Was odin a shaman?
- Thread starter Dianna
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Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
I would say "no" to your question. While he fits the archetypal shaman, shamanism goes back 10,000+ years, especially in Asia. Korean, Tibetan and Laotian shamanism is still practiced as it was thousands of years ago. Don't know how old Odin's legacy is... but I found this article that states Asian shamanism dates back 18,000 years ago. http://www.jcrows.com/reynoldsshaman.html
LegendofJoe
Active Member
Odin might have a few things in common with a shaman even though he may not be a shaman proper.
For example, the idea of sending out two ravens everyday to learn about the latest antics of the world, then
flying back to Odin to whisper in his ear everything they learned, definitely has some shamanistic attributes.
For example, the idea of sending out two ravens everyday to learn about the latest antics of the world, then
flying back to Odin to whisper in his ear everything they learned, definitely has some shamanistic attributes.
Myrddin
Well-Known Member
I think as conversing with animals, usually birds, and being in tune, or as one, with the earth, where their... seemingly... magical prowess comes from. Don't quote me though.
LegendofJoe
Active Member
I believe the key feature is that the shaman undergoes a type of trance. During this state he communicates with various animal spirits as well as other entities.
This is a function that the shaman performs for his community so that the people are on good terms with the spirit world.
One example of an Inuit shaman's duty is to periodically visit Sedna deep under the ocean.
She is the goddess of the sea and is responsible for providing food for the Eskimos. The sea mammals live in her hair.
However, she has no fingers and cannot comb her hair. To prevent knotting, the shaman combs her hair for her.
This keeps her contented, and it is also insurance that she will continue to provide food.
Shamans are usually depicted with a drum, and it is with the help of this drum that he enters his trance state.
Because shamans are seen as having the power to communicate with otherwordly beings, he can be seen as a type of magician.
They can act as healers and they can harm as well using magical means.
Much of what we know about shamans comes from work done with the people's of Siberia.
I believe the word shaman itself is Siberian.
Rhonda Tharp
Active Member
In Korea, shamans are mostly women called mansins. They perform kuts (ceremonies) that connect them to the spirit world.
I attended a lecture series from Columbia University - Dr Lauren Kendall. This is from her presentation:
The word “shaman” comes to us from
a Siberian language.
It describes people who have direct
contact with the spirits and who
usually use this power for socially
recognized ends.
Shamans engage the spirits either by
journeying in trance to a spirit realm
(as in the AMNH diorama) or by
bringing the spirits into the here and
now, manifesting them in their own
bodies.
Encounters with the spirits are enacted
through the shaman’s own body,
through trance states, agitated
dancing, unusual feats, or by
enacting and speaking for the spirits.
We use the word
“shaman” to compare
similar roles in very
different times and
places, for example
Siberia, Amazonia,
China, and Korea.
All of these “shamans”
have local names and
and distinctive local
practices. In Korea shamans are
commonly called mudang, mansin, or
posal.
There is no theology or
philosophy called
“shamanism.”
Shamans are like
chameleons who take on
the local coloring of the
places where we find
them.
Mansin are a part of the
changing Korean land-
scape