What does shaman mean?

The word "Shaman" can also be transliterated as "Shaman Man" and "Tea Horse". This word comes from shamman, an Indian language in North America. The original word contains the meaning of "wise man, early knowledge, exploration, etc." Later, it gradually evolved into the proper term of shaman wizard, that is, the person who jumped into the gods, and was also understood as the agent and incarnation of shaman gods in these clans.

Shaman is called the intermediary between God and man. The biggest difference between them and other religious clergy is that they can use their personal bodies as a medium to transmit information between people and ghosts and gods.

As this medium, there are two main ways. One is to take the gods as the main body, and complete the invitation or temptation of the spiritual world to the gods through shaman's dancing, drumming and singing, so that the gods attach themselves to the shaman's body in the way of so-called' possession' and communicate with mortals through the shaman's body.

The second is to take shaman as the main body, and let the soul come out of the shell by dancing, drumming and singing, so that the shaman's soul can enter the earth in the spiritual world and communicate with the gods without the real world. The above mysterious ceremony is called "jumping to the gods" or "jumping to the shaman".

In the process of completing the mysterious ceremony, all shamans will appear coma, aphasia, delirium, extreme excitement and other physiological States. When such a physiological state appears, it is called "deification", "dissolution" or "communication", and it is called "shaman coma" or "shaman hypnosis" in academic field.

Shamans convey people's prayers and wishes to God in this way, and they can also convey God's will to people. Shaman's career pursuit is also to master the secrets and abilities of super-life forms through various spiritual ways, and obtaining these secrets and divine power is a kind of life practice content of shaman.

The origin of shamanism

Stone, like water, is the mother of the first life in the universe in myth. This original life is called the stone god, and the world was created by this original cosmic god.

As the source and support of fire, stone is regarded as the mother of the universe or a symbol of the vitality of the universe. Therefore, the concept of stone god is closely related to fire myth and fire belief.

In Manchu mythology, there is a goddess named Duo Kuanhuo. According to legend, there was this ancient goddess when heaven and earth were not divided. She lived in a stone and gave birth to the god of cosmic light and heat. Mother Abu Kahehe was tricked into the snow-capped mountain by the demon Yale. The huge snowdrift made her hungry, so she swallowed the stone under the snow-capped mountain and the goddess Dokujo in the stone.

The heat made Abu Kahehe fidgety and suddenly crashed out of the big snow mountain. The heat made Abu Kahehe's limbs melt, his eyes turned into the sun and the moon, his hair turned into a forest, and his sweat turned into a stream.

Stone myth emphasizes the cosmic significance of Shi Huo, that is, it is the earliest life form in the universe.

Stone god is also the earliest great god in the universe. It is the root of all things in the world and the cosmic god who created all things. This is also one of the diverse forms of shamanism's origin.

Some Manchu surnames regard stones as ancestors' idols, and stones represent the position of gods, or they are the hiding places of gods.

Fu Yuguanghe introduced in The Goddess of Shamanism that the Manchu surname Xu put three white pebbles in the sacred box of his ancestors. It is said that this stone was brought from the cave when the shaman moved south, and it has been enshrined for generations for more than 300 years. During the sacrifice, everyone kowtowed to the white pebble, and the shaman sang: "Mother-ancestor stone, mother-ancestor stone, Ming-ancestor stone, life-ancestor stone, the ancestor of mother-ancestor stone."

In folklore, stone is also the body of shaman's soul, and shaman nourishes and strengthens the soul with the help of the vitality of stone. Shaman costumes also have the custom of decorating sacred stones, which either nourish the shaman's soul, represent the gods, or protect themselves with sacred stones.