The professional ecstatic in his social and ritual position

The professional ecstatic, or shaman, among traditional Eskimo societies is a part-time religious specialist who performs ecstatic rituals that are collective in nature. The shaman's social and cultic position is determined by the range of ritual duties he undertakes within the society. While shamans have ritual tasks in economic ceremonies and typically undergo initiation, they do not automatically become leaders; leadership requires organizational skills, especially in hunting contexts. In societies lacking formal political or juridical institutions, the shaman may also exercise control over social morality and, if possessing both shamanic powers and organizational gifts, can attain a leader's status with considerable authority during crises.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The professional ecstatic is a religious specialist, who has become recognized as a person able to carry out an ecstatic ritual, corresponding with the local cultural expectations in force. The ecstatic ritual per se comprises a number of persons, i.e. it is a collective ritual. Part of the criteria that may be employed as a measure of the professional ecstatic's social status, is covered by the determining designation, social and cultic position. What ecstatic ritual duties does he have, and how large a part in the whole range of collective rituals within his society will his duties comprise? This question is examined through the social and ritual position among the Eskimos in their traditional, and thus relatively stable, societal cultures. The professional ecstatics among the Eskimos may be defined as shamans. However, the shamans were only part-time specialists among the Eskimos. They did have ritual tasks in the economic rituals of their society, and most of them had to pass a special ritual of initiation to obtain recognition as a shaman. The Eskimos have no juridical institutions, and as their informal leaders have no juridical authority, the shaman must exercise a considerable control of social morality. The shaman can here function simultaneously as informal leader, which is an impossible combination in societies with some degree of political organization. A shaman never became a leader due to his shaman powers in isolation. In societies where hunting demanded organized cooperation under a single man's leadership, he should also have organisatorial gifts. If a shaman, apart from his recognized shaman powers, possessed these qualities, he could attain a leader's status. His advice as a shaman, in common situations of crisis, combined with his authority as a leader, would endow him with particularly great authority.