Abstract
The Greenland Shaman.—Dr. William Thalbitzer records in the Journal des Américanistes, N.S., vol. 22, fasc. 1, observations on the character of the shaman and his beliefs relating to the world and the soul, made at Ammassalik, the most northerly settlement on the eastern coast of Greenland. Near the settlement were about 500 pagan Eskimo, living in villages. Each group had its shaman (angakkok). These had no temporal power but considerable moral and religious authority. The shaman gave spirit manifestations almost nightly in one of the houses by the light of a single lamp, all other lights being extinguished. He conversed with the spirits in a sacred and mystical language, consisting of archaic words not fully understood by the spectators. Only the elect became shamans—dreamers and visionaries of an hysterical temperament. They were selected by the shaman to become his pupils and receive instruction in the mountains. The course of instruction lasted for from five to ten years, and the pupil received instruction not from one alone but from several shamans. In the course of instruction the pupil was devoured by the spirit of a bear but came to life again; he entered into communion with the spirits of the dead, spirits of metamorphosed animals, and the spirits of the other world. When he had learned from these their names, they became his allies and he could summon them to do his bidding. When he had thus become the master of all knowledge, he took up the functions of a shaman, one of these being the power of inflicting evil on a man's enemies or protecting him from their attacks. Each shaman had from ten to fifteen allied spirits. The shamans were thoroughly sincere in their belief in their powers and the manifestations of the spirits.
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Research Items. Nature 126, 894–896 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/126894a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/126894a0