Being an assistant to a shaman
This article is built around the author’s experience as a shaman’s assistant. This autobiographical account touches upon the poverty, beliefs in ghosts, and shamanistic practices in a Limbu hamlet of Kalimpong, which is a piece of land between Sikkim and Bhutan. Starting with a brief discussion on w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
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Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Ateliers d'Anthropologie |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ateliers/14343 |
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| author | Tanka Subba |
| author_facet | Tanka Subba |
| author_sort | Tanka Subba |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article is built around the author’s experience as a shaman’s assistant. This autobiographical account touches upon the poverty, beliefs in ghosts, and shamanistic practices in a Limbu hamlet of Kalimpong, which is a piece of land between Sikkim and Bhutan. Starting with a brief discussion on who a shaman is, the author describes the situation under which he became an assistant to a shaman whom he had to fetch to deal with the sickness of his brother. The author also brings out the issue of the shaman, or phedaṅgmā in the Limbu language, becoming rare because one could not become one by wishing so or by undergoing training under a senior shaman. He says that to become a shaman is a destiny and the signs of becoming one start to show quite early in childhood in the form of abnormal behaviour in specific cycles of months and on partaking of certain foods. In the end, the author shows concern for the future of shamanism, as it seems to be losing out to organised religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-67b548437fc14793bae6f6e99728e61f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2117-3869 |
| language | fra |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ateliers d'Anthropologie |
| spelling | doaj-art-67b548437fc14793bae6f6e99728e61f2025-01-30T13:42:17ZfraLaboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie ComparativeAteliers d'Anthropologie2117-38692021-01-014910.4000/ateliers.14343Being an assistant to a shamanTanka SubbaThis article is built around the author’s experience as a shaman’s assistant. This autobiographical account touches upon the poverty, beliefs in ghosts, and shamanistic practices in a Limbu hamlet of Kalimpong, which is a piece of land between Sikkim and Bhutan. Starting with a brief discussion on who a shaman is, the author describes the situation under which he became an assistant to a shaman whom he had to fetch to deal with the sickness of his brother. The author also brings out the issue of the shaman, or phedaṅgmā in the Limbu language, becoming rare because one could not become one by wishing so or by undergoing training under a senior shaman. He says that to become a shaman is a destiny and the signs of becoming one start to show quite early in childhood in the form of abnormal behaviour in specific cycles of months and on partaking of certain foods. In the end, the author shows concern for the future of shamanism, as it seems to be losing out to organised religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity.https://journals.openedition.org/ateliers/14343IndiaKalimpongLimbushamantrancephedaṅgmā |
| spellingShingle | Tanka Subba Being an assistant to a shaman Ateliers d'Anthropologie India Kalimpong Limbu shaman trance phedaṅgmā |
| title | Being an assistant to a shaman |
| title_full | Being an assistant to a shaman |
| title_fullStr | Being an assistant to a shaman |
| title_full_unstemmed | Being an assistant to a shaman |
| title_short | Being an assistant to a shaman |
| title_sort | being an assistant to a shaman |
| topic | India Kalimpong Limbu shaman trance phedaṅgmā |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ateliers/14343 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tankasubba beinganassistanttoashaman |