Shamanic Gift in the Global Village: Spiritual Energy and Biomedicine
Slovenský národopis / Slovak Ethnology December 1, 2019 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.2478/se-2019-0024 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Neo-shamanic healers in Slovakia legitimize their spiritual gift by framing shamanic practices as compatible with biomedicine. Two charismatic healers from different neo-shamanic groups use distinct rhetorical strategies shaped by their social settings and cultural backgrounds. Both rely on the concept of energy to bridge spiritual healing and natural sciences, presenting their abilities as either learned skills or a special gift. The study is based on ethnographic research of two neo-shamanic groups operating in Slovakia.
Study at a glance
| Design | ethnography |
|---|---|
| Population | two neo-shamanic groups in Slovakia |
| Key finding | Charismatic neo-shamanic healers legitimize their gift through rhetoric that presents shamanic practices as compatible with biomedicine, using the concept of energy as a bridge between spiritual healing and natural sciences. |
Abstract
Abstract Neo-shamanism or urban shamanism is a movement which concentrates on spiritual healing and aims to revive traditional shamanism. The aim of the paper is to explore the legitimation of charismatic neo-shamanic healers in relation to biomedicine which is a dominant authoritative body of medical knowledge in European societies. The paper presents the results of ethnographic research on two neo-shamanic groups operating in Slovakia. In neo-shamanism, the shaman’s abilities are represented either as learned skills, or a special spiritual gift. The latter is characteristic of charismatic persons within neo-shamanic groups. I base my argument on the understanding of charisma as rhetoric and investigate discursive strategies of two charismatic healers who belong to different kinds of neo-shamanic groups. Both support the view that the shamanic practices are compatible with biomedicine; however, they represent this compatibility in different ways. I argue that the rhetoric in the legitimation of the shamanic gift corresponds to the particular social settings and cultural background of a healer. It is manifested in the use of the concept of energy which serves as a bridge between spiritual healing and the natural sciences.