MUSINGS

Shamanism
Ron Cherry

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“Then his teeth parted, too, and he exhaled a cloud of tiny black
insects that looked like gnats or noseeums. They swirled furi-
ously between his knees, turned white, and disappeared.”

—The Green Mile, Stephen King

T
he word shaman is usually used by which the whole community participated Animals in Shaman Practices
American ethnographers in reference (Campbell 1969). He also noted that sha- Animals occur frequently and widely in
to men or women who, through the manism has a lighter, more whimsical shamanism. This is especially true of verte-
acquisition of supernatural powers, are character, with more personal gods than brates such as bear, coyote, deer, leopard,
believed to be able to either cure or cause the profoundly developed gods revered by and stag. Although less conspicuous than
disease. The word is derived from Tungus the planters. And, from an evolutionary vertebrates, insects and related arthropods
“shaman,” from Sanskrit “sramana,” as- perspective, it is interesting to note that are also found in shamanistic practices.
cetic. The most complete manifestation of millennia before Charles Darwin, people in For example, spirit helpers may be souls of
shamanism is centered in Siberia and Man- shamanistic cultures believed that humans dead persons, “nature spirits,” or mythical
churia, notably among the Tungus and also and animals were related. In their myths, for animals, which a shaman controls (Eliade
the Yakut, Samoyed, Koryak, Ostyiak, and example, animal characters frequently occur 1964). A shaman in the Tlingit tribes of
Chukchee—from the Eskimos to the Chinese in human forms. Then, according to various the Pacific Northwest used a mosquito
frontier (Leach 1984). However, shamanism creation myths, at a later date, animals be- mask (Fig. 1) to represent spirit helpers that
or elements of it are found in various cultures came physically differentiated into the forms assisted in healing the sick (Steele 1997).
worldwide. we see today (Harner 1980). Harner (1980) notes that new shamans col-
Shaman is sometimes used synonymously Today, in aboriginal
with medicine men and other mystical per- cultures, shamanistic
sons. However, they have certain attributes practices have been
that differentiate them from magicians, largely replaced by
priests, and medicine men. For example, advances in medicine.
shamans acquire their mystical powers indi- However, the burgeon-
vidually, in contrast to the formal, rigorous ing field of holistic
training that priests go through. All shamans medicine involves the
are magicians, but not all magicians are reinvention of many
shamans. Shamans have magical specialties techniques long prac-
such as “mastery over fire” and “magical ticed in shamanism,
flight.” Every medicine man is a healer, but such as visualization,
shamans use methods that are theirs and altered states of con-
theirs alone. Shamans specialize in trances sciousness, aspects
during which their souls are believed to leave of psychoanalysis,
the body and ascend to the sky or descend hypnotherapy, and
to the underworld (Eliade 1964). meditation (Harner
The great mythologist, Joseph Campbell, 1980). Plus ça change,
noted that shamanism evolved primarily plus c’est la même Fig. 1. Tlingit mosquito mask worn by a shaman. The ferocious nature
among hunter societies with more emphasis chose (the more things of this insect is indicated in the mask by its cold stare and toothy
on individualism rather than in agriculture- change, the more they beak. Photograph courtesy of Peabody Museum, Harvard University,
based societies that had elaborate rites in stay the same)! Cambridge, MA.

70 American Entomologist  •  Summer 2007

 heroes is an example of parallel mythology Warao Traditions
(Campbell 1969), and Kritsky and Cherry In any consideration of the topic of in-
(2000) discuss this topic relative to insect sects in shamanistic practices, special atten-
mythology. tion must be paid to the Warao, aboriginal
Insects may also be negative influences Americans who inhabited the labyrinthine
during shamanic journeys (i.e., trances). swamps and waterways of the Orinoco Delta
Harner (1980) notes that swarming insects in Venezuela. Fishing was important, and the
and spiders especially are to be avoided generic name of the Warao tribe means “Boat
by shamans during their journey. Joseph People.” According to Warao belief, all ill-
Campbell (1988) noted that in Lapland, a ness can be traced to supernatural or magical
shaman’s associate chased flies away from a causes. Hence, shamans were important in
shaman while the shaman lay in trance, for it causing and curing diseases, among their
was thought that any flies on the body while other varied powers (Wilbert 1972).
a shaman’s spirit was in flight might hinder The Warao have an elaborate mythology
or prevent the spirit’s return. And during that includes many different insects in roles
the celestial journey of a Carib shaman, the ranging from trivial to most important. In the
initiate may be painfully brought back to book Mystic Endowment, J. Wilbert (1993)

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earth by a master shaman applying a woven focuses on Warao religious ethnography and
mat in whose interstices large poisonous ants shows the rich storehouse of their insect
have been inserted (Eliade 1964). mythology. However, other than in brief
A chief function of shamans is to heal mentions by entomologists C. and J. Hogue
fellow tribal members, although at times (C. Hogue 1985, 1987; J. Hogue 2003),
they may also cause disease, acting as a the Warao insect mythology has not been
black magician (i.e., sorcerer, witch). Insects covered in entomological literature.
Fig. 2. Representation of Ant in Navaho
(Eliade 1964) and spiders (Harner 1980) Some of the most fascinating uses of
sandpainting. Native American shamans
believed ants had a mystical “ant power.” may be harmful intrusive powers that may insects in shamanistic practices are found
Drawing from Wyman and Bailey (1964). be introduced or removed from a patient’s among the Warao. For example, honey in
body by a shaman. For example, ants or its raw state was consumed only by sha-
grains of sand from an anthill may be among mans and, through extension, by the gods.
lect various insects that may become their the objects shot into a victim by a Navajo The wife of a shaman was recognized as a
spirit helpers, and they place special empha- shaman. Conversely, a Navajo shaman may shaman in her own right and was identified
sis on obtaining Spider, Bee, Yellow Jacket, remove these intrusive powers (objects) by with the “Mother of Honey,” a mythological
and Hornet. A fly is a spirit helper that aids magically drawing them to the surface of a figure who releases man from the bonds of
Yenisei Ostyiak shamans in their ecstatic patient’s body and then brushing them away hunger and sex. The god of the North was
journey (Eliade 1964). Furthermore, the (Wyman 1973). Warowaro, the Butterfly god (Calligo sp.).
soul of a Siberian shaman sometimes takes If a priest–shaman had served the Butterfly
the form of a wasp; in Mongolia, a shaman god, he would go to the god upon his death
chooses this insect as the hiding place of his to live a blissful afterlife. In another example,
external soul (Leach 1984). a weather shaman uses the image of a fiercely
A defining trait of a shaman is the ability aggressive and noxious wasp (Stenopolybia
to engage in magical flights to upper or lower fulvofasciata DeGeer) to provoke rainfall.
worlds, and insects also are found in these One of the most stunning examples of
rituals. Native Americans had a profound insects in shamanism and in insect mythology
respect for the mystical qualities of ants, that in general is found in the Warao mythologi-
is, “ant power” (Fig. 2). Mayor discusses cal House of the Swallow-Tailed Kite (Fig.
this topic his recent book on paleontology, 3). The ovoid architectural prototype of the
Fossil Legends of the First Americans (2005). House is the nest of the honey wasp (Brachy-
Mayor notes that ants occurred in “visions” gastra lecheguana Latreille) and the human
of medicine men, who would gather tiny fos- testis. The Warao refer to the wasp as ono
sils and pebbles from ant mounds for power (testis) because of the shape of its nest and its
in seeking visions. extraordinary fertility. Built of gray paper, the
Krupp (1991) notes that some of the ovoid nest of the honey wasp resembles the
stories people tell about the sky are symbolic House of the Swallow-Tailed Kite in form and
accounts of shamanic ascent. For example, color. The testis is also oval in shape. Inside
the Chumash Indians of the U.S. West Coast Fig. 3. Cross-section of the House of the the genital gland are chambers separated by
masquerade the shaman in a tale about a Swallow-Tailed Kite. From the lower story, a septa, like the combs that the honey wasps
boy named Centipede. During the course of plumed serpent with a luminous ball on the tip fasten to the inside of their nest. The nest
of her tongue penetrates the floor of the upper
this elaborate story, Centipede climbs to the does not have a central brood chamber with a
story. A ring of six quarters inhabited by insect
heavens, dies, and is resurrected. This story single queen, as do some other Hymenoptera
spirits surrounds an inner room. Note the table
symbolizes the shaman’s journey at great in the inner room at which insect spirits play a nests. Instead, within the honey wasps’ hive,
risk and spiritual death and rebirth that game to determine the fate of life on earth. The several reproductive individuals work on
allow him to pursue his special relationship room north of the entrance is inhabited by the different combs; likewise, there are several
with the gods. primordial shaman and his bee-wife. Drawing insect actors in the House.
The death and rebirth of mythological from Wilbert (1993). Upon the death of a light-shaman, his soul

American Entomologist  •  Volume 53, Number 2 71

ascends to the top of the sky to rendezvous tomologists to hunt outside entomology for Harper Collins, New York.
with an invisible psychopomp (a spirit that new sources of material to bring home to Mayor, A. 2005. Fossil legends of the first Ameri-
escorts newly deceased individuals to the our discipline. cans. Princeton University Press. Princeton,
afterlife), who eventually takes him to the NJ.
House of the Swallow-Tailed Kite. It is the References Cited Steele, D. 1997. The way of the spirit. Tehabi
residence of Kanobo Mawari, the patron Campbell, J. 1969. Primitive mythology: the masks Books. Del Mar, CA.
deity of light-shamans and Creator Bird. of god. Penguin books, New York. Wilbert, J. 1972. Survivors of Eldorado. Praeger,
Within this house are found four other Campbell, J. 1988. Historical atlas of world New York.
powerful insect spirits. They are Black Bee mythology, vol. 2, part 1. Harper and Row, Wilbert, J. 1993. Mystic endowment: religious
(Trigona hyalinata Cockerell), Blue Bee New York. ethnography of the Warao Indians. Harvard
(T. capitata Smith), Termite (Nasutitermes Eliade, M. 1964. Shamanism: archaic techniques University Press, Cambridge, MA.
corniger Molschulsky), and Wasp (S. fulvo- of ecstasy. Princeton University Press. Princ- Wyman, L. 1973. The red antway of the Navaho.
fasciata). When not resting or chanting, the eton, NJ. Museum of Navaho Ceremonial Art, Santa
male residents congregate around a board on Harner, M. 1980. The way of the shaman. Harper Fe, NM.
which the insects play a game that determines Collins, New York. Wyman, L., And F. Bailey. 1964. Navaho Indian
the fate of life on earth. The sociological, Hogue, C. 1985. Amazonian insect myths. Terra. ethnoentomology. University of New Mexico
ecological, and mythological interactions Press, Albuquerque.

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23(6): 10–15.
involved with these insect “Celestial Gam- Hogue, C. 1987. Cultural entomology. Annu. Rev.
blers” are exceedingly complex (see Wilbert Entomol. 32: 181–199. Ron Cherry is with the University of Florida
[1993] for details). Hogue, J. 2003. Cultural entomology, pp. 273–281. (IFAS) at the Everglades Research and Edu-
In V. Resh and R. Cardé [Eds.]. Encyclopedia cation Center, 3200 E. Palm Beach Road,
A Last Note of insects. Academic Press, New York. Belle Glade, FL 33430. His research interests
Insects have been reported to occur King, S. 1999. The green mile. Simon and Schuster, are insect pests of rice, sugarcane, and turf.
in various metaphysical practices such as New York. He also has a passion for mythology and has
religions, mythology, and magic. However, Kritsky, G, and R. Cherry. 2000. Insect mythology. published several papers on insect mythol-
this is the first detailed report of insects in Writers Club Press, New York. ogy. In 2000, he and Gene Kritsky published
shamanism. Most of the insect examples Krupp, E. 1991. Beyond the blue horizon. Harper Insect Mythology, the first book dedicated
came from anthropological and mythological Collins, New York. specifically to showing the important roles
sources, not entomological literature. This Leach, M. 1984. Funk and Wagnalls standard insects have played in mythology (see Refer-
article reinforces the need for cultural en- dictionary of folklore, mythology, and legend. ences Cited).

72 American Entomologist  •  Summer 2007