Shamanism & Spirits Necromancy is a form of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge, or to use the deceased as a weapon, as the term may sometimes be used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft. The word necromancy is adapted from Late Latin Early necromancy was related to – and most likely evolved from – shamanism, which calls upon spirits such as the ghosts of ancestors. Classical necromancers addressed the dead in a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning, comparable to the trance-state mutterings of shamans. Shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world. A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world, but several common beliefs are shared by all forms of shamanism. Common beliefs identified by Eliade (1972)[4] are the following: Spirits exist and they play important roles both in individual lives and in human society. The shaman can communicate with the spirit world. Spirits can be benevolent or malevolent. The shaman can treat sickness caused by malevolent spirits. The shaman can employ trance inducing techniques to incite visionary ecstasy and go on vision quests. The shamans spirit can leave the body to enter the supernatural world to search for answers. The shaman evokes animal images as spirit guides, omens, and message-bearers. The shaman can perform other varied forms of divination, scry, throw bones/runes, and sometimes foretell of future events. Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits which affect the lives of the living.Although the causes of disease lie in the spiritual realm, inspired by malicious spirits, both spiritual and physical methods are used to heal. Commonly, a shaman enters the body of the patient to confront the spiritual infirmity and heals by banishing the infectious spirit. Shamanic beliefs and practices have attracted the interest of scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, religious studies scholars and psychologists. Hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanisms. In the 20th century, many westerners involved in the counter-cultural movement adopted magico-religious practices influenced by indigenous shamanisms from across the world, creating the Neoshamanic movement There is no single agreed upon definition for the word shamanism among anthropologists. The English historian Ronald Hutton noted that by the dawn of the 21st century, there were four separate definitions of the term which appeared to be in use. The first of these uses the term to refer to anybody who contacts a spirit world while in an altered state of consciousness. The second definition limits the term to refer to those who contact a spirit world while in an altered state of consciousness at the behest of others. The third definition attempts to distinguish shamans from other magico-religious specialists who are believed to contact spirits, such as mediums, witch doctors, spiritual healers or prophets by claiming that they undertake some particular technique not used by the others. Problematically, scholars advocating the third view have failed to agree on what the defining technique should be. The fourth definition identified by Hutton uses shamanism to refer to the indigenous religions of Siberia and neighboring parts of Asianet News Photo 1 Shaman exorcising evil spirits occupying children, Buru. 1920.What is that behind the door ? :) Photo 2 Yupik shaman exorcising evil spirits from a sick boy, Nushagak, Alaska, 1890s. Nushagak, located on Nushagak Bay of the Bering Sea in southwest Alaska, is part of the territory of the Yupik, speakers of the Central Alaskan Yupik language by Carpenter, Frank G. (Frank George), 1855-1924, photographer, collector Photo 3 Russian postcard based on a photo taken in 1908 by S.I. Borisov, showing a female shaman, of probable Khakas ethnicity
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 15:13:31 +0000
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