shamans
The Powers of a Mask
The Museum of Sciences in Caracas announced the acquisition of a new warime mask of the Piaroa people, according to a press release dated August 10. Issued by the Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura of Venezuela, the news story indicated that the Imé warime mask will be located in the central isle on […]
The Piaroa and the Giant Spiders
The Piaroa not only eat giant spiders that they find in the forests of southern Venezuela, they use them for their shamanic purposes. A European TV channel that specializes in culture and arts programing, the Association Relative à la Télévision Européenne (ARTE), sent a crew to Venezuela in order to broadcast last week a program […]
Paliyans Implore their Gods for Rain
A Pongal in India is normally a three or four day festival in which rural people express their gratitude to the sun for a bountiful harvest. But among some of the Paliyans of southern Tamil Nadu State, a Pongal expresses their desires for good rains. The Hindu last week published an article that provided some […]
Piaroa Envy, Revenge, and Nonviolence [anthology chapter review]
Alexander Mansutti Rodríguez describes some dramatic episodes of shamanistic violence in an article published last year in a book about lowland South America. One episode he describes, for example, concerns a very powerful Piaroa shaman, called a tjujaturuwa (lord of the people), who was preoccupied with defending himself from the attacks of potentially jealous rivals. […]
Piaroa Local Knowledge and the Politics of Contemporary Venezuela [anthology chapter review]
Piaroa society has changed over the past 40 years: they have moved to more accessible locations, many have accepted evangelical Christianity, and they are cautious about sharing their knowledge with visitors. Serena Heckler, in an article which she contributed to a recent book, concentrates on the third issue—their indigenous knowledge. The focus of her research […]
Shamanism Survives among the Inuit [journal article and video review]
Many observers of Inuit societies, both Inuit themselves and anthropologists, believe that shamanism disappeared at the same time other aspects of their traditional culture were replaced by Christianity. In a recent journal article, Jarich Oosten and two colleagues demonstrate that shamanism is still alive and well, though modified, in the Arctic. The opening pages of […]
In Praise of Folly—Piaroa Style [journal article review]
When groups of Piaroa laugh and tease a young man who just farted, they feel the merriment helps preserve everyone’s good health—much as Germans might say gesundheit to people who sneeze. But the intentions of the Piaroa go deeper than simple fun. They believe that the fart may release powerful contaminants, which the man may […]
Paliyan Gods Heal Illnesses and Solve Problems
Shamanism is an active part of daily Paliyan life, according to a 1991 journal article by Peter M. Gardner that has just been added to the Archive of the Peaceful Societies website. Their gods, called samis, are frequently summoned to come into the villages to provide personal healing, advice about stressful situations, or solutions to […]
