What is a Shaman?

To the anthropologists, those who study the origins and characteristics of man, Shamanism is classed as "an archaic magico-religeous phenomenon in which the shaman is the master of ecstatic techniques". Shamen traditionally were members of the tribe who at times, filled the role of priest, magician, metaphysician and healer. They held knowledge of other worlds, of being and consciousness, and the cosmology of these regions. With this knowledge, they were able to serve as a bridge between the mundane and the spiritual states of existence. Typically they lived at the edge of society, mirroring their life on the edge of reality. Many were specialised having different abilities, the most common being healing, but others had control over fire, wind, magical flight or time.

It was their control over the techniques of ecstasy that truly marked them out, using trances to achieve states of being that allowed them to alter reality. There are three main types of ecstatic trance:

                                    i.  Shamanic Trance

                                    ii.  Prophetic Trance

                                    iii.  Mystical Trance

A Nganasan Shaman in Ceremonial Headdress
from the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia.