healers & diviners healers a religious specialist who concentrates on healing – can refer to...
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Healers & Diviners
• Healers A religious specialist who concentrates on healing– Can refer to either a Priest or a Shaman– Herbalist
• Specialist in plant-derived cures. May provide or prescribe medicines. Intimately familiar with uses of local plant life.– Ex: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJtoNhYpLLQ (Healer/Shaman,
Paraguay)
Huichol Shaman and Healer
Healers & Diviners• Diviner– A religious specialist who specializes in Divination (a
series of techniques and activities that are used to obtain information about things that are not normally knowable.) • The future, the present at a distance, revealing the identity
of supernatural elements in the natural world.• “Reading” natural phenomena, cards. Entering an Altered
State of Consciousness and retrieving the info there.– Ex: The Tarot, astrology, necromancy
Prophets• Someone who
communicates the words and will of the gods to his or her community, acting as an intermediary between the people and the gods.– Ex: Moses, Mohammad– Ex: Wavoka (Pauite
Native American) 1856-1932, the Ghost Dance and the Massacre at Wounded Knee
Prophets• Someone who communicates the
words and will of the gods to his or her community, acting as an intermediary between the people and the gods.– Ex: Handsome Lake (Seneca Tribe)
• Near death experiences and visions with Christian overtones. He preached a revitalization of traditional seasonal ceremonies, strengthening the family and a prohibition against alcohol. After his death in 1815, his teachings became the foundation of the Longhouse religion.
– Ex: Ngundeng Bong (Nuer, Eastern Sudan) 1830s-1906• No written records of his life. Instead, stories:
Born when his mother was passed menopause after a 12-month pregnancy. Born with the power to contact the supernatural. As a young man he would often enter Altered States of Consciousness through fasting and seizures. He was possessed by the god Deng who would make prophecies through him. The Nuer believe prophets are chosen by a god an are able to predict the future, cure the sick and ensure fertility.