New age: Details about 'Shamanism'
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Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose and cure human suffering and, in some societies, the ability to cause suffering. This is accomplished by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. Shamans have been credited with the ability to control the weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams, astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds. Shamanistic traditions have existed throughout the world since prehistoric times. Some anthropologists, such as Christine VanPool, define a shaman as an intermediary between the natural and spiritual world, who travels between worlds in a trance state. Once in the spirit world, the shaman would commune with the spirits for assistance in healing, hunting or weather management. Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits that affect the lives of the living. In contrast to animism and animatism, which any and usually all members of a society practice, shamanism requires specialized knowledge or abilities. It could be said that shamans are the experts employed by animists or animist communities. Shamans are not, however, often organized into full-time ritual or spiritual associations, as are priests. It is questionnable whether there was an -ism called "Shamanism" until such a thing was invented in the West out of the diverse practices of indigenous people in particular locations worldwide.
EtymologyShaman originally refered to the traditional healers of Northern Asia (Siberia) and Mongolia, a "shaman" being the Tungus word for such a practitioner and literallyamp;isbn=041530203X" >ISBN 041530203X Schamanismus Ŝamanismo Chamanismo Šamanismi Chamanisme שמאניזם シャーマニズム Sjamanisme Sjamanisme Szamanizm Xamanismo Шаманизм Schamanism Şamanizm 萨满教
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