The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft

Chapter 6: Religious Specialists 

Chapter Summary

Take a Shaman’s Journey Activity

Below is a general outline of the ordinary steps that a shaman would take to make an extraordinary journey to another realm – either to the Upper World or the Lower World. Each box has choices for your journey, but you must take Steps for the Journey in the correct order! Choose and order the following steps so that you can journey:

Step 5: contact 
Step 6: interaction 
Step 2: choosing a vehicle for an altered state 
Step 7: gratitude 
Step 8: return 
Step 1: setting up for the journey 
Step 4: traveling 
Step 3: beginning to travel 
  • begins to look for a spirit helper in the Upper World
  • starts looking for a spirit animal in the Lower World 
  • begins to travel back the same way he arrived 
  • begins to return along the route she took to get there
  • turns around and begins traveling back to the Middle World 
  • feels the air touching her skin 
  • feels the deep, cold water moving along his skin 
  • senses the dampness of the clouds as they pass by 
  • speaks with the spirit helper and asks for guidance 
  • interacts with the spirit animal and asks for an answer 
  • picks up a drum and begins a slow steady beat
  • braces himself and his assistant blows a substance up his nostrils 
  • begins to chant and dance with rhythmic steps 
  • puts a small piece of an hallucinogenic plant into her mouth and chews 
thanks the spirit for helping 
  • seeks a ladder to climb higher 
  • searches for a deep well in the earth to enter 
  • jumps into the canyon to travel downward 
  • climbs onto a high roof and then steps into the clouds 
  • sits apart from the client 
  • closes her eyes 
  • lowers his head and begins to focus 

Multiple Choice Questions 

In which cultural group did priests routinely predict astronomical events in order to control power?

Priests are found primarily in societies with each of the following characteristics except:

Which of the following is not a contemporary Zuni priesthood cult?

The major different between shamanism and neoshamanism is that:

Why is the primary reason that shamans journey (or travel)?

Case Studies 

Ch. 6 Video Case Study Activity on Religious Specialists 

View the clip at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=penw3SfVcEU (5 minutes) 

  • What specific actions does the shaman take to provoke an altered state of consciousness so that he can journey/travel? (Hint: there are at least three) 
  • What does the shaman do to show the audience that he is not going to engage in any sleight of hand or trickery? 
  • What happens in this healing? What do you observe? 
  • How does the client react to the healing immediately afterward and then later, upon reflection? 

Study Questions

  1. Religious specialists in U.S. society are often distinguished by a particular mode of dress, grooming, and general behavior. Some specialists are subject to special rules, such as celibacy in Catholicism. What is the function of setting religious specialists apart from other members of the community? How does this help the individual in his or her function as a religious specialist?  
  1. Contrast shamans and priests. What are the primary differences between shamans and priests? How might communities interact differently with each of them? How would relationships they have with their clients or congregants be different? 
  1. Shamanism is rapidly growing in urban areas such as Korea. What do you think this is due to? What does shamanism offer that is different from that of more traditional mainline religious traditions? 
  1. How is neoshamanism different from classic shamanism? Do you think the practice of neoshamanism is an example of cultural appropriation? Why or why not? 

Suggested Readings 

Black Elk Nicholas (as told through John G. Neihardt). Black Elk Speaks. Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux. Annotated by Raymond J. DeMallie (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2008). Lakota holy man and shaman relates his life story and power visions at the turn of the twentieth century. 

Buecher, Frederick. The Sacred Journey: A Memoir of Early Days (San Francisco: HarperOne, 1991). Autobiography of Buechner’s childhood, finding Christ, and becoming a minister. 

Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Rolling Stone (New York: Vintage Books, 2007). An examination of the personality and the prophetic revelations of the founder of the Latter Day Saints. 

Deloria, Jr., Vine. The World We Used to Live In. Remembering the Powers of the Medicine Men (Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2006). Lakota theologian, historian, and attorney examines historical accounts to reveal the powers of North American medicine men. 

Harner, Michael. The Way of the Shaman. (NY: HarperOne, 1990). This is a resource and reference guide on shamanism and its revival in the West. 

Hoffmeier, James K. The Prophets of Israel. Walking the Ancient Paths (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2021). An Old Testament scholar and archaeologist explores biblical prophets in the Holy Lands. 

Larson, Stephen. The Shaman’s Doorway. Opening Imagination to Power and Myth (Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press, 1988). A noted psychotherapist relates how the shaman’s visions have relevance to the contemporary world. 

Merton, Thomas. The Seven Story Mountain: Fiftieth-Anniversary Edition (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998). Merton discusses his early doubts, his conversion to Catholicism, and his decision to take life vows as a Trappist monk. 

Nelson, John K. A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996). Includes description of the role of Shinto priests and the story of how several men became priests.   

Suggested Websites  

https://www.shamanism.org/ (Foundation for Shamanic Studies) 

https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/old-gods-new-times-a-shaman-ritual-in-south-korea/ (Korean shamanism) 

https://catholicworldmission.org/how-to-become-a-priest/ (steps on how to become a Catholic priest 

http://www.ashiwi.org/AshiwiAwanMessenger.html (official Zuni Pueblo tribal newsletter) 

https://www.monastiriaka.gr/en/inside-mount-athos-w-65643.html (Official Website of Mt. Athos) 

https://www.orthodoxmuskegon.church/iconography-project/the-meaning-of-icons (Iconography Project – the meaning of icons) 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/priesthood (Encyclopedia Britanica: Priesthood: definition, types, significance, and facts) 

https://www.alim.org/history/prophet-stories/ (Stories of the Prophets: Islamic History – brief, informative biographies for important Islamic prophets) 

https://overviewbible.com/prophets/ (The Beginners Guide to Prophets of the Bible – definitions of prophet and prophecy, plus an overview of biblical prophets) 

Suggested Video 

The Shaman’s Apprentice (Mark Plotkin, Bullfrog Films, 2001) – stunningly filmed in the Amazonian jungles of Surinam, Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin demonstrates the importance of Indigenous knowledge that is threatened by extinction along with the rainforest 

Mark Plotkin: What the People of the Amazon Know that You Don’t – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XJ20tt5nPQ – Plotkin discusses the plight of isolated and uncontacted Indigenous peoples in the Amazon 

From the Archives: Bob Simon Visits Mt Athos – https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/euRhNjMYgf7fw6ocOrjgHLoFWTUBLcdQ/ – (60 Minutes, 2011) – special access/film/history of the life of the monks on Mt Athos; extraordinary photography and interviews 

Mayan Astronomy – https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/where-did-it-come-from-the-ancient-maya-astronomy-video (History Channel, 2012) – use with NMAI Teacher Webinar – Maya Astronomy and Mathematics, Yesterday and Today – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmnWUyl_LjY – together these are an introduction to the Maya mathematical system and show the importance of prediction in Maya historical cultures  

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