Where does the word shaman come from and how does it relate to shamanism?
The practice, study and experience of the shaman is not limited to any single cultural group. There has been some question about this raised outside of soc.religion.shamanism. The word ‘shaman’ is from the language of the Tungus of Siberia. It is variously ‘shaman’, ‘saman’ or ‘haman’. Among the Tungus it is both a noun and a verb. The Tungus themselves have no word for ‘shamanism’. It is something that is done by a shaman. It is by no means the name of their religion or of anyone’s religion. That being said, there is no provision in the charter of soc.religion. shamanism for the general discussion of native religion. That is, as it has been pointed out elsewhere, a very broad topic. The focus of this newsgroup, according to its charter is much more tightly focused. All submissions should keep that in mind. (deane@netcom.com) 6. Submissions Details • At USENET sites that provide automatic mailing in support of moderated newsgroups, posting to soc.religion.shamanism will transparently m
