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Shamanism and Healing

The Shasta healer and diviner of the future was almost always a woman. Often this esteemed role was passed down in a family, but it was always a dream of power that marked the individual for service. A.L. Kroeber reported that " Catastrophic dreams also soon asserted themselves, and after a time swarms of yellow jackets were seen. This last type of dream was regarded s a conclusive proof of impending shamanistic power, the insects being interpreted as spirits. During this period of dreaming the woman ate no meat and avoided the sight and smell so far as possible. If she refused to take notice of her dreams or to refrain from meat, it was believed she would inevitably fall ill, whereupon a practicing shaman being called in, a cause would be announced. A persistent refusal of the dreamer to accept the power thrust upon her by the spirits would result in her death."

"About this period, also, it was customary for the prospective shaman to be addressed by a voice and to see a spirit aiming and arrow at her heart while he commanded her to sing." She was drop into a trance and during the trance, " the spirit taught her his song, which she repeated faintly while appearing to moan on the ground. In the evening she gradually revived and sang her song loudly, upon which the spirit told her his name and place of abode. For three days and nights thereafter she danced, during which time the spirit shot her with his 'pain' to test her. " If she survived the 'pain' during the dance she would draw it out of her body s a solid object, show it to the villagers, and then return it to her body by thrusting it into her forehead, shoulder or ear, and then pulling it out again to show her mastery of the pain. Other spirits would then visit her during the nights of dancing and test her with more 'pains' until she had mastery of at least three different pains that she 'stored' in different parts of her body that would help her in her healing work.

These 'pains' in her body allowed her to see spirits, converse with them, see pains in other people, and extract them; but it was the residence of pains in non-shamans that caused sickness, it preying on the body … Disease and the power of curing it thus had the identical cause. After the total of five days of visions and dancing, the shaman would spend a period of time gathering together healing paraphernalia, skins, feathers, baskets and paints, usually in groups of ten over one or more years. Once her spirit had inspected and approved this collection of healing apparatus and tools, she would then be qualified to become a shaman.

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