Hey all, just a quick question here. As part of my plot I need to know about traditional shaman lore - what do they actually believe? Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated!
Shaman isn't a religion. It is the word for a village holy man or magician. I recommend spending some time with google. You'll find plenty of material.
Cogito's right - Shaman isn't a religion. It's as much a religion as "Bishop" or "Imam" or "Monk" is. Shamanism, however, is a term used to describe several types of religious or spiritual belief systems, much like how Monotheism describes a religious/spiritual belief system where people believe there is one god. Thus, if you want to know what Shamanists actually believe, that'd be a bit of a difficult thing to answer - since it could mean the types of Shamanism found in a whole crapload of different cultures and peoples, ranging from the Lapps to the Eskimo to the Tibetans to random tribes in sub-Saharan Africa or the Amazon. As Cogito said, look up google (or even wikipedia) for some basic information. Just remember that Shamanism can refer to the religious/spiritual belief systems of many other cultures, not just one.
Siyo. Shamanism is relative to the culture from where he/she comes from. For example, Most Native American tribes (I'm 1/4 Cherokee, the rest Pictish/Viking/Scot and Italian), do not use that term, rather medicine man or woman. But, you will find some do use that term...however, it is by most NA considered a bogus term. Healers, Seeyors, Spiritual workers, but work within the their indigenous belief system. I am a "medicine woman", Paint Clan Cherokee, but in this culture, there can be many medicine woman and men, not just one person. A Spiritual leader, yes, but many medicine people. Paint Clan Cherokee are generally thespiritual folks of the tribe. The magick workers and healers. In Celtic Shamanism today, they draw from the more ancient Pagan religious traditions. There is indeed much info on the web- some legit, some is crapola!
That's true. New Age stuff, and even normal people in the West, often confuse different types of non-Western (or rather, even non-Christian) spiritual/religious systems and those who lead them, with each other. The spiritual leader from, say, the Apache, does not necessarily function the same as the Tupi in the Amazon or the Mongols in Central Asia or the pre-Christian Slavs. They might, perhaps, be very similar, but they are not necessarily the same, and oftentimes people of all different types - from New Age followers to nationalists and revisionists - will try to portray these different peoples and belief systems in ways they never were.
A few books come to mind: The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge The Hierophant Of 100th Street Shamans Through Time
A shaman's prime role is to mediate with the unseen forces of nature which can be described as ghosts, spirits, daemons or similar names. All healing, divining of the future, finding lost things, prediction etc is effected by mediation with the spirit world rather than through some 'power' of the individual. The shaman is chosen because of certain traits often spotted in childhood by the elder shamen. These might include visionary/prophetic dreams, pseudo epileptic tendencies, being struck by lightning, tendency to trance out etc etc Due to the strangeness of some shaman in some cultures they may have to live away from their tribe in a set apart dwelling or be part of the village, town or whatever. Drumming, dancing, chanting, seething, the use of hallucinogens and herbs, smokes, ritual tools like masks, rattles, feathers, fetish objects, dolls for example are often employed in rites. Supplication to spirits often involves offerings and pacts being formed in exchange for the magickal effects desired by the operating shaman. For real world shamanism a highly authoritative book is called Shamanism (Techniques of Ecstasy maybe...) anyway it is by Mercea (hope that is spelled right) Eliade as I recall.
A shaman's prime role is to mediate with the unseen forces of nature which can be described as ghosts, spirits, daemons or similar names. All healing, divining of the future, finding lost things, prediction etc is effected by mediation with the spirit world rather than through some 'power' of the individual. The shaman is chosen because of certain traits often spotted in childhood by the elder shamen. These might include visionary/prophetic dreams, pseudo epileptic tendencies, being struck by lightning, tendency to trance out etc etc Due to the strangeness of some shaman in some cultures they may have to live away from their tribe in a set apart dwelling or be part of the village, town or whatever. Drumming, dancing, chanting, seething, the use of hallucinogens and herbs, smokes, ritual tools like masks, rattles, feathers, fetish objects, dolls for example are often employed in rites. Supplication to spirits often involves offerings and pacts being formed in exchange for the magickal effects desired by the operating shaman. For real world shamanism a highly authoritative book is called Shamanism (Techniques of Ecstasy maybe...) anyway it is by Mercea (hope that is spelled right maybe Mercia) Eliade as I recall.
