shamanism

Examples of shamanism in the following topics:

• Shang Religion

  • Shang religion was characterized by a combination of animism, shamanism, spiritual control of the world, divination, and respect and worship of dead ancestors, including through sacrifices.
  • Shang religion was characterized by a combination of animism, shamanism, spiritual control of the world, divination, and respect and worship of dead ancestors, including through sacrifice.

• Southwestern Culture

  • Many of the tribes that made up the Southwest Culture practiced animism and shamanism.
  • Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds.
  • Although at present there are a variety of contemporary cultural traditions that exist in the greater Southwest, many of these traditions still incorporate similar religious aspects that are found in animism and shamanism.

• Animism

  • Shamans, also sometimes called medicine men or women, serve as mediums between the physical world and the world of spirits.

• The Nazca

  • Much as in the contemporary Moche culture based in northwest Peru, shamans apparently used hallucinogenic drugs, such as extractions from the San Pedro cactus, to induce visions during ceremonies.
  • This plant, Echinopsis pachanoi, has hallucinogenic properties, which shamans of the Nazca culture utilized in ceremonies.

• Woodland Burial Mounds and Chiefdoms

  • Many works of art seemed to revolve around shamanic practices and the transformation of humans into animals -- particularly birds, wolves, bears, and deer.

• Process Art

  • Inspiring precedents for process art that are fundamentally related include: indigenous rites, shamanic and religious rituals, and also cultural forms such as sandpainting, sun dance, and tea ceremonies.

• Magic and Supernaturalism

  • In general, The term religion is reserved for an organized cult with a priesthood and dedicated sites of worship or sacrifice, while magic is prevalent in all societies, regardless of whether they have organized religion or more general systems of animism or shamanism.

• Animism

  • It is a belief, such as shamanism, polytheism, or monotheism, that is found in several religions.

• Religious Experience

  • Characteristic of the shaman, the goal of this type of experience is to leave one's body and experience transcendental realities.

• Tiwanaku and Wari

  • Some have been found holding severed heads, such as the figure on the Akapana which possibly a puma-shaman.