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Volume 3 Number 1 (Spring 1995)
Articles
V .N. BASILOV (Moscow): "Shamanic Disease"
in Uzbek Folk Beliefs
The Uzbeks believed that the shaman’s career began
with a special disease caused by the spirits. The case
study of an Uzbek woman, Achil, reveals that she was
haunted by spirits, went mad and, finally, on the advice
of a Muslim holy person (ishan), became a shamaness
(qushnach). Later she was visited several times and
instructed in divination and healing by a helping spirit
that appeared in the form of an old man. In Central
Asia the "shamanic disease" sometimes manifested
not as mental but as physical illness. Such ailments
might strike not only the shaman but also members of
his or her family. The nature of the "shamanic
disease" is determined by the traditions of the
given society and its culture.
Daniel A. Kister (Seoul): Dramatic Characteristic of
Korean Shaman Ritual
In Korean shaman rituals, worship and lively theater
become one to form a rich, sometimes sophisticated body
of drama. Rites dramatize a Spirit’s presence and power
by means of costumes, role-playing, and feats of wonder
that strengthen believers’ faith in a Spirit’s words
as proclaimed by the shaman. Many rites use role-playing
and humor that, with the believed aid of deceased ancestors,
provide family healing. Dramatically the richest rites
present theatrical symbols and comic scenes of daily
life in a way that draws believers and non-believers
alike into a typically Korean sense of the mystery,
complexity, and humor of human life.
TAKEFUSA SASAMORI (Hirosaki): The Use of Music in the
Ritual Practice of the Itako, a Japanese Shaman
Itako are able to go into a trance without taking narcotic
drugs or engaging in some strenuous physical exercise.
They do so simply through chanting sutras. Before going
on to describe the musical structure—the tonal system
and rhythm—of these sutras, the author clarifies the
notion of a trance, and what it would look like in practice.
This is to preclude unproductive arguments about whether
an itako is a shaman or not. The historical background
of the itako’s practices will also be described in brief,
as will the qualifications required for someone to become
an itako. The procedures and ascetic rites engaged in,
and the kinds of sutras and sacred ballads sung will
also be described. Then, taking a typical sutra, kuchi
yose (spirit talk), the text of the chants will be examined.
So will the manner of its performance, its function
for the itako, as well as its psychological effect on
the audience. Finally, the significance of the itako
for Japanese society will be addressed.
ZHONG JINWEN (Beijing): Shamanism in Yughur Folk Tales
Shamanism, an archaic religion, represents a traditional
way of thinking that pervades Yughur (Yellow Uyghur)
folklore. It has also deeply influenced the history
of Yughur culture. Based partly on Yughur folk tales
published in Chinese translation and partly on his own
fieldwork, the author discusses shamanic elements that
occur in Yughur folk beliefs.
Field Reports
T. D. BULGAKOVA (St. Petersburg): An Archaic Rite in
Nanai Shaman Ceremonies
Book Reviews
KURT DERUNGS. Struktur des Zaubermärchens I. Methologie
und Analyse. (by Sabine Wienker-Piepho)
MIHÁLY HOPPÁL. Sámánok: Lelkek és jelképek (Shamans:
Souls and Symbols) (by Felicitas D. Goodman)
News and Notes
LAUREL KENDALL (New York) and NANCY LUTKEHAUS (Los
Angeles): Shamans and Cameras: A Review of the Symposium
and Screenings held at the Margaret Mead Film an Video
Festival. American Museum of Natural History, October
12-18, 1994.
Volume 3 Number 2 (Autumn 1995)
Articles
ÁGNES BIRTALAN (Budapest): Some Animal Representations
in Mongolian Shaman Invocations and Folklore
Wolf, dog, crow, snake, deer, owl, swan, eagle and
raven are some of the most important animals to feature
as totemic ancestors in Turkic, Mongolian and Manchu-Tunguz
oral tradition and written sources. The study, based
in part on shamanic invocations and shamanic folklore
collected by the author in Western and Northern Mongolia
recently, discusses the animal references characteristically
found in Inner Asian mythology. Totem animals such as
wolves and deer, we learn, function as mounts for the
shaman, while dogs and ravens are the shaman’s helping
spirits. Possible connections between among the different
functions of the animals are also discussed.
GREGORY G. MASKARINEC (Honolulu): The Origins of Order.
A Set of Nepalese Shaman Recitals
Continuing a series of Nepalese shaman oral texts and
translations, this article presents a set of three short
texts recited in public over critically ill patients.
The first is used to treat adult males, detailing the
creation of the first human being and narrating both
the origins of the planets and of healing rituals. The
text used to treat women introduces their (separate)
origin and outlines their proper behavior, while the
recital over seriously ill children introduces the eldest
ritual specialists. Together the three texts constitute
a concise introduction to the most important features
of the world of Nepalese shamans.
MICHAEL PERRIN (Paris): Intellectual Coherence and
Constraining Fuction of Shamanism
The author engages in a "systematic" approach
to shamanism, which is a set of ideas justifying a set
of acts. It entails a specific representation of the
person and the world and requires a particular type
of alliance between men and "gods". Lastly,
it is constrained by a function, which is to prevent
imbalance and to avert or remedy misfortune. This brief
"description" implies several logical consequences,
which give rise to as many ethnographical issues. It
can also help to make a distinction between shamanism
and the other great magico-religious systems (possession,
mediumism, sorcery, etc.), and to resolve the problem
of the limits of and the relationships between these
systems in time and space.
Field Reports
ROMANO MASTROMATTEI (Rome): A Shamanic Séance Conducted
by a Woman in Nepal
Discussions
ROY ANDREW MILLER (Sulzburg) and NELLY NAUMANN (Baden):
Reviewing a Review
Book Reviews
N. A. ALEKSEEV. Schamanismus der Türken Sibiriens (by
Catherine Uray-Köhalmi)
TAE-GON KIM and MIHÁLY HOPPÁL (eds.) Shamanism in Performing
Arts. MIHÁLY HOPPÁL and KEITH D. HOWARD (eds.) Shamans
and Cultures (by László Kürti)
E. S. NOVIK. Ritual und Folklore im sibirischen Schamanismus.
(by Catherine Uray-Köhalmi)
A. V. SMOLYAK. Shaman: lichnost', funktsii, mirovozzreniye
(narodi nizhnego Amura). (by Catherine Uray-Köhalmi)
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