SHAMANISM CASANOWICZ 419 



heaven, whence comes every good gift; the second power dwells in 

 the source of darlmess, in the bosom of the cold, dead earth. Be- 

 tween these two mighty powers lies the surface of the earth, which 

 is kin to man and is teeming with life apprehensible by him, 

 the Jersu with its mountains and seas, which supply him with all 

 the necessaries for the maintenance of his physical existence. But 

 the nature of the earth is variable and changeable, offering him no 

 protection against mishaps, losses, and pains. Therefore, man offers 

 his highest reverence to the "unknown powers of light and darlmess, 

 who control his own destiny as also the earth and its phenomena. 

 But these beings are so mighty and their workings so incompre- 

 hensible to him that he dares not enter into direct intercourse with 

 them. For these he needs those specially gifted persons who have 

 an understanding of the divine powers and the authority to control 

 them for the securing of good and averting of evil. 



Although the spirits of light are believed to be more powerful 

 than those of darlmess, the former need little attention because they 

 are good and kind, while the evil spirits, if not appeased, would 

 constantly do injury. It is also in human nature to accept the good 

 without much reflection, while the evil which man experiences and 

 the misfortunes which befall him stand out clearly in his conscious- 

 ness. In conseq'uence, the Shamanistic cult consists for the most 

 part in placating and controlling of evil spirits. But Shaman- 

 ism is not on that account to be termed a devil worship, but a cult of 

 spirits, or a ghost worship. The shaman is not possessed by a 

 devil, but by an ancestral spirit. When thus possessed he ascends 

 to heaven or descends to hell and influences the powers by the spirit 

 in him. 



THE SHAMAN— NAME 



The word " Shaman " is considered by some to be a corruption 

 of the Sanskrit Shratnana^ Pali, samana, an ascetic, which, indi- 

 cating a disciple of Buddha, became among the Mongolians synony- 

 mous with the magician. But the most acceptable explanation of 

 the word is that derived from the Manchu saman, pronounced 

 shamauy the fundamental meaning of which is " one who is excited, 

 moved, raised," thus answering to the principal characteristics of 

 the shaman. The name shaman is only found among the Tunguse, 

 Buryats, and Yakuts, but it is only among the Tunguse that it is the 

 native name, the Buryats and the Mongols calling their shaman ho or 

 hoe, and the female shaman odegon or utygan. Among the Yakuts 

 the shaman is called oyum, a female shaman, udagan, among the 

 Ostyaks, senin, female, senim. The Samoyeds call their shaman 

 .tadeheif and the Altaians use the term kam, and call the shaman's 

 dealings with the spirits kamlanie, i. e., kam-ing. 



