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132-637: Seeresses were an expression of the pre-Christian shamanic traditions of Europe, and they held an authoritative position in Germanic society . Mentions of Germanic seeresses occur as early as the Roman era, when, for example, they at times led armed resistance against Roman rule and acted as envoys to Rome. After the Roman Era, seeresses occur in records among the North Germanic people , where they form

264-628: A ritual , and practices divination and healing . The word "shaman" probably originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia . According to Juha Janhunen, "the word is attested in all of the Tungusic idioms" such as Negidal , Lamut , Udehe / Orochi , Nanai , Ilcha, Orok , Manchu and Ulcha , and "nothing seems to contradict the assumption that the meaning 'shaman' also derives from Proto-Tungusic " and may have roots that extend back in time at least two millennia. The term

396-502: A 6th century work on the history of the Goths, reports that the early Goths had called their seeresses haliurunas (or haliurunnae , etc.) (Goth-Latin). They were in the words of Wolfram "women who engaged in magic with the world of the dead", and they were banished from their tribe by Filimer who was the last pre- Amal dynasty king of the migrating Goths. They found refuge in the wilderness where they were impregnated by unclean spirits from

528-457: A Greek inscription reading Waluburg. Se[m]noni Sibylla (Greek 'Waluburg, sibyl from the Semnones ') was discovered in the early twentieth century on Elephantine , an Egyptian island. The name occurs among a list of Roman and Graeco-Egyptian soldier names, perhaps indicating its use as a payroll . The first element * Walu - is probably Proto-Germanic * waluz 'staff', which could be

660-536: A Russian embassy to China; a translation of his book, published the same year, introduced the word shaman to English speakers. Anthropologist and archeologist Silvia Tomaskova argued that by the mid-1600s, many Europeans applied the Arabic term shaitan (meaning "devil") to the non-Christian practices and beliefs of Indigenous peoples beyond the Ural Mountains . She suggests that shaman may have entered

792-534: A bronze-ornamented staff with a small house atop it, a jug made in Central Asia, and a bronze cauldron smithed in Western Europe. The grave contained animals and humans, perhaps sacrificed. Shamanism Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner ( shaman ) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness , such as trance . The goal of this

924-572: A chair, potentially a reflection of the long-standing association of seeresses and chairs (as described in Strabo's Geographica from the first century CE, discussed above). A ship setting grave in Köpingsvik , a location on the Swedish island of Öland , also appears to have contained a seeress. The woman was buried wrapped in bear fur with a variety of notable grave goods: the grave contained

1056-459: A cloak of the type worn by Scandinavian women. There is a cross above the falcon; coins bearing the falcon and the cross are dated to Olga's time in the 950s and the 960s. Images of women with a bird's head have also been found on the Norwegian 9th c. Oseberg tapestry fragments , and the women have been identified as priestesses of Freyja wearing bird masks. Several scholars consider the woman who

1188-413: A comprehensive view in their mind which gives them certainty of knowledge . According to this view, the shaman uses (and the audience understands) multiple codes, expressing meanings in many ways: verbally, musically, artistically, and in dance. Meanings may be manifested in objects such as amulets . If the shaman knows the culture of their community well, and acts accordingly, their audience will know

1320-413: A different term other than the one translated "shaman" is usually applied to a religious official leading sacrificial rites ("priest"), or to a raconteur ("sage") of traditional lore; there may be more of an overlap in functions (with that of a shaman), however, in the case of an interpreter of omens or of dreams. There are distinct types of shamans who perform more specialized functions. For example, among

1452-516: A group of rarer names having the element galdr ("incantation"), with the names galdrakonur ("galdr women"), galdrakerling ("old galdr woman") and galdrasnót ("galdr lady"). In addition there is the word galdrakind ("galdr creature") with negative connotations. There is also the reconstructed word * vitka which may be connected to the Wecha in Gesta Danorum , book III and refer to

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1584-492: A high tower in the first century, finds an echo in the thirteenth-century account of Þorbjörg lítilvölva who prophesied from a raised platform in Eiríks saga rauða . Simek comments that the saga's account of Þorbjörg's raised platform and her wand conveys authentic practices from Germanic paganism. In his ethnography of the ancient Germanic peoples, Germania , Tacitus expounds on some of these points. In chapter eight, he reports

1716-574: A kind of sorceress. It seems to be the feminine form of vitki (" sorcerer "), and it is only attested from Lokasenna 24, where Loki accuses Odin of having travelled around the world vitka líki (in the "guise of a vitka"). The personal name Heiðr appears 66 times as a word for sorceress in the prose sources. It appears twice in the Poetic Edda , in Hyndluljóð and in Vǫluspá , where it

1848-582: A magic reflected in the Norse poem Darraðarljóð . Consequently, Olga may have been regarded as a high priestess of Freyja, a status which would not only have appealed to her Scandinavian kinsmen but also to her Slavic subjects who would have identified Freyja with the Slavic goddess Mokosh , who was represented as the only goddess among the six raised idols in Kiev. In 2008, a Scandinavian chamber grave called N°6

1980-452: A minority is skeptical (e.g. Bugge , Dillmann, Dumézil , Näsström and Schjødt), but there are divergent opinions within the two camps. Clive Tolley, who is among the sceptics, writes that if shamanism is defined as "tundra shamanism" as represented by the Sámi of Scandinavia and as defined by Edward Vajda , then the differences are too great. He allies himself with the position of Ohlmarks, who

2112-779: A modern practice of Germanic pagan religion, seeresses once again play a role. Aside from the names of individuals, Roman era accounts do not contain information about how the early Germanic peoples referred to them, but sixth century Goth scholar Jordanes reported in his Getica that the early Goths had called their seeresses haliurunnae (Goth-Latin). The word also appears in Old English (OE), hellerune ("seeress" or "witch") and in Old High German (OHG) as hellirûna ("necromancy") and hellirunari ("necromancer"), and from these forms an earlier Proto-Germanic form * χalja-rūnō(n) has been reconstructed, in which

2244-529: A reference to the seeresses' insignia, the magic staff, and which connects her name semantically to that of her fellow tribeswoman, the seeress Ganna , who probably taught her the craft and who had an audience with emperor Domitian in Rome. In the same way, her name may also be connected to the name of another Germanic seeress, Gambara , which can be interpreted as 'staff bearer' (* gand-bera or * gand-bara ), see gandr . The staffs are also reflected in

2376-588: A reoccurring motif in Norse mythology . Both the classical and the Norse accounts imply that they used wands, and describe them as sitting on raised platforms during séances . Ancient Roman and Greek literature records the name of several Germanic seeresses, including Albruna , Veleda , Ganna , and, by way of an archaeological find, Waluburg . Norse mythology mentions several seeresses, some of them by name, including Heimlaug völva, Þorbjörg lítilvölva , Þordís spákona, and Þuríðr Sundafyllir. In North Germanic religion,

2508-479: A shaman (and by extension the earliest undisputed evidence of shamans and shamanic practices) dates back to the early Upper Paleolithic era (c. 30,000 BP) in what is now the Czech Republic. Sanskrit scholar and comparative mythologist Michael Witzel proposes that all of the world's mythologies, and also the concepts and practices of shamans, can be traced to the migrations of two prehistoric populations:

2640-448: A shaman is exposed to significant personal risk as shamanic plant materials can be toxic or fatal if misused. Spells are commonly used in an attempt to protect against these dangers, and the use of more dangerous plants is often very highly ritualized. Generally, shamans traverse the axis mundi and enter the "spirit world" by effecting a transition of consciousness, entering into an ecstatic trance, either autohypnotically or through

2772-447: A shaman may include either guiding to their proper abode the souls of the dead (which may be guided either one-at-a-time or in a group, depending on the culture), and the curing of ailments. The ailments may be either purely physical afflictions—such as disease, which are claimed to be cured by gifting, flattering, threatening, or wrestling the disease-spirit (sometimes trying all these, sequentially), and which may be completed by displaying

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2904-559: A single concept. Billy-Ray Belcourt, an author and award-winning scholar from the Driftpile Cree Nation in Canada, argues that using language with the intention of simplifying culture that is diverse, such as Shamanism, as it is prevalent in communities around the world and is made up of many complex components, works to conceal the complexities of the social and political violence that Indigenous communities have experienced at

3036-623: A small purse with seeds from henbane , a poisonous plant, inside it, and a partially disintegrated metal wand, used by seeresses in the Old Norse record. According to the National Museum of Denmark : Henbane's aphrodisiac properties may have also been relevant to its use by the seeress. At the feet of the corpse was a small box, called a box brooch and originating from the Swedish island of Gotland , which contained owl pellets and bird bones. The grave also contained amulets shaped like

3168-487: A specialist can influence important but uncontrollable outcomes. Citing work on the psychology of magic and superstition , Singh argues that humans search for ways of influencing uncertain events, such as healing illness, controlling rain, or attracting animals. As specialists compete to help their clients control these outcomes, they drive the evolution of psychologically compelling magic, producing traditions adapted to people's cognitive biases. Shamanism, Singh argues,

3300-403: A spirit can be summoned it must teach the shaman its song. The use of totemic items such as rocks with special powers and an animating spirit is common. Such practices are presumably very ancient. Plato wrote in his Phaedrus that the "first prophecies were the words of an oak", and that those who lived at that time found it rewarding enough to "listen to an oak or a stone, so long as it

3432-408: A supposedly extracted token of the disease-spirit (displaying this, even if "fraudulent", is supposed to impress the disease-spirit that it has been, or is in the process of being, defeated so that it will retreat and stay out of the patient's body), or else mental (including psychosomatic) afflictions—such as persistent terror, which is likewise believed to be cured by similar methods. In most languages

3564-516: A symbol whose significance would have been understood all over northern Europe, not only as the symbol of a woman who has authority, but also as a symbol of guardianship. On the reverse side the jartegn has the image of a falcon, a bird not only associated with the Swedish and Rus' elite of the Viking Age, but also especially associated with the goddesses Freyja and Frigg , who can transform themselves into falcons.). The falcon also appears to wear

3696-569: A technology for hard disk data storage See also [ edit ] Hamry (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Hamr . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamr&oldid=1118330798 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

3828-512: A term that is also found in Old Dutch, haghetisse ("witch") and in OHG hagazussa , hagzussa or hagzissa . These West Germanic forms are probably derived from a Proto-Germanic word with positive connotations, * χaʒaz , from which are also derived Old Norse (ON) hagr ("skillful") and Middle High German (MHG) be-hac ("of pleasure"). However, it is sometimes proposed that the first element

3960-494: A variety of items indicating high status. Societal beliefs about the practices and abilities of seeresses would contribute to the development of the European concept of "witches", because their practices survived Christianization, although the practitioners became marginalized, and evolved into north European mediaeval witchcraft. Germanic seeresses are mentioned in popular culture in a variety of contexts. In Germanic Heathenry ,

4092-491: A wand as her tool or insignia, her name may instead have been a reference to her function among the Germanic tribes (like Veleda's name). Sundqvist suggests that the name may have referred instead to her abilities, like de Vries who connects her name directly to the ablaut grade ginn - ("magical ability"), also treated further down in the section on magical Projection . Dating from the second century CE, an ostracon with

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4224-556: A woman buried within a horse-drawn carriage and wearing a red and blue dress embroidered with gold thread, all signs of high status. While the grave contains items commonly found in female Viking Age graves such as scissors and spindle whorls, it also contains a variety of other rare and exotic items. For example, the woman wore silver toe rings (otherwise unknown in the Scandinavian record) and her burial contained two bronze bowls originating from Central Asia. The grave also contained

4356-597: A woman with supernatural abilities among the Cherusci , a Germanic people. According to Diorites Cassius, the woman foresees Drusus's death, and he dies soon thereafter: In the first and second centuries CE , Greek and Roman authors—such as Greek historian Strabo , Roman senator Tacitus , and Roman historian Cassius Dio —wrote about the ancient Germanic peoples, and made note of the role of seeresses in Germanic society. Tacitus mentions Germanic seeresses in book 4 of his first century CE Histories . A seeress named Ganna

4488-479: A world-view behind them. Analogously to the way grammar arranges words to express meanings and convey a world, also this formed a cognitive map). Shaman's lore is rooted in the folklore of the community, which provides a "mythological mental map." Juha Pentikäinen uses the concept "grammar of mind." Armin Geertz coined and introduced the hermeneutics , or "ethnohermeneutics", interpretation. Hoppál extended

4620-498: Is a name assumed by Gullveig in connection with the War of the Gods . In a study by McKinnell of Norse sagas and Landnámabók , there is only one instance of a woman named Heiðr who does not act as a seeress. The name has been connected to heath and heathen , but it has also been explained with meanings that connote "radiance and golden light, honour and payment". Lastly, there

4752-480: Is a term corresponding to Swedish hage ("wooded paddock") in the sense of "fence", i.e. PGmc * χaʒōn ("pasture", "enclosure"), from whence also English hedge (through * χaʒjaz ). In that case it would be etymologically related to ON túnriða and OHG zûnrite ("fence rider"), where tún / zûn does not refer to an enclosure but metonymically to the fence surrounding it. In the Westrogothic law , it

4884-416: Is also specifically called sibylla , i.e. "seeress". Pohl comments that Gambara lived in a world and era where prophecy was important, and not being a virgin like Veleda, she combined the roles of priestess, wise woman, mother and queen. Her name may mean "wand-bearer" (* gand-bera or * gand-bara ) with the same meaning as Old Norse vǫlva , while the name of her son Ibor means "boar", the animal sacred to

5016-518: Is known as the "neurotheological theory". According to Winkelman, shamanism develops reliably in human societies because it provides valuable benefits to the practitioner, their group, and individual clients. In particular, the trance states induced by dancing, hallucinogens, and other triggers are hypothesized to have an "integrative" effect on cognition, allowing communication among mental systems that specialize in theory of mind , social intelligence, and natural history. With this cognitive integration,

5148-506: Is mentioned by the Roman historiographer Cassius Dio in the early 3rd century. The context is the campaign east of the Rhine by Emperor Domitian in the 80s of the 1st century CE. Ganna belonged to a tribe called the Semnones who were settled east of the river Elbe , and she appears to have been active in the second half of the 1st century, after Veleda's time. Ganna's political influence

5280-407: Is no record of pure shamanistic societies (although their existence is not impossible). Norwegian social anthropologist Hakan Rydving has likewise argued for the abandonment of the terms "shaman" and "shamanism" as "scientific illusions." Dulam Bumochir has affirmed the above critiques of "shamanism" as a Western construct created for comparative purposes and, in an extensive article, has documented

5412-478: Is notable that Ganna is not referred to as a sibylla , but as a theiázousa in Greek, which means "someone making prophesies". Her name Ganna is usually interpreted as Proto-Germanic Gan-no and compared with Old Norse gandr in the meaning "magical staff" (for the meanings of gan - and gandr , see the section on magical Projection ); Ganna would mean the "one who carries the magical staff" or "she who controls

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5544-463: Is strongly associated with birds in the sources, which also was true of the goddess Freyja, the goddess of magic (seiðr). The goddess was popular among Scandinavian women in general, and especially among aristocratic women who profited from corollary authority and power. Older scholarship believed that the aristocratic Norse women passively waited at home for their husbands, but the modern view is that they actively took part in warfare from home with seiðr,

5676-729: Is the culmination of this cultural evolutionary process—a psychologically appealing method for controlling uncertainty. For example, some shamanic practices exploit our intuitions about humanness: Practitioners use trance and dramatic initiations to seemingly become entities distinct from normal humans and thus more apparently capable of interacting with the invisible forces believed to oversee important outcomes. Influential cognitive and anthropological scientists, such as Pascal Boyer and Nicholas Humphrey , have endorsed Singh's approach, although other researchers have criticized Singh's dismissal of individual- and group-level benefits. Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff relates these concepts to developments in

5808-439: Is the term fjolkyngiskona that only meant "sorceress", and a number of derogatory names that correspond to "witch" with many negative connotations, and these terms include skass ("ogress"), flagð(kona) ("ogress"), gýgr ("ogress"), fála ("Giantess"), hála and fordæða ("evil doer"). There has long been an academic debate on whether the seeresses' practice should be regarded as shamanism. However, this does not pertain to

5940-444: Is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world for the purpose of healing, divination , or to aid human beings in some other way. Beliefs and practices categorized as "shamanic" have attracted the interest of scholars from a variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, archeologists, historians, religious studies scholars, philosophers and psychologists. Hundreds of books and academic papers on

6072-603: The Hliðskjálf of Norse mythology, from where he could see everything, and where Frigg also conspires against Odin in the poem Grímnismál , in a parallel with the Lombard myth. Frigg's infidelity and connection with prophecy normally belong to Freyja, and her association with magic ( seiðr ), but there are many similarities between them, and Freyja and Frigg may originally have been the same goddess . Scholars may identify Frea as Frigg/Freyja, or simply as Freyja. Getica ,

6204-529: The Inuit the angakkuq (shamans) fetch the souls of game from remote places, or soul travel to ask for game from mythological beings like the Sea Woman . The way shamans get sustenance and take part in everyday life varies across cultures. In many Inuit groups, they provide services for the community and get a "due payment", and believe the payment is given to the helping spirits. An account states that

6336-572: The Langobard people , then known as the Winnili, emigrated from Scandinavia , led by the brothers Ibor and Agio, their neighbours, the Vandals, demanded that they pay tribute, but their mother Gambara advised them not to. Before the battle, the Vandals called on Odin ( Godan ) to give them victory, but Gambara invoked Odin's wife Frigg ( Frea ) instead. Frigg advised them to trick Odin, by having

6468-504: The Nanai people , a distinct kind of shaman acts as a psychopomp. Other specialized shamans may be distinguished according to the type of spirits, or realms of the spirit world, with which the shaman most commonly interacts. These roles vary among the Nenets , Enets , and Selkup shamans. The assistant of an Oroqen shaman (called jardalanin , or "second spirit") knows many things about

6600-555: The Primary Chronicle , she is described by the noblemen as the "wisest of all women", where wise has several meanings and her reputation as being wise goes back to her pre-conversion years. Her wisdom is also reported by Óláfs saga Tryggvassonar , where she is called Allogia and mistaken for Vladimir the Great 's old mother, although she was his grand-mother. There she is described as "very wise" and her main function at

6732-701: The Sanskrit word श्रमण , śramaṇa , designating a wandering monastic or holy figure, has spread to many Central Asian languages along with Buddhism and could be the ultimate origin of the word shaman. The word has been reported in Gandhari as ṣamana , in Tocharian A as ṣāmaṃ , in Tocharian B as ṣamāne and in Chinese as 沙門 , shāmén . The term was adopted by Russians interacting with

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6864-496: The Tucano people , a sophisticated system exists for environmental resources management and for avoiding resource depletion through overhunting. This system is conceptualized mythologically and symbolically by the belief that breaking hunting restrictions may cause illness. The shaman is able to "release" game animals, or their souls, from their hidden abodes. The Piaroa people have ecological concerns related to shamanism. Among

6996-426: The spiritual world or dimension. Most shamans have dreams or visions that convey certain messages. Shamans may claim to have or have acquired many spirit guides , who they believe guide and direct them in their travels in the spirit world. These spirit guides are always thought to be present within the shaman, although others are said to encounter them only when the shaman is in a trance . The spirit guide energizes

7128-555: The " Gondwana " type (of circa 65,000 years ago) and the " Laurasian " type (of circa 40,000 years ago). In November 2008, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced the discovery of a 12,000-year-old site in Israel that is perceived as one of the earliest-known shaman burials. The elderly woman had been arranged on her side, with her legs apart and folded inward at the knee. Ten large stones were placed on

7260-482: The 18th-century writings of Tibetan Buddhist monks in Mongolia and later "probably influenced the formation of European discourse on Shamanism". Shamanism is a system of religious practice. Historically, it is often associated with Indigenous and tribal societies , and involves belief that shamans, with a connection to the otherworld , have the power to heal the sick, communicate with spirits, and escort souls of

7392-476: The Devil has sexual intercourse," and in the 11th century, there appeared the idea that witches and heretics had sexual orgies during their meetings at night. Few records of myths among the Germanic peoples survive to modern times. The North Germanic record is an exception, containing the vast majority of material that survives about the mythology of the Germanic peoples. These sources mention numerous seeresses among

7524-727: The Norse god Freyr, the god of fertility and the main god of the Vanir clan of the gods. Hauck argues that the legend goes back to a time when the early Lombards primarily worshiped the mother goddess Freyja, as part of the Scandinavian Vanir worship, and he adds that a Lombard counterpart of Uppsala has been discovered in Žuráň , near Brno in the modern day Czech republic . In Lombard, Odin and Frigg were called Godan and Frea , while they were called Uodan and Friia in Old High German and Woden and Frig in Old English. The window from which Odin looked down on earth recalls

7656-475: The North Germanic peoples, including the following: Eiríks saga rauða provides a particularly detailed account of the appearance and activities of a seeress. For example, regarding the seeress Þorbjörg Lítilvölva : A high seat was set for her, complete with a cushion. This was to be stuffed with chicken feathers. When she arrived one evening, along with the man who had been sent to fetch her, she

7788-413: The North Germanic seeresses as shamans also in the stricter sense. Fate is central in Germanic literature and mythology, and men's destiny is inextricably linked to supernatural women and seeresses. Morris comments that the importance of fate can not be overstressed, and the seeresses were feared and revered by gods and mortals alike. Even the god Odin himself consulted them. The Norns are an example of

7920-463: The North Germanic word for seeress, vǫlva 'staff bearer'. In North Germanic accounts, the seeresses were always equipped with a staff, a vǫlr , from the same Proto-Germanic root * waluz . Schubart proposes that she may have been a war prisoner accompanying a Roman soldier in his career that led to him being stationed in Egypt at the first cataract . Simek considers her to have been deported by

8052-409: The Roman authorities, and he writes that it is uncertain how she arrived at Elephantine, but it is not surprising considering the significant and obvious influence that the Germanic seeresses wielded politically. Clement of Alexandria who lived in Egypt at the same time as Waluburg, and the earlier Plutarch , mentioned that the Germanic seeresses also could predict the future while studying the eddies,

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8184-558: The Roman historian Tacitus who reports that he discussed the Semnoni religious practices with informants from that tribe, who considered themselves the noblest of the Suebi. Bruce Lincoln (1986) discusses Tacitus' meeting with Ganna and what the Roman historian learnt of the mythological traditions of the early Germanic tribes, and of the Semnoni's ancestral relationships with the other tribes from Ing ( Yngvi ), Ist and Irmin ( Odin ),

8316-505: The Romans, they probably should not be so labelled in a strict sense. As for the later North Germanic version, Näsström writes that the völva did not perform any sacrifices, but her roles as a prophetess and as a sorceress were still important aspects of the spiritual life of her society. Price comments that Katherine Morris has usefully defined these women: [...] magic was manipulative, practical, and achieved immediately. The sorceress changed

8448-548: The Semnoni performed their rites at a holy grove that was the cradle of the tribe's inception, and that could only be entered when they were fettered. The god who was worshiped was probably Odin, and being fettered may have been an imitation of Odin's self-sacrifice . This grove has for a long time been identified with the Grove of Fetters , where the hero was sacrificed to Odin in the Eddic poem , Helgakviða Hundingsbana II . It

8580-602: The Steppe, and engendered the Huns, which Pohl compares with the origin of the Sarmatians as presented by Herodotus . The account serves as an explanation for the origins of the Huns. The account may be based on a historic event when Filimer banished his seeresses as scapegoats for a defeat when their prophesy had proved wrong, They may also have represented the conservative faction and resisted change. This change may have been

8712-540: The Winnili women spread their hair in front of their faces so as to look bearded and stand before the window from which Odin looked down on Earth. Odin was embarrassed and asked who the "long-beards" ( longobarbae ) were, and thus naming them he became their godfather and had to grant them victory. Gambara is called phitonissa in Latin which means "priestess" or "sorceress", and in the Chronicum Gothanum , she

8844-404: The associated beliefs. He or she accompanies the rituals and interprets the behaviors of the shaman. Despite these functions, the jardalanin is not a shaman. For this interpretative assistant, it would be unwelcome to fall into a trance. As the primary teacher of tribal symbolism, the shaman may have a leading role in this ecological management, actively restricting hunting and fishing. Among

8976-683: The calling of a shaman can be found in the case history of Chuonnasuan , who was one of the last shamans among the Tungus peoples in Northeast China . The wounded healer is an archetype for a shamanic trial and journey. This process is important to young shamans. They undergo a type of sickness that pushes them to the brink of death. This is said to happen for two reasons: Shamans may employ varying materials in spiritual practice in different cultures. Shamans have been conceptualized as those who are able to gain knowledge and power to heal in

9108-517: The classical era into the Viking Age . The name vǫlva and derivations of the name appear 23 times in the sources, and seiðkona ("seiðr woman/wife") appears eight times; the two terms are often used interchangeably. The second most common term is spákona ("prophecy woman/wife") with the variants spákerling ("old prophecy woman") and spámey ("prophecy maiden"), which appears 22 times, again interchangeably with vǫlva and seiðkona to refer to

9240-514: The community, including the spirits of the deceased. Shamans believe they can communicate with both living and dead to alleviate unrest, unsettled issues, and to deliver gifts to the spirits. Shamans perform a variety of functions depending upon their respective cultures; healing, leading a sacrifice , preserving traditions by storytelling and songs, fortune-telling , and acting as a psychopomp ("guide of souls"). A single shaman may fulfill several of these functions. The responsibilities of

9372-525: The concept of shamanism in a wider definition (see e.g. the definitions of the OED ), but rather to what degree similarities can be found between what is preserved about them in Old Norse literature and the shamanism of northern Eurasia in a more restricted sense. The majority of scholars support the "shamanic interpretation, and the presence of ecstatic rituals" (e.g. Ellis Davidson , Ohlmarks , Pálsson , Meulengracht Sørensen, Turville-Petre and de Vries ), while

9504-408: The court was as a prophetess, one whose predictions also came true. When the king of Kievan Rus' celebrated Yule , he asked her to predict the future and to do so she was carried to him on a chair which recalls the elevated platforms of the seeresses. Although he may not have transmitted a historical event, Oddr Snorrason , who wrote the saga in the 12th c., clearly identified Olga as a völva. Olga

9636-503: The dead to the afterlife . The origins of Shamanism stem from indigenous peoples of far northern Europe and Siberia. Despite structural implications of colonialism and imperialism that have limited the ability of Indigenous peoples to practice traditional spiritualities, many communities are undergoing resurgence through self-determination and the reclamation of dynamic traditions. Other groups have been able to avoid some of these structural impediments by virtue of their isolation, such as

9768-481: The ends. On her hands she wore gloves of catskin, white and lined with fur. When she entered, everyone was supposed to offer her respectful greetings, and she responded by according to how the person appealed to her. Farmer Thorkel took the wise woman by the hand and led her to the seat which had been prepared for her. He then asked her to survey his flock, servants and buildings. She had little to say about all of it. That evening tables were set up and food prepared for

9900-464: The fact that they exist outside of what is defined as shamanism and even play similar roles in nonshamanic cultures, for example chanting in the Abrahamic religions . She argues that these expression are unique to each culture that uses them and that such practices cannot be generalized easily, accurately, or usefully into a global religion of shamanism. Because of this, Kehoe is also highly critical of

10032-409: The first element is * χaljō , i.e. Hel , the abode of the dead , and the second is * rūnō ("mystery, secret"). At this time the word * rūnō still referred to chanting and not to letters ( rune ), and in the sense "incantation" it was probably borrowed from Proto-Germanic into Finnish where runo means "poem". In OE, hellerune ("seeress" or "witch"), or helrūne , has the synonym hægtesse ,

10164-516: The following about women in then-contemporary Germanic society and the role of seeresses: Writing also in the first century AD, Greek geographer and historian Strabo records the following about the Cimbri , a Germanic people, in chapter 2.3 of volume seven of his encyclopedia Geographica : Writing in the second century CE , Roman historian Cassius Dio describes in chapter 50 of his Roman History an encounter between Nero Claudius Drusus and

10296-410: The following: Shamanism is based on the premise that the visible world is pervaded by invisible forces or spirits which affect the lives of the living. 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

10428-725: The 💕 Hamr may refer to: Places in the Czech Republic [ edit ] Hamr (Jindřichův Hradec District) , a municipality and village in the South Bohemian Region Hamr na Jezeře , a municipality and village in the Liberec Region Hamr, a village and part of Litvínov in the Ústí nad Labem Region Hamr, a village and part of Val (Tábor District) in the South Bohemian Region Other [ edit ] Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR),

10560-401: The gifts and payments that a shaman receives are given by his partner spirit. Since it obliges the shaman to use his gift and to work regularly in this capacity, the spirit rewards him with the goods that it receives. These goods, however, are only "welcome addenda". They are not enough to enable a full-time shaman. Shamans live like any other member of the group, as a hunter or housewife. Due to

10692-603: The goddess Freyja has a particular association with seeresses, and there are indications that the Viking princess and Rus' saint, Olga of Kiev , was one such, serving as a "priestess of Freyja" among the Scandinavian elite in Kievan Rus' before they converted to Christianity. Archaeologists have identified several graves that appear to be the remains of Scandinavian seeresses. These graves contain objects such as wands , seeds with hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac properties, and

10824-407: The hands of settlers. Belcourt argues that language used to imply “simplicity” in regards to Indigenous culture, is a tool used to belittle Indigenous cultures, as it views Indigenous communities solely as a result of a history embroiled in violence, that leaves Indigenous communities only capable of simplicity and plainness. Anthropologist Mihály Hoppál  [ de ] also discusses whether

10956-408: The head, pelvis, and arms. Among her unusual grave goods were 50 complete tortoise shells, a human foot, and certain body parts from animals such as a cow tail and eagle wings. Other animal remains came from a boar, leopard, and two martens. "It seems that the woman … was perceived as being in a close relationship with these animal spirits", researchers noted. The grave was one of at least 28 graves at

11088-484: The human soul caused by foreign elements. Shamans operate primarily within the spiritual world, which, they believe, in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance is said to result in the elimination of the ailment. The anthropologist Alice Kehoe criticizes the term "shaman" in her book Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking . Part of this criticism involves

11220-485: The human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments and illnesses by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul or spirit are believed to restore the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. Shamans also claim to enter supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans claim to visit other worlds or dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of

11352-490: The hunt; or entertainment ( Inuit throat singing ). Shamans often claim to have been called through dreams or signs. However, some say their powers are inherited. In traditional societies shamanic training varies in length, but generally takes years. Turner and colleagues mention a phenomenon called "shamanistic initiatory crisis", a rite of passage for shamans-to-be, commonly involving physical illness or psychological crisis. The significant role of initiatory illnesses in

11484-504: The hypothesis that shamanism is an ancient, unchanged, and surviving religion from the Paleolithic period. The term has been criticized for its perceived colonial roots, and as a tool to perpetuate perceived contemporary linguistic colonialism. By Western scholars, the term "shamanism" is used to refer to a variety of different cultures and practices around the world, which can vary dramatically and may not be accurately represented by

11616-594: The indigenous peoples in Siberia . It is found in the memoirs of the exiled Russian churchman Avvakum . It was brought to Western Europe twenty years later by the Dutch statesman Nicolaes Witsen , who reported his stay and journeys among the Tungusic- and Samoyedic -speaking Indigenous peoples of Siberia in his book Noord en Oost Tataryen (1692). Adam Brand , a merchant from Lübeck , published in 1698 his account of

11748-508: 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 curanderos use medicine songs called icaros to evoke spirits. Before

11880-450: The king of her tribe, where they had an audience with the Roman emperor Domitian and were treated with honours, after which they returned home. The Roman historian Tacitus , who appears to have met Ganna and to have been informed by her of most of what we know of early Germanic religion, wrote: ... they believe that there resides in women an element of holiness and a gift of prophecy ... Another telling account by Tacitus about their power

12012-400: The link between women and fate, which was elevated in Germanic society, and the association was incarnated by the seeresses. The political role that the seeresses played was always present when the Romans were dealing with the Germanic tribes, and the Romans had to take their opinion into account. Ganna's political influence was so considerable that she was taken to Rome together with Masyos ,

12144-435: The local variations and emphasizes that shamanism is not a religion of sacred dogmas , but linked to the everyday life in a practical way. Following similar thoughts, he also conjectures a contemporary paradigm shift. Piers Vitebsky also mentions that, despite really astonishing similarities, there is no unity in shamanism. The various, fragmented shamanistic practices and beliefs coexist with other beliefs everywhere. There

12276-435: The magical staff" or something similar. Her name is thus grouped with other seeresses with staff names, like Gambara ("wand-bearer") and Waluburg from walu -, "staff" (ON vǫlr ), and the same word is found in the name of North Germanic seeresses, the vǫlur . Simek analyses gandr as a "magic staff" and the "insignia of her calling", but in a later work he adds that it meant "magic object or being" and instead of referring to

12408-485: The new ruling clan. Wagner argues that the demonization of both the women and the Huns shows that the account was written in a Christian context. Morris (1991) comments that it was a precedent for future Christian tradition, where demonic women have intercourse with the Devil or with demons. In the Anglo-Saxon Leechbook from the 10th century, there is a prescription for a salve against "women with whom

12540-541: The nomadic Tuvan (with an estimated population of 3000 people surviving from this tribe). Tuva is one of the most isolated Asiatic tribes in Russia where the art of shamanism has been preserved until today due to its isolated existence, allowing it to be free from the influences of other major religions. There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world, but several common beliefs are shared by all forms of shamanism. Common beliefs identified by Eliade (1972) are

12672-602: The notion of cultural appropriation . This includes criticism of New Age and modern Western forms of shamanism, which, according to Kehoe, misrepresent or dilute Indigenous practices. Kehoe also believes that the term reinforces racist ideas such as the noble savage . Kehoe is highly critical of Mircea Eliade 's work on shamanism as an invention synthesized from various sources unsupported by more direct research. To Kehoe, citing practices such as drumming , trance, chanting , entheogen and hallucinogen use, spirit communication , and healing as definitive of shamanism ignores

12804-498: The popularity of ayahuasca tourism in South America, there are practitioners in areas frequented by backpackers who make a living from leading ceremonies. Furthermore, due to the predominant number of female shamans over males, shamanism was and continues to be an integral part of women’s economic liberation. Shamanism often serves as an economic resource due to the requirement of payment for service. This economic revenue

12936-513: The rise of the Amal clan and their claims of ancestry from the anses (the Aesir clan of gods). As in the case of the early Lombards, this would have taken place after a decisive victory that saved a tribe whose existence had been threatened by enemies. Odin was still a new god, and the Goths worshiped instead the "old" god Gaut who was made the Scandinavian great-grandfather of Amal, the founder of

13068-434: The role of Mongols themselves, particularly "the partnership of scholars and shamans in the reconstruction of shamanism" in post-1990/post-communist Mongolia. This process has also been documented by Swiss anthropologist Judith Hangartner in her landmark study of Darhad shamans in Mongolia. Historian Karena Kollmar-Polenz argues that the social construction and reification of shamanism as a religious "other" actually began with

13200-528: The same woman. There is also the name vísendakona ("knowing woman"), which appears eight times in the sources. Þorbiorg in Eiríks saga rauða is called both a vísendakona , vǫlva and a spákona . It is possible that the names once had different meanings, but at the time of the saga's composition, they were no longer distinguished in meaning, just as the words sorceress and witch are interchangeable in modern popular language. There are also five instances of

13332-408: The seeress. A porridge of kid's milk was made for her and as meat she was given the hearts of all the animals available there. She had a spoon of brass and a knife with an ivory shaft, its two halves clasped with bronze bands, and the point of which had broken off. There are indications that Olga of Kiev may have served as a Völva, and as a "priestess of Freyja", before converting to Christianity. In

13464-407: The shaman can better predict the movement of animals, resolve group conflicts, plan migrations, and provide other useful services. The neurotheological theory contrasts with the "by-product" or "subjective" model of shamanism developed by Harvard anthropologist Manvir Singh. According to Singh, shamanism is a cultural technology that adapts to (or hacks) our psychological biases to convince us that

13596-415: The shamans, enabling them to enter the spiritual dimension. Shamans claim to heal within the communities and the spiritual dimension by returning lost parts of the human soul from wherever they have gone. Shamans also claim to cleanse excess negative energies, which are said to confuse or pollute the soul. Shamans act as mediators in their cultures. Shamans claim to communicate with the spirits on behalf of

13728-549: The site, located in a cave in lower Galilee and belonging to the Natufian culture , but is said to be unlike any other among the Epipaleolithic Natufians or in the Paleolithic period. A debated etymology of the word "shaman" is "one who knows", implying, among other things, that the shaman is an expert in keeping together the multiple codes of the society, and that to be effective, shamans must maintain

13860-430: The sons of Mannus , the son of Tuisto . The Semnoni reenacted the "horrific origins" of their nation with a human sacrifice, with each victim representing Tuisto (the "twin") and being cut up to repeat the "acts of creation", which can be compared to how Odin and his brothers cut up the body of the primordial giant Ymir (the "twin") to form the world in Norse mythology . Rudolf Simek notes that Tacitus also learnt that

13992-634: The subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism. The Modern English word shamanism derives from the Russian word шаман , šamán , which itself comes from the word samān from a Tungusic language – possibly from the southwestern dialect of the Evenki spoken by the Sym Evenki peoples, or from the Manchu language . The etymology of

14124-427: The term "shamanism" is appropriate. He notes that for many readers, "-ism" implies a particular dogma, like Buddhism, Catholicism or Judaism. He recommends using the term "shamanhood" or "shamanship" (a term used in old Russian and German ethnographic reports at the beginning of the 20th century) for stressing the diversity and the specific features of the discussed cultures. He believes that this places more stress on

14256-456: The term in a very broad sense. The term was used to describe unrelated magicoreligious practices found within the ethnic religions of other parts of Asia, Africa, Australasia and even completely unrelated parts of the Americas, as they believed these practices to be similar to one another. While the term has been incorrectly applied by cultural outsiders to many Indigenous spiritual practices,

14388-426: The term to include not only the interpretation of oral and written texts, but that of "visual texts as well (including motions, gestures and more complex rituals, and ceremonies performed, for instance, by shamans)". Revealing the animistic views in shamanism, but also their relevance to the contemporary world, where ecological problems have validated paradigms of balance and protection. hamr From Misplaced Pages,

14520-477: The term which appeared to be in use: According to the Oxford English Dictionary , a shaman ( / ˈ ʃ ɑː m ə n / SHAH -mən , / ˈ ʃ æ m ə n / SHAM -ən or / ˈ ʃ eɪ m ə n / SHAY -mən ) is someone who is regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits , who typically enters into a trance state during

14652-450: The trance and following shamanic actions [...]" then it is correct to define their practices as "broadly shamanic". However, he considers that in this case shamanism also includes traditional practices from a large part of Europe, such as the witchcraft of medieval Europe and the practices of ancient Greece . An opposing view is held by Neil Price , who has studied circumpolar shamanism, and argues that he finds enough similarities to define

14784-459: The use of entheogens or ritual performances. The methods employed are diverse, and are often used together. Just like shamanism itself, music and songs related to it in various cultures are diverse. In several instances, songs related to shamanism are intended to imitate natural sounds , via onomatopoeia . Sound mimesis in various cultures may serve other functions not necessarily related to shamanism: practical goals such as luring game in

14916-419: The used symbols and meanings and therefore trust the shamanic worker. There are also semiotic , theoretical approaches to shamanism, and examples of "mutually opposing symbols" in academic studies of Siberian lore, distinguishing a "white" shaman who contacts sky spirits for good aims by day, from a "black" shaman who contacts evil spirits for bad aims by night. (Series of such opposing symbols referred to

15048-487: The various Tungus dialects as a corruption of this term, and then been told to Christian missionaries , explorers, soldiers and colonial administrators with whom the people had increasing contact for centuries. A female shaman is sometimes called a shamanka , which is not an actual Tungus term but simply shaman plus the Russian suffix -ka (for feminine nouns). There is no single agreed-upon definition for

15180-527: The ways that modern science (systems theory, ecology, new approaches in anthropology and archeology) treats causality in a less linear fashion. He also suggests a cooperation of modern science and Indigenous lore. Shamanic practices may originate as early as the Paleolithic , predating all organized religions, and certainly as early as the Neolithic period. The earliest known undisputed burial of

15312-417: The weather, cast spells, or controlled things outside of herself. Germanic seeresses are first described by the Romans, who discuss the role seeresses played in Germanic society. A gap in the historical record occurs until the North Germanic record began over a millennium later, when the Old Norse sagas frequently mention seeresses among the North Germanic peoples. It is noteworthy that Veleda, who prophesied in

15444-745: The whirling and the splashing of currents, and Schubart suggests that this is the reason why Waluburg found herself at the swirling waters of the First Cataract of the Nile. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum ( Origin of the Lombard/Langobard people ), a seventh-century Latin account, and the Historia Langobardorum ( History of the Lombard/Langobards ), from the 8th c., relate the legend that before, or after,

15576-487: The women who were named for performing magic ( seiðkona ). However, there is little that the scholar could use to differentiate them, if such a distinction ever existed, and the two types of names are often used synonymously and about the same women. The term vǫlva means "staff bearer" and is related etymologically to the names of the early Germanic seeresses Ganna , Gambara and Waluburg . The use of wands in divination and clairvoyance appears to have lived on from

15708-405: The word "shamanism" among anthropologists. Thomas Downson suggests three shared elements of shamanism: practitioners consistently alter consciousness, the community regards altering consciousness as an important ritual practice, and the knowledge about the practice is controlled. The English historian Ronald Hutton noted that by the dawn of the 21st century, there were four separate definitions of

15840-424: The word is sometimes connected to the Tungus root sā- , meaning "to know". However, Finnish ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen questions this connection on linguistic grounds: "The possibility cannot be completely rejected, but neither should it be accepted without reservation since the assumed derivational relationship is phonologically irregular (note especially the vowel quantities)." Mircea Eliade noted that

15972-462: The words “shaman” and “shamanism” do not accurately describe the variety and complexity that is Indigenous spirituality. Each nation and tribe has its own way of life, and uses terms in their own languages. Mircea Eliade writes, "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = 'technique of religious ecstasy '." Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between

16104-451: Was a punishable offence to accuse a woman of having ridden a fence-gate, in the appearance ( hamr ) of a troll. Kluge reconstructs the PGmc form as * haga-tusjō , where the last element * tusjō could mean "spirit", from PIE * dwes -. The various names in North Germanic sources may give the impression that there were two types of sorceress, the staff-bearers, or seeresses ( vǫlva ), and

16236-641: Was a statement by the Batavian tribe to the Romans: ... and if we must choose between masters, then we may more honorably bear with the Emperors of Rome, than with the women of the German[ic]s. However, the seeresses do not appear to have been just any women, but were those who occupied a special office. Both Mogk and Sundqvist have commented that although the seeresses were referred to as "priestesses" by

16368-462: Was a symbol of the Rurik dynasty . Above the bident there is a key, and keys were a symbol of the Scandinavian mistress, as Scandinavian women carried the keys of the homestead; Kovalev (2012) argues that the key was also a symbol of Freyja. According to Kovalev, during her regency, before Sviatoslav I came of age, Olga may have chosen to add the key to the seal of the ruler of Kievan Rus', the key being

16500-411: Was buried with the tapestry to have been a völva. The archaeological record for Viking Age society features a variety of graves that are identified as those of North Germanic seeresses. A notable example occurs at Fyrkat , in the northern Jutland region of Denmark . Fyrkat is the site of a former Viking Age ring fortress ; the cemetery section of the site contains, among about 30 others, the grave of

16632-571: Was considerable enough that she was taken to Rome together with Masyos , the king of her tribe, where they had an audience with the Roman emperor and were treated with honours, after which they returned home. This probably happened in 86 AD, the year after his final war with the Chatti , when he made a treaty with the Cherusci , who were settled between the rivers Weser and the Elbe . During their stay in Rome, Ganna and Masyos appear also to have met with

16764-463: Was excavated in Pskov , where Olga was born. It was a syncretic grave containing elements from Norse paganism and from Christianity ; it has been dated to c. 960. It contained an object called a jartegn , a token given to officials by Scandinavian kings and Rus' rulers, indicating that the buried man had political influence. On the front side it has a bident , which later evolved into a trident and

16896-433: Was familiar with a wide range shamanism and rejected it in 1939, in a debate with Dag Strömbäck who found similarities with Sámi practices. However, Tolley concedes that if shamanism is defined in line with the words of Åke Hultkrantz (1993) as "[...] direct contact with spiritual beings and guardian spirits, together with the mediating role played by a shaman in a ritual setting [...] The presence of guardian spirits during

17028-486: Was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic Khanate of Kazan in 1552. The term "shamanism" was first applied by Western anthropologists as outside observers of the ancient religion of the Turks and Mongols , as well as those of the neighbouring Tungusic- and Samoyedic -speaking peoples. Upon observing more religious traditions around the world, some Western anthropologists began to also use

17160-468: Was telling the truth". 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. By engaging in their work,

17292-588: Was vital for female shamans, especially those living during the Chosun Dynasty in Korea (A.D. 1392–1910). In a culture that disapproved of female economic autonomy, the practice of shamanism allowed women to advance themselves financially and independently, in a way that had not been possible for them before. There are two major frameworks among cognitive and evolutionary scientists for explaining shamanism. The first, proposed by anthropologist Michael Winkelman,

17424-519: Was wearing a black mantle with a strap, which was adorned with precious stones right down to the hem. About her neck she wore a string of glass beads and on her head a hood of black lambskin lined with white catskin. She bore a staff with a knob at the top, adorned with brass set with stones on top. About her waist she had a linked charm belt with a large purse. In it she kept the charms which she needed for her predictions. She wore calfskin boots lined with fur, with long, sturdy laces and large pewter knobs on

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