The History Of Shamanism Theology Religion Essay

The History Of Shamanism Theology Religion studyShamanism is a huge factor in c mislay to traditionalistic religions, some of which include the Afri bottomlands, autochthonic Ameri dejections, more fictitious characters of Asia, as intimately as other cultures. Although the definition of a shaman differs from aceness and only(a) division to the next, the general dictionary definition of a shaman is A appendage of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the app arnt world and an invisible whole step world and who practices magic or black art for purposes of healing, divination, and control all everyplace natural unconstipatedts. The term shaman originated in the Mongolian and Turkish atomic number 18a and is translated literally as champion who knows which connects to their knowledge of the shipway to manipulate animate and magic. With Shamanism universe complicated in so many antithetic cultures, its difficult to give it just one definition, so in this paper I will go through a few of the cultures and explain their particularised definition of shamanism and the different aspects involved in African traditional religions.African Shamanism there atomic number 18 many different aspects to African shamanism. The main definition of shamanism in Africa has a legal connotation and usually involves manipulation of spirits or earthly substances to heal, direct, or do beneficial lap up for others. around of the specific names of these shamans are rainmakers or heaven herders, herbalists or medicate men, and diviners. non all race intent their sources for good whole kit, and when a shaman begins exploitation his or her techniques for wrong doings, they so acquire the name of be intrigue or sorcerer. Such is the case in most other cultures as tumesce.There are two distinctive traditional religions in Africa-Zulu and Yoruba. They bem work many similarities as well as differences. The Zulu stick mostly to the hills bec ause of their geographical location, and in work on consider hills to energise spiritual significance. Because hills nurse such(prenominal) special meaning, the Zulu build their towns, or kraals, on the hillsides in a circular ecesis with the gates facing east (do to significance of the sun), the herd in the concentrate of the kraal, and the headman, known as the umnumzane, is on the west side of the kraal. The umnumzane has a rush of influence on the tribe. He holds the political, social and spiritual leader roles over the whole tribe, and is often a diviner.The headman of each Zulu kraal is the chief formalized of the village and likewise that psyche most directly responsible for the exercise of the ritual acts expected of all Zulu, especially those that address the ancestors.1Besides resolving disputes or making decisions within his kraal, one of the umnumzanes main roles is conflict with the ancestors. He will perform all the rituals and such topics to please the ancestors for e reallyone within his kraal. The ancestors feed a huge part in Zulu beliefs and so the role of the umnumzane is very important. The mint want to keep the ancestors happy so that they will touch on to have good fortune in their lives. According to most African traditional religions, the ancestors do not cause misfortune, but other commonwealth do.The authority transcription is quite similar in the Yoruba tribes. Their political, social and religious leader is one and the same, but rather than having a settlement on a hillside where the rituals involve all of the community under one leader, the religious obligations are put on the head of the family, or the olori ebi, and that soulfulness does the communication with the ancestors, and keeps them happy and such. Each family has its own shrine. The community still gets unitedly as a whole to perform religious ceremonies, but it is more cerebrate on the family.Divination is apply to determine solutions to proble ms, to depict reasons of misfortune, or even to predict the future. In the Zulu culture, diviners must be called by federal agency of a dream or vision that is followed by aches, pains, or other bodied dysfunctions. Anyone can become a diviner, although typically women occupy the position. Once called, the person will need to be trained by an experient diviner. The Yoruba are a bit different with their diviner. They have a priestlike cast, and one part of the caste called the Orunmila specifically use divination practices to contact one particular god for answers. Like the Zulu though, the one that will become a diviner will go through extensive training from an experienced diviner.Diviners in both circumstances have many mover of doing their work. They can use elements such as water, fire, bones, sticks, etc. to find their answers, and with these objects, they have created means of interpreting the signs from each. In some circumstances, the diviners will allow themselves to b e in a trance that allows them to communicate with the spirits, or even be feature by the spirits in order to find the answers for their clients, but typically the diviners are the ones manipulating the spirits and getting their knowledge rather than being utilize by the spirits. Once commonwealth have determined what their problem is from the diviner, they then go to a herbalist for a remedy. Herbalists could easily be translated to doctors and dish the same role in both the Zulu and Yoruba. They were trained to know well which herbs or remedies worked for the different circumstances. Part of the traditional religions is that spirits live in many of the nature elements, and so herbalists utilize this theology in their works as well. They would use certain plants or locations because of the spiritual elements involved, and would manipulate the spirits in such a way to cure their client. Whereas most diviners are women, most herbalists are men. Knowledge of care for is usually handed pour down from father to son.2Along with the fouled on knowledge, herbalists were of all time open to new information. This includes earthy information, as well as spiritual insights.Another form of spirit manipulation in the Zulu is the izinyanga ezulu, or heaven herders. Heaven herders are everlastingly men, and have to be called in some way by the thumb God. Their job is to control where storms and such go. They are said to be disciples of the riff God, as well as a medium between the people and the Sky God. With cattle and agriculture being a huge part of the Zulu culture, it makes sense that the sky is handled as cattle are, and that the weather needs to be controlled for the sake of those who own raise crops to feed the people. The Yoruba hold no such position, although they do also worship a similar god with their priestly cast.They (diviners) are not the only supernaturally inspired helpers people turn to for advice. Many consuld mediums who communicate with spi rits while in a trance. Some may be possessed only once or double in their lifetime, but others claim to be in regular contact with one or more familiars that they can identify by name.3The Yoruba called these people elegun. Among the Zulu, only the diviner could do such, but the with the Yoruba, anyone could be used as a medium they did not need to be a diviner.The Yoruba also have people that are called the egungun. The egungun are masked dancers that perform for the ancestors. They have special masks that are connected spiritually to the ancestors and are said to have great antecedent. Only men are allowed to be egungun, with the exception of one woman, who is the director or dresser. One has to earn the title of egungun by outlet through a certain process.While most of those positions are very open to the public and or the good of the community, some people profane their abilities. Such people are called enamores or sorcerers. Since the peoples believe that the spirits do no t cause any harm, all bad things are suppositiously a result from witches and sorcerers. According to the Zulu, someone could be a witch without realizing it. Their very presence would bring misfortune to those around them. In most cases though, in both the Zulu and the Yoruba, the witches are shaman that use their talents for evil. They twist the system from using their powers mischievously. They work secretively, and usually only at nights.Although trying to recount between witches and sorcerers is difficult, there are a few small means of differing them. Sorcerers tend to work alone where as witches will gather together at night and work as a team. Another supposed trait of sorcerers is the ability to shape-shift. There one story of sorcerer luring a woman to fall in love with him. He offered to marry her, and on their trip back to his village the stopped for the night. During the night he change into a lion in order to eat her. Luckily for her, her crony did not trust the ma n and followed them, and proceeded to protect his sister from being eaten. opposite stories tell of sorcerers taking on the form of an owl for means of escaping their residence silently and unknowingly. Another supposed trait of sorcerers is their ability to use the undead. They can kill a person using their black magic, and then use the persons dead body for their own use.Witches are most often envisioned as using voodoo, charms and curses. Voodoo involves acquiring a part of someone, such as a hair, nail, or something of the sort, and it is added to a certain object that the witch makes. The part of the person connects them to the witches object, and the witch is able to toy with the person in this way. Charms could be an object that has been chanted over and charged with magic. A charm could be a piece of paper with a chant indite on it that could be worn, or a charm could simply be a chant itself used in moments of needed protection or other. Most often, people would get cha rms to protect themselves from witches curses. The last main thing that witches use is curses. Curses, hexes, spells, or whatever you may call them, have been a worry of average people for longer than history can tell. oft it is a chant said with emotion over a person to bring misfortune on them. They can be spoken in an unknown language, which is said to have more impact on the target. immanent American ShamanismNative American shamanism is similar in a lot of ways, as well as different in a lot of ways. Shamans are viewed in a good way, where their work is for the better of the community. Each nation had spiritual leaders and healers each one had different beliefs of what practices were done. The Lakota believed that their spiritual leaders were in constant communication with Wakan Tanka or The Great Spirit. Their role was to seek spiritual enlightenment and secure the tribes good graces with the spirit world. They were healers of the mind and body.4They have healers-which is the same idea as herbalists-diviners, and mediators, as well as witchcraft. Native Americans have strong ties with creatures though.To the Native Americans, the medicine men are not so much magical in their works, but they are knowledgeable people who have a greater understanding and like to think. Their natural abilities make them suitable to be medicine men. Medicine men more frequently appeared in tribes that were able to be open and exchange thoughts and knowledge with other tribes. Most often fathers would pass down knowledge to their sons and so the title stayed within the family that way.The Native American divination practices differed from that of the Africans. They often used stars, and things of nature to determine the answers that were sought. Sometimes they would use a pipe, and the answers would come through their opened mind from the smoke. They still used divination in the same way as the Africans, so use the spirits to find answers for their clients.Witchcraft, althou gh not the technical title, in the Native American tribes had a much different feel though. Rather than voodoo and curses, the Native American bad shamans worked with charms and beasts. The charms again were certain made objects that had been charged with power, and were used to protect the person from evil and misfortune.The Native Americans had an interesting relationship with animals. A power animal protects you physically and provides you with emotional support, wisdom, and vital energy. Some people think a power animal is a spirit being that stays with you because it cares for you and enjoys being able to experience life in a physical body. Others think a power animal is a image for ones subconscious wisdom. Almost everybody has a power animal some have several. (Perhaps you had an invisible animal friend as a child or have always been fascinated with a particular kind of animal. This animal may be your power animal.) A person may in the course of life lose contact with the p ower animal, thereby losing the animals protection, wisdom, and energy. If you lose contact with your power animal, you may feel dispirited, you may become gag easily, or you may be accident-prone. The shamanic healing technique of power animal retrieval can restore a persons connection to a power animal. A person can also journey to find his or her own power animal.5With this emphasis on animals, often the bad shamans could be connected shape-shifters that caused issues.The main evil in Native American beliefs was evil spirits. With a belief in the ancestor spirits and animism, the Native Americans had to always keep all the spirits happy, and misfortune was often cause by spirits, thus the need for protective charms and overlapd power of animal spirits. end pointDespite having minimal contact between these 2 cultures, it is surprising that they share such similar roles. On the other hand, this shows the nature of humans over all with paranoia of spirits and bad luck, as well as the observe for ancestors. Shamanism is a big part of both cultures, and has many different aspects to it.