Shamans believe that spirits exist in the world around us and influence our lives. Shamans can be found all over the world, including in modern cities and remote regions like Siberia, Altai, Tuva, and Peru. Shamans go into trances and use drums, costumes, plants, and other tools to communicate with spirits to find solutions to people's problems and provide healing. Interest in shamanic practices is growing as people seek an ancient spiritual tradition for healing illnesses.
Shamans believe that spirits exist in the world around us and influence our lives. Shamans can be found all over the world, including in modern cities and remote regions like Siberia, Altai, Tuva, and Peru. Shamans go into trances and use drums, costumes, plants, and other tools to communicate with spirits to find solutions to people's problems and provide healing. Interest in shamanic practices is growing as people seek an ancient spiritual tradition for healing illnesses.
Shamans believe that spirits exist in the world around us and influence our lives. Shamans can be found all over the world, including in modern cities and remote regions like Siberia, Altai, Tuva, and Peru. Shamans go into trances and use drums, costumes, plants, and other tools to communicate with spirits to find solutions to people's problems and provide healing. Interest in shamanic practices is growing as people seek an ancient spiritual tradition for healing illnesses.
Shamans believe that spirits exist in the world around us and influence our lives. Shamans can be found all over the world, including in modern cities and remote regions like Siberia, Altai, Tuva, and Peru. Shamans go into trances and use drums, costumes, plants, and other tools to communicate with spirits to find solutions to people's problems and provide healing. Interest in shamanic practices is growing as people seek an ancient spiritual tradition for healing illnesses.
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LESSON 50
THE RISE OF SHAMANS
1. What do you know about shamans?
The word “shaman” comes from the Evenki, a Siberian people, which means ‘’one who knows’’. But now shamans can be found all over the world—in shamanic centers in modern cities, in Siberian mountains and in far regions. Shamans believe that spirits are in the world around us and they are important for our lives. By travelling to Siberia, especially to Baikal, Altai or Tuva regions we can see shamanic rituals and meet a real shaman.
2. What do you think? Is it true?
1) Shamans can levitate. 2) Shamanism is a religion. 3) There are shamans only in far little villages. 4) Anybody can become a shaman. 5) Shamans can speak with ghosts.
3. How can you describe a typical shaman? Tell how he looks like, what he does. 4. Look at the words below. Read and translate. What do shamans do with these things? Why do they need them?
drums costume musical instruments
herbs ritual dream catcher
Why do they have rituals?
Where can they find herbs? How do they use them?
What is a dream catcher? Do you have a dream catcher?
Is a special costume necessary (обязательный ) for a shaman?
How do they use drums or other musical instruments?
5. Read the verbs below. Say when shamans do this.
sing
play
dance
speak with spirits
heal people
go in trance
perform a ritual
6. Are Peru shamans different from Altai shamans?
Inca shamanism saved its original form. The shamans can be man and women too. They have different types of shamans, for example the shamans of Mother Earth and the shamans of the Spirits of the Mountains.
Shamans learn everything that they know from their grandparents and great- grandparents. This information was told by older generation to younger. The shamans are initiated in a specific mountain; their power is connected to the Sun, the Moon, the stars, and everything on planet. They have spiritual guides: the Condor, the Puma, the great Serpent and the Hummingbird.
Condor Puma Serpent Hummingbird
7. Correct the sentences.
1) Inca shamans can be only women.
2) They have 5 animal guides. 3) Shamans can learn from books. 4) They are initiated on a special cliff. 5) Shaman’s power is connected to his people.
8. Read the words below. Answer the questions.
experience - опыт
solution – решение
ancient – древний
illness - болезнь
cause – причина
fall off – отпасть, отвалиться
miracle – чудо
Do you like ancient cultures? Why?
Is it important to save ancient buildings?
What can fall off the wall?
Do you need experience to find work?
Do you believe in miracles?
What can be a cause of bad mood?
9. Read the article. What do shamans do?
The rise of the shamans
The sound of drums can be heard in the small conference
room when the shaman goes into a trance. Other people closed their eyes and focused on the sounds of the drums. The shaman, in his trance, makes a journey to a parallel reality to look for solutions to different problems that the group asked him. For most people this may look strange, but it is becoming a usual experience for others. People from many different professions - students, businessmen, housewives, soldiers – they are practicing shamanism, an ancient spiritual practice where the shamans speaks with ‘spirit guides’ to find information and healing.
Cosima Klinger-Paul, an Austrian who moved to India in 2000 and started a
school of shamanism, says that the interest in the practice is not surprising. ‘There is shamanism in every culture. It is the oldest healing method of the world.’
How does shamanism work? Shamans believe that all illnesses have a spiritual cause, and healing the spiritual cause helps the physical body. Shamanic cultures around the world believe that when someone has a physical or emotional trauma, a piece of his soul ‘falls off’. So, when a person find his lost part of soul, his health comes back too.
But is it really so simple? People who tried shamanic healing think so. Harnam Sidhu, a 46-year-old marketing director, says it is true. ‘It helped to stop my illness’ he says. He tried shamanism, and when he went to his doctor again, his doctor told him that a miracle happened - his illness started to go away. Shelly Khanna, who took shamanic healing for a problem with shoulders, says she felt really better after the session. ‘I went as a skeptic, but I was so surprised by the experience that I wanted to learn shamanism myself.’
Was it really shamanism or the placebo effect? People who believe say that shamanic healing is an ancient tradition that passed the test of time and that was used to help people for amny years. ‘Shamanism is not a religion’ says Klinger-Paul. ‘It takes time to understand the spirit world. I usually say ‘no’ people who ask for quick healing. This is not aspirin that you can take and be ok.’
Read the article again and choose a, b, or c.
1 According to the article, shamans help people to…
a communicate with dead relatives b solve their health problems c enter a parallel reality
2 Shamans heal people by…
a curing their depressions b helping them to find something they lost c dealing with their deep emotional problems
3 Harnam Sidhu and Shelly Khanna…
a both had serious illnesses b at first didn’t believe that shamanism could help them c both become more interested in shamanism
4 According to Klinger-Paul, shamanism…
a takes time to work b works if people believe in it c work only because of the placebo effect
