Shamanism: The Siberian Paradigm in the Analysis of Shamans

Shamanism: The Siberian Paradigm in the Analysis of Shamans

THE ANALYS OF THE SHAMAN: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

King Louis IX of France, a devout Roman Catholic who is venerated as saint and exemplary Christian monarch, received a harrowing report from a Franciscan monk in 1255. The Monk Wilhelm av Ruysbroek, who had been sent to the court of Mongolia on behalf of France, retold the account of an oracle that invoked spirits with sorcery and fed an evil darkness with drum music and boiled meat. Scholars now realize that this account describes the first encounter a Westerner experienced with shamanistic rituals (Siikala, A.L. & Hoppál, M. 1998). More importantly, despite his subjective portrayal, the French Monk introduced the concept of the shaman to the West. Through many subsequent eye-witness reports, it would be seen that the role of the shaman has remained relatively unchanged from century to century. The shaman, as a spiritual-religious specialist, is now the focus of much Western scholarship with research analyzing the role of this individual within the shamanistic systems of belief. Yet, it is within this study that the scholar of shamanism must become acquainted with the characteristics of the shaman through the collection and scrutiny of primary data in order to properly interpose established conclusions to the discipline. These conclusions should introduce original claims within the field such as shaman identification criteria, detailed research methodologies, and deconstructions of clan-specific shamanic history. More importantly, the data being analyzed must originate from first-hand accounts of shamans and their otherworldly journeys, ceremonial rituals, and specialized paraphernalia.

The aim of this research piece is...

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...ifferent worlds and interaction with unearthly beings is juxtaposed with a dependency to a participatory community. In the end scholarship is given an understanding of the shaman that is accord with the reality of the cultural circumstances.

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