Which brother introduced Shamanism?

Shamanism is a traditional belief and practice involving the ability of diagnosis and treatment, which sometimes causes people's pain because of its special relationship with the soul or its control over the soul. Shamans were once thought to have the ability to control the weather, predict, interpret dreams, astrology and go to heaven or hell. Shamanism tradition began in prehistoric times and spread all over the world.

Existence foundation and history

Shamanism presupposes that the visible world is full of invisible forces or souls that affect the life of organisms. Different from any other animism or animism (usually believed by all members of society), becoming a shaman requires professional knowledge and ability. But shamans do not form full-time rituals or spiritual organizations like priests.

Shamans come from Manchu and other Tungusic languages. There are different opinions about the origin of this word in academic circles. Some scholars believe that "shaman" comes from sramana“Saman "in Sanskrit, which may be borrowed from Tungusic language through Chinese, while others think that this word is the original word of Tungusic language family and has the same root as the verb sa-mbi" know ". Buddhism became popular among shamanism-believing ethnic groups such as Tibetans, Mongolians and Manchus after14th century. The combination of shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism was institutionalized as the state religion of China in the Yuan and Qing Dynasties. Although shamanism almost disappeared in the century after the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty by the Republic of China, you can still find the temple (Kunning Palace) where the royal family worships shamanism and holds ceremonies in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Shamanism is considered to have appeared before any organized religion, and obviously can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. Shamanism's later encounter with organized religion was basically caused by its mysterious and symbolic ceremony. There are Medea influenced by Shamanism in Greek mythology, which is reflected in fairy tales such as Dan Daros, Prometheus, Mitiga, Calypso mythology, and the mystery of eloise, suggesting that spiritual enlightenment can be achieved with hallucinogenic substances.

Practical form

In some societies, the shaman's power is considered to be inherited from other shamans who are "evoking souls": the behavior of Siberian shaman may be described as a psychopath by western doctors, but it is interpreted as a soul possession by Siberian culture, and the shaman is endowed with dreams by South American aborigines and Tapilape. In other societies, shamans have found their lifelong career: primitive people seek religious groups that can communicate with their souls for "prospect consultation", and South American indigenous Shuar people pursue the power to defend their homes against the enemy, thus training themselves into highly accomplished shamans.

Shamans can communicate with souls to treat people who are deeply hurt by magic: some societies distinguish between shamans who can cure diseases and wizards who harm people (white shamans and black shamans); Others believe that all shamans have the power to heal and hurt people; In other words, shamans are also considered to have the ability to hurt people in some societies. Shamans usually enjoy great power and prestige in society, but they may also be suspected of hurting others and causing fear. Shamans are mostly men, but in some societies, women can also become shamans (in ancient Norwegian culture, as mentioned above, only women can become shamans, and it is considered indecent for men to become shamans).

Because the word comes from a specific place and nationality, not all traditional nationalities agree to use "shaman" as a generic term. In old English, it appeared in the form of "witch doctor"-a highly generalized term, which embodies two modeled characteristics of shaman: magical knowledge and other knowledge; Ability to handle and change situations.

Shamanism continues to spread all over the world, not only in rural areas, but also in cities, towns, suburbs and shanty towns, whether in permafrost or jungles and deserts.