FORMATION OF MENTALITY IN SHAMANISTIC SOCIETIES OF THE NANAI PEOPLE
Study of Religion 2021 DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2021.3.70-77 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Ethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Nanai people who practice shamanism |
| Key findings | Argues that the mentality of Nanai shamanists combines an irrational worldview, in which the spirit world and its characters are accessible, with a pragmatic principle that treats invisible spiritual reality as a resource for solving problems in the physical world. This combined mentality, the author contends, has sociogenetic potential reaching beyond shamanic practice. |
Abstract
The generalization of the field material collected by the author allowed to identify two groups of interrelated factors that form the mentality of those Nanai people who practice shamanism. There were two principles identified, the goal-setting and detecting the resources required to achieve the desired results. On the one hand, an irrational worldview, the idea of the accessibility of the space of the spiritual world and the characters inhabiting it (spirits), is specific to the mentality of shamanists. On the other hand, the basis of the mentality of shamanists is the priority of the principle of pragmatism (utility), that is, the desire to consider the spiritual invisible reality as a resource available for solving those problems that arise in the real physical world. The mentality formed at the intersection of the principles of irrationality and utility has a significant sociogenetic potential, its effect extends to those aspects of the socio-cultural reality that are outside of the actual shamanic practice...