramaṇa, designating a wandering monastic or holy figure, has spread to many Central Asian languages along with Buddhism and could be the ultimate origin of the Tungusic word.[13]

The term was adopted by Russians interacting with the indigenous peoples in Siberia. It is found in the memoirs of the exiled Russian churchman Avvakum.[14] It was brought to Western Europe twenty years later by the Dutch traveler Nicolaes Witsen, who reported his stay and journeys among the Tungusic- and Samoyedic-speaking indigenous peoples of Siberia in his book Noord en Oost Tataryen (1692).[15] Adam Brand, a merchant from Lübeck, published in 1698 his account of a Russian embassy to China; a translation of his book, published the same year, introduced the word shaman to English speakers.[16]

Anthropologist and archaeologist Silvia Tomaskova argued that by the mid-1600s, many Europeans applied the Arabic term shaitan (meaning devil) to the non-Christian practices and beliefs of indigenous peoples beyond the Ural Mountains.[17] She suggests that shaman may have entered the various Tungus dialects as a corruption of this term, and then been told to Christian missionaries, explorers, soldiers and colonial administrators with whom the people had increasing contact for centuries.

A female shaman is sometimes called a shamanka, which is not an actual Tungus term but simply shaman plus the Russian suffix -ka (for feminine nouns)....................................

There is no single agreed-upon definition for the word shamanism among anthropologists. Thomas Downson suggests three shared elements of shamanism: practitioners consistently alter consciousness, the community regards altering consciousness as an important ritual practice, and the knowledge about the practice is controlled..................

The English historian Ronald Hutton noted that by the dawn of the 21st century, there were four separate definitions of the term which appeared to be in use:.........................

HistoryShamanism is a system of religious practice.[36] Historically, it is often associated with indigenous and tribal societies, and involves belief that shamans, with a connection to the otherworld, have the power to heal the sick, communicate with spirits, and escort souls of the dead to the afterlife. The origins of Shamanism stem from Northern Europe and parts of Northern Asia.[37]...................

Despite structural implications of colonialism and imperialism that have limited the ability of indigenous peoples to practice traditional spiritualities, many communities are undergoing resurgence through self-determination[38] and the reclamation of dynamic traditions.[39] Other groups have been able to avoid some of these structural impediments by virtue of their isolation, such as the nomadic Tuvan (with an estimated population of 3000 people surviving from this tribe).[40] Tuva is one of the most isolated tribes in Russia where the art of shamanism has been preserved until today due to its isolated existence, allowing it to be free from the influences of other major religions.[41]......................Spirits exist and they play important roles both in individual lives and in human societyThe shaman can communicate with the spirit worldSpirits can be benevolent or malevolentThe shaman can treat sickness caused by malevolent spiritsThe shaman can employ trances inducing techniques to incite visionary ecstasy and go on vision questsThe shaman's spirit can leave the body to enter the supernatural world to search for answersThe shaman evokes animal images as spirit guides, omens, and message-bearersThe shaman can perform other varied forms of divination, scry, throw bones or runes, and sometimes foretell of future eventsAs Alice Kehoe[4] notes, Eliade's conceptualization of shamans produces a universalist image of indigenous cultures, which perpetuates notions of the dead (or dying) Indian[42] as well as the noble savage.[43]Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits which affect the lives of the living.[44] Although the causes of disease lie in the spiritual realm, inspired by malicious spirits, both spiritual and physical methods are used to heal. Commonly, a shaman enters the body of the patient to confront the spiritual infirmity and heals by banishing the infectious spirit.Many shamans have expert knowledge of medicinal plants native to their area, and an herbal treatment is often prescribed. In many places shamans learn directly from the plants, harnessing their effects and healing properties, after obtaining permission from the indwelling or patron spirits. In the Peruvian Amazon Basin, shamans and curanderos use medicine songs called icaros to evoke spirits. Before a spirit can be summoned it must teach the shaman its song.[44] The use of totemic items such as rocks with special powers and an animating spirit is common.

Such practices are presumably very ancient. Plato wrote in his Phaedrus that the first prophecies were the words of an oak, and that those who lived at that time found it rewarding enough to listen to an oak or a stone, so long as it was telling the truth..................

Belief in witchcraft and sorcery, known as brujería in Latin America, exists in many societies. Other societies assert all shamans have the power to both cure and kill. Those with shamanic knowledge usually enjoy great power and prestige in the community, but they may also be regarded suspiciously or fearfully as potentially harmful to others.[45]