Shamanism: Archaic Techniques Of Ecstasy

Running head: ELIADE CRTICIAL RESPONSE Anthony Bruno #301147496 Submitted to: Dr. Antone Minard In chapter six of his book Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy Mircea Eliade focuses on the distinction between shaman and priest. Eliade notes that while shamans play a central role in their societies there are important limits to their influence and power (1964, 181). In many tribes the shaman has no role in the frequent sacrifices to various tribal gods and among the Altai the shaman is not invited to birth, marriage, or death ceremonies unless something has gone awry (Eliade, 181, 1964). When threats involving the human soul arise it is then that the shaman becomes indispensable; unlike a priest a shaman combines the

White shamans are generally believed to intercede with benevolent gods while black shamans intercede with evil spirits and mixed shamans can intercede with both (Eliade, 1964, 185). Among the Buryat white shamans wear white clothing and intercede with the white Khans of heaven while black shamans wear blue clothing and intercede with the black Khans of the underworld (Eliade, 1964, 185). Black shamans are disliked but necessary as only they can negotiate with the black Khans who cause illness and misfortune (Eliade, 1964, 185). Buryat cosmology holds that the first shamans were white and only later did black shamans arise, this suggests that the division of shamans into different groups was a later phenomenon (Eliade, 1964, 186). Eliade is careful to note that other tribes also divide shamans into dual groupings but the notion of good and evil gods and spirits is often more ambiguous than it is in Buryat cosmology (1964,

Typically the gods above are offered black sacrificial animals while the spirits below are offered white animals, this may be because in the spirit world everything is inverted so a black bull will become white and a white bull black. Mixed shamans appear to be common in many tribes which also supports Eliade’s assertion that the division between white and black shamans is a relatively recent phenomenon. Among the Altai women do not make the journey to the sky so they are only allowed to be black shamans (Eliade, 1984, 189). This might suggest that the emergence of black shamans was in part linked to women seeking to wield spiritual power in their own right. Eliade notes that nearly all shamanic rituals involve rhythmic drumming which aids in inducing an ecstatic trance and a birch tree which functions as an axis mundi that allows a shaman’s soul to journey to the otherworld (1964, 194). Bird imagery is a recurring feature in shamanic rituals as it is believed that they fly the shaman’s soul to and from the otherworld (Eliade, 1964,