Editing Shamanism (section)

==Beliefs==
{{witchcraft sidebar|Related}}
[[File:OpenSpeaks-Bfw-Munaremo-Sukra Dhangdamajhi-Gobardhan Panda-Shamanism.webm|thumb|[[Bonda people|Bonda]] "disari" (shaman) Sukra Dhangdamajhi shares his shamanic practices in the [[Bonda language]]]]
There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world, but several common beliefs are shared by all forms of shamanism. Common beliefs identified by [[Mircea Eliade|Eliade]] (1972) are the following:<ref name = Eli72/>

* Spirits exist and they play important roles both in individual lives and in human society
* The shaman can communicate with the spirit world
* Spirits can be benevolent or malevolent
* The shaman can treat sickness caused by malevolent spirits
* The shaman can employ [[trance]]s inducing techniques to incite visionary ecstasy and go on [[vision quest]]s
* The shaman's spirit can leave the body to enter the [[supernatural]] world to search for answers
* The shaman evokes animal images as [[spirit guides]], [[omen]]s, and message-bearers
* The shaman can perform other varied forms of [[divination]], [[scry]], throw bones, and sometimes foretell of future events

Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits which affect the lives of the living.<ref name="Peru">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirasalak.com/Peru.html |title=Hell and Back |last=Salak |first=Kira |publisher=National Geographic Adventure }}</ref> Although the causes of disease lie in the spiritual realm, inspired by malicious spirits, both spiritual and physical methods are used to heal. Commonly, a shaman "enters the body" of the patient to confront the spiritual infirmity and heals by banishing the infectious spirit.

Many shamans have expert knowledge of medicinal plants native to their area, and an herbal treatment is often prescribed. In many places shamans learn directly from the plants, harnessing their effects and healing properties, after obtaining permission from the indwelling or patron spirits. In the Peruvian Amazon Basin, shamans and ''[[curandero]]s'' use medicine songs called ''[[icaro]]s'' to evoke spirits. Before a spirit can be summoned it must teach the shaman its song.<ref name="Peru" /> The use of [[totem]]ic items such as rocks with special powers and an [[Animism|animating spirit]] is common.

Belief in witchcraft and sorcery, known as ''[[brujería]]'' in Latin America, exists in many societies. Other societies assert all shamans have the power to both cure and kill. Those with shamanic knowledge usually enjoy great power and prestige in the community, but they may also be regarded suspiciously or fearfully as potentially harmful to others.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Whitehead|editor-first1=Neil L.|editor-last2=Wright|editor-first2=Robin|title=In Darkness and Secrecy: The Anthropology of Assault Sorcery and Witchcraft in Amazonia|date=2004|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham, NC|isbn=978-0-8223-3333-3|doi=10.1215/9780822385837|last1=Wilbert|first1=Johannes|last2=Vidal|first2=Silvia M.|s2cid=146752685}}</ref>

===Soul and spirit concepts===
{{See also|Soul dualism}}

;Soul
:[[Soul (spirit)|Soul]] can generally explain more, seemingly unassociated phenomena in shamanism:{{sfn|Merkur|1985|p=4}}{{sfn|Vitebsky|1996|pp=11–14, 107}}{{sfn|Hoppál|2005|pp=27, 30, 36}}

;Healing
:[[Healing]] may be based closely on the soul concepts of the belief system of the people served by the shaman.<ref name=sem-shamheal/> It may consist of the supposed retrieving the lost soul of the ill person.{{sfn|Hoppál|2005|p=27}}

;Scarcity of hunted game
:[[Scarcity]] of hunted game can be solved by "releasing" the souls of the animals from their hidden abodes. Besides that, many [[taboo]]s may prescribe the behavior of people towards game, so that the souls of the animals do not feel angry or hurt, or the pleased soul of the already killed prey can tell the other, still living animals, that they can allow themselves to be caught and killed.{{sfn|Kleivan|Sonne|1985|pp=7, 19–21}}<ref>Gabus, Jean: A karibu eszkimók. Gondolat Kiadó, Budapest, 1970. (Hungarian translation of the original: Vie et coutumes des Esquimaux Caribous, Libraire Payot Lausanne, 1944.) It describes the life of Caribou Eskimo groups.</ref>

;Spirits
:Spirits are invisible entities that only shamans can see. They are seen as persons that can assume a human or animal body.<ref name="Swancutt-2018">{{Cite book|title=Animism beyond the Soul: Ontology, Reflexivity, and the Making of Anthropological Knowledge|last1=Swancutt|first1=Katherine|last2=Mazard|first2=Mireille|date=2018|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-78533-865-6|location=New York|pages=102}}</ref> Some animals in their physical forms are also seen as spirits such as the case of the [[eagle]], [[snake]], [[jaguar]], and [[rat]].<ref name="Swancutt-2018" /> Beliefs related to spirits can explain many different phenomena.{{sfn|Hoppál|2007c|p=18}} For example, the importance of storytelling, or acting as a singer, can be understood better if the whole belief system is examined. A person who can memorize long texts or songs, and play an instrument, may be regarded as the beneficiary of contact with the spirits (e.g. [[Khanty]] people).{{sfn|Hoppál|2005|p=99}}