Shamanism as Psychopatholgy

The religious practices of people living in tribal cultures have often intrigued anthropologists as well as generating important questions relating to cross-cultural understanding. In particular, shamanism is a practice which has been viewed from various perspectives, and in some cases, has been regarded as an expression of mental illness. Shamanism is an extraordinarily far-ranging practice, occurring in various regions of the world. The role of the shaman is to act as an intermediary between different planes of being among cultures which perceive nature to be alive with gods and spirits, part of the interconnected cosmos. The altered states of consciousness often experienced by shamans, as well as their association with illness, are factors which have contributed to the view of shamanism as an expression of psychopathology. However, this view of shamanism appears to have arisen from ethnocentric view points as well as a misunderstanding of shamanic practices and thus does not appear to be a valid analysis. Evidence