“Shamanic Illness” of the Prophet Ezekiel: Criticism of the Concept
A. Gasymov
The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University Series Political Science and Religion Studies 2024 DOI: 10.26516/2073-3380.2024.48.140 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Key points | Argues that Yong-Chi Rhie's reading of Ezekiel's calling as a shamanic illness fails because it omits central elements of shamanic illness, such as spirit possession, the candidate's suffering, and initiation into mudang, and because Ezekiel's calling narrative conforms to the typical pattern of Old Testament prophetic call accounts. |
Abstract
This article is devoted to refuting the concept of Yong-Chi Rhie, who proposes to read the narrative of the calling of the prophet Ezekiel as a shamanic illness (in Korean shamanism). Since the author investigates the story in question as such, without textual criticism, the refutation of the researcher's concept is constructed from within the biblical corpus. To analyze the problem, all key elements of both the shamanic illness and the calling of the biblical prophets are parsed in detail. It is noted that the comparison of the two phenomena – shamanic illness and the calling of a prophet – omits a number of important elements (spirit possession, physical and psychological suffering of the shamanic candidate, and the ritual of initiation into mudang). The paper emphasizes the biblical context of the calling of the prophets. A detailed examination of the account of the calling of the prophet Ezekiel reveals that this narrative is typical of such narratives in the Old Testament.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |