[The Yawanáwa medical system and its specialists: healing, power, and shamanic initiation].
Cadernos de Saúde Pública March 1, 2001 DOI: 10.1590/s0102-311x2001000200008 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractIn Yawanáwa shamanism, many different terms describe healers and their healing and aggressive techniques, which at first seems heterogeneous and complex. However, all these techniques share the same underlying concepts of power and knowledge. The article explains how the Yawanáwa conceive these ideas by examining the process of shamanic initiation, through which power and knowledge are acquired.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Yawanáwa people |
| Keywords | Psychology Medicine Sociology |
| Citations | 15 |
| Key finding | Argues that the diverse terms and techniques in Yawanáwa shamanism are unified by shared concepts of power and knowledge, revealed through shamanic initiation. |
Abstract
A wide variety of terms are used in Yawanáwa shamanism to name both healers and the relations between these specialists and techniques of healing and aggression, a characteristic that appears heterogeneous and complex. However, there is unity behind this appearance, because all the techniques are based on the same concepts of power and knowledge. To show how these ideas are conceived by the Yawanáwa, this article explores the process by which power and knowledge are acquired: shamanic initiation.