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Example Of A Shaman Research Paper

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Another vital role in numerous tribes is the shaman, which “...offer themselves as mystical intermediaries between the human community and the spirits…” (Fisher, 47). The shaman does this in order to help provide various needs for his community. Needs can range from helping the ill or planting or hunting enough food. Shaman of the indigenous people believe that issues in the world are due to “... an imbalance between that person and the natural way” (Wahls, 1). In the textbook, “Living Religions”, it states that shamans are “able to enter alternate realities, moving in and out of time and space that is different from ordinary time and space” (Fisher, 50). To obtain this power, a shaman can be passed down by family or born with a natural gift. No matter what the work a person has to put into it will be excruciating. To gain that power, a shaman “...must experience physical death and rebirth…[or] undergo rituals of purification” (Fisher, 51). A shaman must be strong to be able to endure difficulties for the interest of the tribe. Similar to the wide range of shamans around the world, there are mediums. Like the shaman, mediums go through a type of possession by a spirit, which is rarely remembered. Some of the actions the mediums do while possessed …show more content…
This person is called a medicine man or people. Part of their job is to use a variety of techniques to heal the ill or dying in their society. One form of treatment is the physical, which results in “...therapeutic herbs, sweat-bathing, massage, cauterization, and sucking out toxins” (Fisher, 50). Although these steps are taken, the medicine man would make sure to treat the body and soul. The spiritual cleanse is done by “...Prayer, chanting, and ceremonies…” (Fisher, 50). With the help of herbs and spirits a medicine man can suck of negative energy causing a person

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