Saturday, August 4, 2007
Shamanic Practice and the Priesthood
Alice C. Linsley
Tungus shaman with eyes
veiled
A fundamental principle of cultural
anthropology states that the study of existent primitive societies helps us to
understand archaic societies and vice versa. This is especially the case when we
compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. What do I mean?
There is
no benefit in comparing practices of peoples belonging to totally different
regions and language groups, yet this is done fairly often in politically
correct textbooks to prove a point. This is intellectual dishonesty.
The
other explanation for this sloppy approach is that those who apply it don’t know
enough to realize the fallacy of the comparison. If this is the case, they
should neither claim to be experts nor should they be recognized as
experts.
To illustrate the comparison of apple and oranges, I’ll refer to
a textbook that I’m presently using to teach World Religions. In the section on
shamanism, the author generalizes that shamans are the priests of the ancient
world and that since there are Japanese and Korean female shamans, there must
have been female priests. This is of course the politically correct thing to
say, but it is based on a false premise and employs an incorrect anthropological
method. Here is the author’s reasoning in syllogistic form:
Premise: All
shamans are priests.
Females are shamans.
Therefore female shamans are
priests.
The problem here is that the premise is false. While there are
ways in which shamans and priests are similar, the distinction between them is
clear. Two of the oldest institutions known to man are the offices of priest and
shaman. The first pertains to the Afro-Asiatic peoples and the second to the
Altaic and Uralic peoples. While priests and shamans serve similar functions in
their societies, their worldviews are very different.
Underlying
shamanism is the belief that there are powerful spirits who cause imbalance and
disharmony in the world. The shaman’s role is to determine which spirits are at
work in a given situation and to find ways to appease the spirits. This may or
may not involve animal sacrifice. Underlying the priesthood is belief in a
single supreme Spirit to whom humans must give an accounting, especially for the
shedding of blood. In this view, one Great Spirit (God) holds the world in
balance and it is human actions that cause disharmony. The vast assortment of
ancient laws governing priestly ceremonies, sacrifices, and cleansing rituals
clarifies the role of the priest as one who offers animal sacrifice according to
sacred law.
Another way in which the author misleads the reader is by
comparing a trait (female shamans) in cultures in the Eastern Altaic language
family with a trait (male priesthood) in cultures in the Afro-Asiatic language
family. This is comparing apples to oranges and violates a fundamental principle
of cultural anthropology.
Here is the oft-cited support for female
shamans and goddesses: In Japan the Shinto goddess, Amaterasu, is said to
protect the imperial family. She is associated with the sun. The author writes,
“In contrast to many other religious systems, the goddess is associated with the
sun....” He also notes that Japan and Korea have female shamans. What the author
cites as an exception actually illustrates the norm. Let us investigate this
case further.
Females nurture and are often taken as patronesses.
Consider how the Church regards Mary, whose care for others is illustrated by
her advising the servants at the wedding to “do as he tells you.” So it is not
surprising that the imperial family should have a goddess as patron. Nor is it
surprising that this goddess is associated with the sun since the sun is the
emblem of Japan’s Imperial House (as is her moon brother's sword).
Where
there are goddesses there are always female devotees, thus the female shamans in
Japan and Korea. Such a phenomena has been observed surrounding the goddesses of
ancient Greece and Rome as well. But these represent a worldview quite apart
from the biblical worldview in which male and female are binary opposites and
the male is regarded as superior to the female in strength and size, just as the
Sun is larger than the Moon and the Moon's light is merely the reflection of the
Sun. In God, the male condescends in love to His inferior so that she may share
some of His glory.
 |
| Tungus shaman with eyes veiled |
A fundamental principle of cultural anthropology states that the study of existent primitive societies helps us to understand archaic societies and vice versa. This is especially the case when we compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. What do I mean?
There is no benefit in comparing practices of peoples belonging to totally different regions and language groups, yet this is done fairly often in politically correct textbooks to prove a point. This is intellectual dishonesty.
The other explanation for this sloppy approach is that those who apply it don’t know enough to realize the fallacy of the comparison. If this is the case, they should neither claim to be experts nor should they be recognized as experts.
To illustrate the comparison of apple and oranges, I’ll refer to a textbook that I’m presently using to teach World Religions. In the section on shamanism, the author generalizes that shamans are the priests of the ancient world and that since there are Japanese and Korean female shamans, there must have been female priests. This is of course the politically correct thing to say, but it is based on a false premise and employs an incorrect anthropological method. Here is the author’s reasoning in syllogistic form:
Premise: All shamans are priests.
Females are shamans.
Therefore female shamans are priests.
The problem here is that the premise is false. While there are ways in which shamans and priests are similar, the distinction between them is clear. Two of the oldest institutions known to man are the offices of priest and shaman. The first pertains to the Afro-Asiatic peoples and the second to the Altaic and Uralic peoples. While priests and shamans serve similar functions in their societies, their worldviews are very different.
Underlying shamanism is the belief that there are powerful spirits who cause imbalance and disharmony in the world. The shaman’s role is to determine which spirits are at work in a given situation and to find ways to appease the spirits. This may or may not involve animal sacrifice. Underlying the priesthood is belief in a single supreme Spirit to whom humans must give an accounting, especially for the shedding of blood. In this view, one Great Spirit (God) holds the world in balance and it is human actions that cause disharmony. The vast assortment of ancient laws governing priestly ceremonies, sacrifices, and cleansing rituals clarifies the role of the priest as one who offers animal sacrifice according to sacred law.
Another way in which the author misleads the reader is by comparing a trait (female shamans) in cultures in the Eastern Altaic language family with a trait (male priesthood) in cultures in the Afro-Asiatic language family. This is comparing apples to oranges and violates a fundamental principle of cultural anthropology.
Here is the oft-cited support for female shamans and goddesses: In Japan the Shinto goddess, Amaterasu, is said to protect the imperial family. She is associated with the sun. The author writes, “In contrast to many other religious systems, the goddess is associated with the sun....” He also notes that Japan and Korea have female shamans. What the author cites as an exception actually illustrates the norm. Let us investigate this case further.
Females nurture and are often taken as patronesses. Consider how the Church regards Mary, whose care for others is illustrated by her advising the servants at the wedding to “do as he tells you.” So it is not surprising that the imperial family should have a goddess as patron. Nor is it surprising that this goddess is associated with the sun since the sun is the emblem of Japan’s Imperial House (as is her moon brother's sword).
Where there are goddesses there are always female devotees, thus the female shamans in Japan and Korea. Such a phenomena has been observed surrounding the goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome as well. But these represent a worldview quite apart from the biblical worldview in which male and female are binary opposites and the male is regarded as superior to the female in strength and size, just as the Sun is larger than the Moon and the Moon's light is merely the reflection of the Sun. In God, the male condescends in love to His inferior so that she may share some of His glory.
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