1. Religious specialists
Types of specialists

2. Across the societies Prophet Priest Shaman Medicine Men and women
Gurus ( God men and women)
Saints (other worldly)

3. Max Weber’s Ideal Types of Authority based on legitimacy
Rational – legal ( is based on written rules or laws and is linked to explicit forms of justification like in govt, judiciary, private corporations and
Traditional based on passage of time as tradition, heritage
Charismatic authority, a divine gift leads to a change, movement or revolution in the field

4. Saints : charismatic authority
Sorcerers, messiahs, Healers, Diviners, Shamans etc (examples)
Practical help and moral examples to the community
Saints as ascetic and “renouncers” can cause tension.
As exemplars and helpers
Example: Satya Sai Baba,His Holiness Dalai Lama among others

5. Prophet
Prophet- receiver of “a persona call” revelation & a divine gift
Achieve ecstatic state, healing, divination & telepathy.
Max Weber (1978): exemplary and ethical prophet
The problem of the prophet’s continuity with routinization of the movement
“Routinize” authority with firm rules to preserve the change
Examples: Buddha, Gandhi, Prophet in Sudan, Mormons
Articles by Lehman & Meyer- Ch.3
Religious Specialists
The Shaman: a Siberian Spiritualist
Dark Side of the Shaman

6. Priests
“..functioning of a regularly organized & permanent enterprise concerned with influencing the gods.”
Specialized training
Permanently associated with norm, places, & time

7. Shaman and Priest Shaman
Personal communication with supernatural being
Get powers by “divine stroke”
Present in many foraging, pastoral as well as in agricultural cultures
Priests
Trained specialist
Power from codified rituals
Agricultural/industrial societies

8. Anthropological understanding of Shaman
Present across cultures as a form of spiritual practice
Shaman & Medium
Shaman as a medium between the spirits who CONTROLS the spirits.
saman – an Evenk (Tungus) word meaning one who is excited, moved, raised”
a Siberian or Mongolian spiritual practitioner

9. The Shaman: a Siberian Spiritualist
Psychological benefits
Publicly recognized men and women
Duties
Most important person of the community, center of religion
3 realms of nature ( underground and the world beyond)
Hmong Shamans
Shamans as medicine men, healer, diviner, elder

10. Shamanism: universal science
What are the core functions of a shaman?
What are they trying to control and why?
What are the human needs they are addressing?
How are they healing disease? What mediums?
Why it is called a science?