concept

shaman

Also known as: shamans

Facts (24)

Sources

Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution frontiersin.org Frontiers 15 facts

claimShamans attained influential leadership positions through charisma, knowledgeability, social unification, healing competence, and the use of supernatural powers to cause harm, according to Winkelman (2010, 2021a).

accountWacław Sieroszewski observed that 'great' shamans among the Yakut people were distinct from 'middling' or 'mocking' shamans because they were motivated by the alleviation of the griefs of their fellow people rather than material gain, and they acted with genuine conviction and a willingness to sacrifice personal comfort.

referenceIn many instances of pre-modern human societies, only male shamans ingested psychedelics, according to Harner (1973).

referenceKrippner (2002) discusses conflicting perspectives on shamans and shamanism, presenting points and counterpoints.

claimShamans performed ritual and medicinal functions based on special knowledge and supernatural qualities, such as the alleged capacity to magically kill others, which generated fear.

referenceMichael Harner authored 'The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing', published by Harper & Row in 1980.

claimShamans act as performers who enact struggles with spiritual forces or magical flights to other realities, while also singing, dancing, and composing poetry.

claimShamans and similar leaders played significant roles in group decision-making and problem-solving contexts, including conflict mediation, intergroup mediation, and guiding hunting and group movement.

claimArtistic performance, often involving displays of superhuman abilities, is implicated in the leadership style of shamans, according to Singh (2017).

accountAmong the Aguaruna people, whose shamans use the psychedelic brew ayahuasca, a shaman may be suspected of and punished for sorcery if the results of a healing session are not forthcoming.

referenceStephen Hugh-Jones authored the chapter 'Shamans, prophets, priests and pastors' in the book 'Shamanism, History, and the State', edited by Thomas and Humphrey and published by the University of Michigan Press in 1996.

claimThe anthropological record indicates that while some shamans have abused their positions, others perform their functions without regard for material or political gain, according to Ripinsky-Naxon (1993).

claimNon-authoritarian, charismatic leaders such as shamans flourished in early human societies, specializing in palliating or preventing misfortune and providing prosocial services based on expertise in ritual and medicinal functions.

claimThe construction of the socio-cognitive niche in ancestral human populations involved the expansion of informal religious activities or 'wild traditions' that featured leaders with supernatural qualities, such as shamans, who ritually induced altered states of consciousness to provide healing and divination services.

claimShamans and leaders with supernatural abilities who used psychedelics utilized their knowledge to both provide benefits and impose costs on their communities.

the consumption of psychoactive plants in ancient global and ... academia.edu Academia.edu 4 facts

claimThe primary purposes for consuming psychoactive plants in religious rituals were spiritual healing, contacting spirits or ancestors, reaching enlightenment (Nirvana or Satori), becoming a master shaman, pagan, or witch, and accessing other realities.

claimThroughout human history, shamans and priests have used plants and fungi as sources to contact divine realms.

claimCultures historically utilizing psychoactive plants in religious rituals include shaman and pagan Tibetan cultures and various Nordic subcultures.

accountChemical analyses of organic residues from a 1,000-year-old ritual bundle recovered from the highland Andes provide evidence that pre-Columbian ritual specialists (shamans) used multiple psychoactive plants as part of a sophisticated botanical knowledge system.

Ancient Roots of Today's Emerging Renaissance in ... link.springer.com Springer 2 facts

accountIn 2008, archaeologists excavating a cave in the Sora River valley in southwestern Bolivia discovered a 1,000-year-old ritual bundle that belonged to a shaman of the pre-Inca Tiwanaku civilization.

accountThe Native American Church utilizes the peyote cactus, which contains the psychoactive alkaloid mescaline, in ritualistic prayer ceremonies facilitated by a shaman or 'Roadman' in a communal tepee.

Hallucinogenic Plants and Their Use in Traditional Societies culturalsurvival.org Cultural Survival Feb 19, 2010 1 fact

claimThe leader of an Amerindian hallucinogenic ceremony—referred to as a shaman, curandero, paye, maestro, or brujo—is responsible for providing ritual protection, ordering visual and auditory stimuli, interpreting beliefs, and balancing cosmic forces.

What Western medicine can learn from the ancient history of ... - BBC bbc.com BBC Sep 11, 2024 1 fact

claimThe term 'shaman' is a colonial concept, and some indigenous communities use a term that translates directly to 'the one who sings' to describe the practitioner who leads psychedelic ceremonies.

The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences - Frontiers frontiersin.org Frontiers Sep 27, 2017 1 fact

claimThe keywords associated with the article 'The Mechanisms of Psychedelic Visionary Experiences: Hypotheses from Evolutionary Psychology' are psychedelic, cognition, mysticism, shaman, consciousness, neurophenomenology, and mirror neuron system.