What is another word for shaman?

Pronunciation: [ʃˈamən] (IPA)

The word shaman is derived from the word Å¡aman, a Tungus (Siberian) word for spiritual healer, and has been used to describe spiritual leaders in various cultures throughout history. Synonyms for shaman include medicine man, healer, witch doctor, sorcerer, and spiritualist. In Native American cultures, shaman are often referred to as the Holy People or Medicine People. In African culture, the term nganga is used to describe a spiritual healer while in Greek mythology, the term witch and sorceress are used to describe supernatural female healers. Regardless of the culture or language used, the essence of a shaman is someone who possesses spiritual knowledge and the ability to communicate with the spirit world to heal and guide others.

Synonyms for Shaman:

What are the paraphrases for Shaman?

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What are the hypernyms for Shaman?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

Usage examples for Shaman

In a circle of flaming logs I saw the shaman, clad in pure white and looking considerably cleaner than I had previously thought possible.
"From Paris to New York by Land"
Harry de Windt
The ceremony seemed to consist of circling round without cessation for nearly an hour, at the end of which time the shaman commenced to howl and foam at the mouth, to the great excitement of his audience.
"From Paris to New York by Land"
Harry de Windt
About twenty miles north-east of Tostach we came across the tomb of a shaman which, judging by its appearance, had been there about a century, and the shell with the remains had long since disappeared.
"From Paris to New York by Land"
Harry de Windt

Famous quotes with Shaman

  • The knowledge of the realm of death makes it possible for the shaman to move freely back and forth and mediate these journeys for other people.
    Stanislav Grof
  • Listen, wait, and be patient. Every shaman knows you have to deal with the fire that's in your audience's eye.
    Ken Kesey
  • Though Melville omitted it, Captain Ahab said, "In one sense, Aleister Crowley is lower than whale shit. In another, he's as high as God's hat. The true shaman knows that God's hat is made out of dried whale shit."
    Aleister Crowley
  • As I was writing about Grace Marks, and about her interlude in the Asylum, I came to see her in context — the context of other people's opinions, both the popular images of madness and the scientific explanations for it available at the time. A lot of what was believed and said on the subject appears like sheer lunacy to us now. But we shouldn't be too arrogant — how many of our own theories will look silly when those who follow us have come up with something better? But whatever the scientists may come up with, writers and artists will continue to portray altered mental states, simply because few aspects of our nature fascinate people so much. The so-called mad person will always represent a possible future for every member of the audience — who knows when such a malady may strike? When "mad," at least in literature, you aren't yourself; you take on another self, a self that is either not you at all, or a truer, more elemental one than the person you're used to seeing in the mirror. You're in danger of becoming, in Shakespeare's works, a mere picture or beast, and in Susanna Moodie's words, a mere machine; or else you may become an inspired prophet, a truth-sayer, a shaman, one who oversteps the boundaries of the ordinarily visible and audible, and also, and especially, the ordinarily sayable. Portraying this process is deep power for the artist, partly because it's a little too close to the process of artistic creation itself, and partly because the prospect of losing our self and being taken over by another, unfamiliar self is one of our deepest human fears.
    Margaret Atwood
  • I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. … I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. … I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.
    Edith Sitwell

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