Masters of Ecstasy

A brief introduction to shamanism

Sparing a boatride down the rivers of the Amazon rainforest, a trek across the tundras of Northern Siberia, or a huddle at the campsites of the Cherokee Nation, most of us won’t be meeting a shaman anytime soon. But thanks to the comprehensive descriptions given to us by Micrea Eliade, one of the most prominent religion scholars of the 20th century, we can nonetheless learn a great deal about this striking and elusive figure.

Who is the shaman, and what are the major themes of their work? Let’s take a plunge into the world of this profession — which, alongside hunter and midwife, may very well constitute humankind’s most ancient.

The shamanic gift

The word shaman comes to us from an Eastern Siberian language, where it derives either from the root to know or from a Sanskrit borrowing which means monk. Either way, this etymology emphasizes the role of the shaman as a possessor of religious knowledge: a person of great spiritual wisdom.

But it would be narrow-sighted to conclude that the shaman is therefore their community’s foremost religious authority. In fact, the shaman typically inhabits only the margins of their community’s mythico-religious life. Standard religious practices are performed by priests; spiritual ceremonies are the domain of…