The Encyclopedia of World Religions

418 S Shariah

mental states. (Some have suggested that the elec tronic dance music known as techno that is played at raves has this effect, too.) Practitioners believe that in these states they come into contact with the spirit world or more broadly with the whole world of nature. Their spirit helpers, along with the knowledge of plants and crystals that they have learned in their altered states, give them the ability to heal. Some movements calling themselves sha manic make use of a wide range of healing tech niques, such as aromatherapy, rain drop therapy, and Reiki (a healing practice based on touch) as well as shamanic journeying and soul retrieval. Neoshamanism rejects sharp boundaries between human beings and animals and often seeks to restore wholeness on a cosmic as well as an individual level. In this respect it has a strong ecological character. Modern medicine attributes whatever healing benefits neoshamanic practices have to psycho logical factors. Many medical professionals are also suspicious that many claims about healing are unproved and overstated. At the same time, a patient’s psychological state does contribute to healing, and shamanic techniques may have some demonstrable positive effects. Further reading: Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (New York: Bollingen Foundation, 1964); Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing (New York: Bantam Books, 1982); I. M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion: A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession, 3d ed. (New York: Routledge, 2003); Shamanism: A Reader, Graham Harvey, ed. (New York: Routledge, 2003); Margaret Stutley, Shamanism: An Introduction (New York: Routledge, 2003); Piers Vitebsky, Shamanism (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001).

heal the patient! Another view of sickness was that it was the result of invasion of the sick person by EVIL spirits. Other shamans would heal the sick by sucking out or driving out the malevolent entity. In any case, the shaman tends to diagnose and then treat the illness in terms compatible with the world view of his culture. Shamanism also had a profound impact on the early development of human culture. One could say that shamans were the first physicians, psy chologists, poets, and prophets. Shamanism also had a deep relationship with the beginnings of art and story, for the shamans created or used these in their costumes and performances to a greater degree than anyone else. They could also serve as magicians and priests, and custodians of tribal lore. To be sure, shamans have sometimes been sleight of-hand artists, resorting to trickery to achieve their effects. Yet, all in all, they greatly expanded the horizons of human experience and ability. The rise of science, modern medicine, elec tronic communication, and global business has not meant the end of shamanism; it has produced new forms of shamanism instead. In a country with a strong shamanistic tradition like Korea, sha manism continues to thrive, but the concerns of the people who seek a shaman’s assistance have changed. Formerly people sought healing. Today they are just as likely, or more likely, to seek help and advice in uncertain business dealings. In North America and Europe, a different approach to shamanism has arisen, sometimes called “neoshamanism.” More critical of capital ism and business practices, it provides an alter native sense of meaning in the modern world for people who find traditional J UDAISM and C HRISTIAN ITY no longer effective. Starting in the 1960s North Americans and Europeans began to take a great deal of interest in anthropology. In the process they discovered shamanism. An early, influential popularizer of shamanism was Carlos Castaneda (1925–98). The most influential such anthropologist today may be Michael Harner (b. 1929). Neo-shamanism uses rhythmic techniques such as drumming and dancing to induce special

Shariah An Arabic word meaning path; in I SLAM G OD ’s revealed law for human beings. Islam holds that God, as creator, desires human beings to live in certain ways, and that he has revealed those ways to humans ( see A LLAH ). That revealed law is