O shamanism are ancestral ritual practices, as they originated in the Paleolithic, and aims to maintain contact with the sacred. Through these practices, one has contact with ancestors, nature spirits, animal spirits, etc. These rituals are marked by dances, music and the consumption of entheogens.
Within shamanism, it is considered that the shaman is the figure who conducts the ritual, being the one who acts as a messenger or intermediary between the earthly world and the spiritual world. However, there are shamanic rituals without the presence of a shaman. Several peoples practice shamanic rituals, among which are many indigenous peoples of Brazil.
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Summary about shamanism
Shamanism is the set of ancestral rituals that are practiced by some peoples.
These ritual practices are used to keep in touch with the spirit world.
The rituals are marked by the presence of dance, music and the consumption of entheogens.
The shaman is the one who conducts shamanic rituals, being a messenger or intermediary between the spiritual world and the earthly world.
Several indigenous peoples in Brazil maintain shamanic rituals.
The word shamanism is the Portuguese translation of shamanism, which defines the aforementioned ancestral practices in the English language.
What is shamanism?
Shamanism can be understood as a set of ancestral religious practices present in different peoples of humanity. These ancestral practices allow contact with the spirit world. Healing, divination and alteration in the state of consciousness are actions that take place during rituals.
What is the religion of shamanism?
Despite being referred to as a religion by many, Anthropologists don't understand the shamanism like one religious practice, because it does not have the characteristics to be defined as such. This is because shamanism, for example, it has no dogmas or a liturgy to be followed. In practice, shamanism is made up of very ancient ritual practices that seek to maintain contact with the spirit world. In shamanic rituals there is the presence of different songs and dances.
Therefore, the term shamanism is used to refer to rancient ancestors with the presence of trance (alteration of consciousness of a human being). This trance must happen in the sense of keeping the person in contact with elements (good or bad, ancestors, etc.) of the spiritual world.
It is important to mention that this definition is the result of a wide debate among anthropologists and other researchers in the human sciences. Another point is to clarify that there is no consensus among experts regarding the definition of shamanism. In this sense, there are numerous criticisms of this term among many scholars on the subject.
Who is the shaman?
Within shamanism, the shaman is the central figure of the ritual, since it is understood as who guides the contact with the spiritual world, being the receiver of the messages. This contact with the spiritual world allows the shaman to transmit messages, but he can also conduct healing rituals against evil spirits.
In between practices that can be performed by a shaman, they are:
Allowing his spirit to leave his body to have full contact with the spirit world.
Initiate the trance that allows him to maintain this contact with the spirit world.
Cause someone to reach the temporary trance stage.
Enabling contact with animal spirits and ancestors.
Performing divination rituals after having contact with the spirit world, etc.
This means that the shaman is the guide of the rituals and the only one who has control over contact with the spiritual world. In the context of the indigenous peoples of Brazil, the shaman corresponds à shaman figure, who maintains contact with the spirits and performs healing and divination.
The existence of the shaman in the shamanic practices of different peoples does not mean that all peoples with shamanic rituals need or have a shaman to conduct the ritual. Some indigenous peoples in Brazil, for example, perform their shamanic rituals without a shaman, and, in this case, the ritual is conducted jointly by the participants themselves. In these cases, the participants themselves have direct contact with the spiritual world, bringing the messages that come from it and operating the chants of the ritual.
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What is taken in shamanism?
We have seen that altering consciousness (trance) to reach the spirit world and maintain contact with the spirits of that plane is an essential feature of shamanism. The way this trance is achieved is different in each culture. Generally speaking, the use of entheogen it is quite common in shamanic rituals. Entheogens are the substances consumed to alter consciousness and a person's perception.
Between the substances that can be consumed in shamanic rituals, they are:
some types of mushrooms;
the cannabis;
the ayahuasca drink;
some types of cacti;
a kind of sage.
People who practice shamanism
Among the people who practice shamanism are:
inuit;
Mayans;
Mazatec;
huichós;
mapuche;
Aymaras;
dogon;
nguni;
Vikings (Norse of the Viking Age);
-
indigenous peoples of Brazil:
kaingang;
marubo;
parakanã.
Australian aborigines;
mongols.
Origin of the term shamanism
The word shamanism is the Portugueseization of shamanism, the word that defines these ancestral practices in the English language. This English term, in turn, derives from saman, a word originating from Tungusic languages (spoken by peoples inhabiting Siberia and nearby regions) and which is translated how to know".
the term saman it became quite common to refer to indigenous peoples of Siberia, such as the Evenki and Buryats. it is believed that he became popular in that regard during the 17th century. In the West, it became known through anthropologists who used the expression shamanism to refer to the ritual practices of Mongolian and Turkic peoples.
Sources
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ARAUJO, Carlos Eduardo de. shamanism today: dialogues with an archaic wisdom. Available in: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/bitstream/123456789/47219/1/Xamanismohojedialogos_Araujo_2022.pdf
UNICAP. shamanism. Available in: https://www1.unicap.br/observatorio2/?page_id=771
CESARINO, Pedro de Niemeyer. shamanism. Available in: https://pib.socioambiental.org/pt/Xamanismo
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SILVA, Sérgio Baptista da; Giumbelli, Emerson; Quintero, Pablo. Shamanism and its multiple manifestations and approaches. Available in: https://www.scielo.br/j/ha/a/q9PwyJwzVMDKbpCKd8xc8rr/?format=pdf&lang=pt
