Shamanism (redirected from Medicine (shamanism))

shamanism

1. the religion of certain peoples of northern Asia, based on the belief that the world is pervaded by good and evil spirits who can be influenced or controlled only by the shamans

2. any similar religion involving forms of spiritualism
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Shamanism 

an early form of religion among most peoples.

Originating in the period of the primitive communal system, shamanism was based on faith in the shaman’s communication with spirits, which occurred when the shaman was in a state of kamlanie (ritual ecstasy). The forms of kamlanie, the concept of the spirits, and the shaman’s degree of specialization differed among different peoples. Some peoples retained vestiges of shamanism even under the conditions of class society.

Shamanism acquired complex forms among such Siberian peoples as the Tuvinians, Evenki, and Yakuts. The Siberian shamans dressed in special costumes, and their kamlanie, which involved the playing of tambourines, included frenzied dances and the use of hypnosis, ventriloquy, and various tricks. In kamlanie the shaman enacted a trip to the world of the spirits (sometimes on a “horse” or “deer,” represented by the tambourine) and a struggle against the spirits. Professional shamans were nervous, easily excited people who were able to put themselves into a state of ecstasy or hallucination that became a self-regulated hysterical fit.

Among some peoples of Asia, Africa, Central America, and Polynesia, shamanism coexisted with other forms of religion. Vestiges of shamanism are retained in many later religious systems; examples include the radenie (prayer accompanied by dance) of the Khlysty and the dhikr ritual of the dervishes in Islam. Among the peoples of the USSR, shamanism has almost completely disappeared.

REFERENCES

Mikhailovskii, V. M. Shamanstvo, fasc. 1. Moscow, 1892.
Popov, A. A. Materialy dlia bibliografii russkoi literatury po izucheniiu shamanstvo severoaziatskikh narodov. Leningrad, 1932.
Shternberg, L. Ia. Pervobytnaia religiia v svete etnografii. Leningrad, 1936.
Anisimov, A. F. Religiia evenkov. Moscow-Leningrad, 1958.
Tokarev, S. A. Rannie formy religii i ikh razvitie. Moscow, 1964.
Vainshtein, S. I. Tuvinskoe shamanstvo. Moscow, 1964.
Paulson, I., A. Hultkrantz, and K. Jettmar. Die Religionen Nordeurasiens und der amerikanischen Arktis. Stuttgart, 1962.
Eliade, M. Schamanismus und archaische Ekstasetechnik. Zürich-Stuttgart, 1957.
Popular Beliefs and Folklore Tradition in Siberia. Bloomington, Ind., 1968.

S. I. VAINSHTEIN