Turner Study Shamanism

“Body Rituals Among the Nacirema, “ by Horace Miner, is an essay written about the Nacirema, or American people, from an outsider’s perspective. Miner gives an insight on the Nacireman people, which he describes in his essay as an unknown tribe, and the completing of the Nacireman’s magical beliefs and practices, which involve daily, involuntary body rituals that cause much pain and discomfort. Miner shows how an outsider’s perspective can affect the way a culture is seen.

In the Western world, magic is defined as the ability to alter one’s consciousness at will. The magicians perform hand tricks to startle the senses and free the audience from the outdated and restricted thoughts by inspiring awe and surprises within the individuals. This is the common image that we bring up when thinking of the word magic and magician. Westerners find no relation between magic and nature as the two are thought as two distinct concepts. However, people of the oral, traditional land conjure up different idea in regard of magic and nature. The two are correlated concepts as magic can be defined as “humans experience their own consciousness as simply one form of awareness among many others” (7). Magic is shifting out one’s consciousness to put it in others shoes. The others indicate the many beings regarded to have intelligence, the components of nature. By thinking in the perspective of other nonhuman entities, as Abram succeeded in doing in the traditional land, the magicians communicate with the nature. As the author mentions, “Countless anthropologists have managed to overlook the ecological dimension of the shaman’s craft, while writing at great length of the shaman’s rapport with supernatural entities” (6), the Western people simply fail to recognize the relationship between nature and magic because they have

The theme of spirituality takes place in many novels that we have read this semester. Natives has used spiritual guidance as a means of connecting with their past and honoring their ancestors. To Natives, spirits have always played an important role in their culture and everyday lives. When Natives were forced to convert to Christianity and over time have their beliefs sucked out of them, the spiritual connection was broken as generations passed. One novel that particularly spoke to me on this subject was Monkey Beach, by Eden Robinson. The main character, Lisa, is struggling to fins herself after being blessed with the gift of being a shaman. In this novel, the author exploits how the European or western “white” culture has destroyed the

This study examines Horace Miner’s essay “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema. While using the participant observation approach, he gives us a new perspective on the daily behaviors within this group of people. Exploring ethnocentrism and how we view cultures outside of our own.

The ritualistic practice of peyote and shamanism, are commonly linked, however in the case of the Mescalero Apache Tribe the use of peyote in shaman rites had anything but a transcendental effect which eventually lead to the abolishment of peyote from shamanistic ceremony. A lack of harmony

Native American religion has become a commodity due to the fact that Neo-Shamans are more focused on giving a presentation and making a profit rather than the spiritual aspects of Native American religion. According to Cohen, “It is my belief that Westernized religion in general has become a commodity almost ad hoc in North America. It is a potential money making industry, and anyone can take part”. She

            The book Lame Deer Seeker of Visions authored by Richard Erdoes help readers understand the American Indian community through a Sioux medicine man. The author’s relationship with the Lame Deer enabled him to portray this community from several interviews. He portrays the culture, rituals and ceremonies, religious beliefs, main legends, the use of medicine, environmental destruction, injustices in this land whose occupants hold it as sacred. The author narrates about Lame Deer as a small boy and his experiences in the move to be a medicine man. Lame Deer ability to recall critical symbolism in American Indian culture helps him to explain to the author the significance of spiritual unification, and its need in his community beliefs and practices. At the end, Erdoes argues oneness among human beings is significant. The author is also convinced that Lame Deer is stable with his spiritual values.

There was also an exhibit of a “Cheyenne Rattle” which is used to treat sick people. The shaman would waive the rattle over the ill member’s head and they would be relieved of the evil spirits draining his body. Shamans and their people believed in these magical items. They were strong enough to drive out unwanted forces and sustain protective ones. They would combine a physical object with a spiritual force that would heal them from their sickness. Like the peasant and folk artist from “peasants and folk artist”, shamans were involved in a tradition that put a lot of pressure on them to become healers of their people. Sometimes they would have to go through extremes, such as depriving themselves of food or removing a body part to gain sympathy

This model suggest that bighorn sheep represent mythical “spirit helpers” that were in the center of shamanistic activities, including hallucinations and trances. Since bighorn sheep held a minimal role in the diet during the late Haiwee and early Marana Period, rituals performed resulted in images of bighorn sheep being carved to attract rain to the Coso Range as a means to increase productivity of plants. It was said that Numic men would enter a dream states or drug induced trances during rain rituals. The mental imprints obtained during these experiences were transcribed as rock art images. These images were thought to portray transformation of men into spirit helpers or bighorn sheep. These half anthropomorphic, half zoomorphic figures recorded were featured as evidence, however, problems arose with this model. For instance, this model required the rock art to have been created post 1000BP, since the model proposes that Numic groups from the Great Basin were the ones that brought these rituals. However, the “Numic Expansion” did not occur until 1000BP and bighorn sheep petroglyphs seem to have developed in the Coso Range prior to the Numic Expansion. Also, the hallucinogens that produce the particular sequence that some have argued these images capture were not available in prehistoric North America. In addition, the ethnographic footing of this model is challenged since no ethnographic connection has been proposed between the native people and the pecked images of bighorn sheep for rain making. Some ethnographic accounts connect shamanism with the Coso region, weather control as a shamanic activity, rain-shamans with bighorn spirit helpers and rock art with shamans, but no particular ethnographic evidence has been made to connect all concepts. This

The Shaman is defined by a person who can mediate between the natural and supernatural world, can foretell the future, and most importantly, can ‘magically’ cure illnesses and injuries. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was known throughout the Native American culture as this Shaman, or medicine man. He used illogical means to cure the Native American illnesses that ended up saving his life. “We did our healing by making the sign of the cross on the sick persons, breathing on them, saying the Lord’s prayer and a Hail Mary” (124). The surviving Spaniards used these methods in order to survive, but they did not know what they were doing. A typical Shaman uses metaphysical means of healing, which is exactly what the Spaniards did in order to stay alive.

Another characteristic of an indigenous religion deals with the emphasis placed on the spiritual specialists. The general consensus is that anyone can have personal or direct access to spirits or that which is unseen, yet felt (democratized shamanism). There is no special requirement in most indigenous systems that stipulate ‘who’ can commune or interact with spirits, however, as a general rule, many feel that it is best to leave interactions with spirits to those that have been taught or trained through ritual or purification of some sort. Most indigenous religions are not written down, but based on oral

Paul Stroller is an anthropologist who becomes an apprentice to Songhay sorcerers which results in gradually changing Paul’s belief in magic. During his apprenticeship which extends over five field stays, Paul learns incantations, ingests specific foods of initiation, and participates indirectly with sorcery (Stoller, Olkes, 1987, p.ix). Although Paul knew of the practice sorcery he did not believe in it, for he believed that science could explain these events or occurrences. However, his beliefs change as he starts to experience specific events that his rational thoughts cannot explain.

Atlanta, Georgia - Do you believe in angels and spirits? Do you think it’s possible to have an out of this world experience? If you do, then you should know what these supernatural beings have to say during Marcella Martyn’s communication with them. It’s written in her inspirational and spiritual book entitled New Ages and Other Wonders.

An integral part of my dharma as teacher is to help educe answers to such questions as these our of the inner resourcefulness found in each student, to help them listen in a manner that allows whatever hunger for an answer to be satiated free of personal agenda or attachment to the outcome of one's apprenticeship experience. The answers to the questions you posit shall emerge in organic fashion from the wholeness of our Universal Shaman initiation experience, rather than as an 'isolated' revelation of information alone. Have you ever talked with someone who listened with such utter abandon to what you were trying to tell them that you were yourself made clearer in what you were trying to express by the very quality of his or her listening?

Researching this concept is important to anthropological study because it depicts the relation between an individual or group and a totem, along with the factors that define the relationship, such as gender, social status, or clan affiliation. (p 341). Likewise, it allows an anthropologist to identify any metaphorical meaning behind totemism, such as if the totem allows an individual to gain certain characteristics or skills. (Heider, 2007, p 342). Additionally, totemism can be defined as a system of social organization. By defining and understanding totemism in terms of social organization, an anthropologist can learn how a group can be complementary to another, along with how a natural entity, such as a bear, wolf, or another earthly element, links individuals or groups of people together. A few years ago, my father-in-law went to South Africa to visit family and go on a trip with them to Mozambique. While traveling up the eastern coast, they came in contact with a number of Zulu tribes. My father-in-law, being an avid photographer, took many pictures of the Zulu people and their customs. In some of these photographs, images of totems can be seen carved into a few wooden objects, such as stools. These totems express their relationship with other Zulu tribes, along with the relationships they maintain with animals and the living