1 he must prove by the performance of some stupendous work beyond the strength of one man, that he is supernaturally aided by the supreme being.» Among certain Siberian peoples, also, one of the powers required of those who wish to become shamans is that of foreseeing future events. 2 Before a Greenlander was acknowledged 3 as an Angakok he had to show his power by calling forth his familiar spirit, and during this interval »>his state would sometimes be revealed by the fact of his feet sinking in the rocky ground just as in snow.» 3 Any young Apache can become a medicine-man; for that purpose it is, among other things, necessary to show that he is able to interpret omens in a satisfactory. manner, and to do other extraordinary things. + Sometimes people believe it possible to judge from mere outward signs that certain persons possess mysterious powers and are able to act as sorcerers or priests. So, among the Ojebway Indians, »many receive the name of witches without making any pretensions to the art, merely because they are deformed or ill-looking.» All esteemed witches or wizards among these Indians are, as a rule, >remarkably wicked, of a ragged appearance and forbidding countenance.» Mr Reade states that in Congo »>all dwarfs and albinos are elevated to a priesthood.» There is little doubt that the awe with which this class of men is generally regarded, in consequence of their outward appearance, also accounts for the belief that they are endowed with secret powers. Outward pecu 5 ii. 83. 1 3 Dalton, Ethnology of Bengal, p. 270. Шашковъ, "Шаманство, in Записки Геогр. Общ. Rink, Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, p. 59. ✦ Bourkie, 'Medicine-Men of the Apache,' in Smithsonian Reports, ix. 452 sq. 5 Jones, History of the Ojebway Indians, pp. 145 sq. 6 Reade, Savage Africa, p. 363. liarities in children are in certain cases believed to denote that these are bound to become priests when grown-up. Some tribes in Central Australia think that children who are born with their eyes open have the power of seeing and communicating with the spirits when they arrive at maturity. The Tunguses in Siberia consider children who bleed at the nose or mouth to be destined by the gods to the profession of shamanism. 2 It has been mentioned that the principal qualification for priesthood is the ability to communicate with the gods. Among some peoples, before a man is acknowledged as a priest, he has to prove that the god is »in him», and the most general evidence is falling into a state of ecstasy. Thus in Ashanti the hereditary order of fetish-men is augmented by those who declare that the fetish has suddenly seized, or come upon them; a series of convulsive and unnatural bodily distortions establishes their claims. 3 The same is stated with reference to the fetish-men of the Gold Coast natives. Among the Manipuris in India, »a woman who chooses to declare herself inspired, and can give evidence of the afflatus by going into fits, may enter upon her noviciate as a priestess.» 5 The universal occurrence of such ideas necessarily induces us to pay a somewhat closer attention to the mental disposition which is supposed to qualify a person for the priestly office. Undoubtedly we here meet with a significant feature characteristic of early priesthood. All that we learn in this matter points to the fact that the priests among a great number of peoples must ii. 83. 1 Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 515. 3 Beecham, Ashantee, p. 189. Bowdich, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, p. 264. 4 Kingsley, West African Studies, p. 145. display a considerable excitability of mind and that, consequently, certain qualifications of a pathological and psychological nature very generally characterize the priests and sorcerers of uncivilized races. From several parts of the world we are informed that individuals of a certain eccentric disposition are considered to be specially apt for the sacerdotal vocation. The peoples of Siberia supply numerous illustrations of the mental qualifications required of priests. With reference to the Mongolian shamans, M. Banzarof remarks that they were recruited from a class of men who were distinguished by their habits of contemplation and insight into mysteries as well as by their ardent imagination, 1 and another Russian investigator writes that the qualifications of a person for shamanhood were thought to appear in frequent fits of giddiness and fainting, besides other signs. A similar idea regarding the mental disposition of shamans is by Professor Krohn attributed to the Finnish tribes in Siberia. 3 The aborigines of the Altai district suppose that the influence of the evil spirit, which compels a person to become a shaman, makes itself known by continual yawning, shrieking and leaping round, &c. An incipient shaman of the Yakuts begins to see visions, endeavours to throw himself into the water or fire, and seizes knives to hurt himself with, after which he declares that the spirits have ordered him to become a shaman. 5 A Russian writer states of the same people that the most nervous and excitable 2 Банзаровъ, Шаманство у Монголовъ, р. 36. Шашковъ "Шаманство,, in Записки Геогр. Общ. 3 Krohn, Suomen suvun pakanallinen jumalanpalvelus, p. 84. 4 Вербицкій, Алтайскіе Инородцы, р. 45. 5 Bastian, Der Mensch in der Geschichte, ii. 132. among them make themselves shamans. The novice among the Buryats signalizes himself by his mental eccentricity; he is often absorbed in thought, he likes to be alone and occasionally has epileptic fits, or becomes unconscious. To the thinking of the Buryats his soul during that time dwells with the spirits, by which it is. instructed for the office. The Tunguse shamans display similar traits. The Lapps believed that nervous persons who in their childhood were often ill and had visions were especially adapted for the office of a sha 3 2 When a Fijian is ambitious to succeed a priest who dies without male heirs, »he will cunningly assume a mysterious air, speaking incoherently, and pretending. that coming events have been foretold him by the kalou (spirit), whom he claims to have seen and talked with.» 5 The term fahe-gehe, which is used of the priests in Tonga, means, according to Mariner, »split off, separate, or distinct from, and is applied to signify a priest, or man, who has a peculiar or distinct sort of mind or soul, differing from that of the generality of mankind, which disposes some god occasionally to inspire him.» ® Instances of similar ideas are furnished by certain Indian tribes. An Apache who wishes ever to become a medicine-man must, among other qualifications, »>show 1 Приклонскій, "Три года въ Якутской Области, in Хивая Старина, і, 4. р. 50. 2 Михайловскій, "Шаманство, in Извѣстія Общ. Любителей Естествознанія, etc., 1xxv. 74. See also Агапитовъ and Хангаловъ, ’Шаманство у Бурятъ,'in Извѣстія В.Сиб. Отд. Геогр. Общ. хіѵ. 45. 3 "Тунгусы, in Сибирскій Вѣстникъ, хіх. 40. 4 Friis, Lappisk Mythologi, p. 4. Tornæus, Beskrifning öfver Torna och Kemi Lappmarker, p. 20. 5 Wilkes, Narrative of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, iii. 87. 1 that he is a dreamer of dreams, given to long fasts and vigils,» and demonstrate the possession of an intense spirituality. Among the Indians of British Guiana epileptic subjects are by preference chosen as Peaimen, and are trained to throw themselves at will into convulsions. 2 Dr. Ehrenreich, speaking of the Karaya Indians on Rio Araguya, observes that nervous individuals and epileptics are peculiarly qualified for the vocation of a sorcerer. Among the Tehuelches boys and girls of eccentric dispositions are believed to be destined to become sorcerers or sorceresses. 4 Regarding the Kafir priests of Natal the Rev. J. Shooter writes: -- »Symptoms supposed to indicate an individual's coming inspiration are mental depression, a disposition to retire from his accustomed society, severe fits of an epileptic nature, extraordinary and numerous dreams. The neophyte talks about his marvellous visions, and commences running, shrieking, plunging into water, and performing wonderful feats, until his friends say he is mad; and he speaks and acts like one under the influence of a supernatural being.» The same characteristic of a would-be priest among the Kafirs is given by several other writers." Among many peoples the mere faculty of falling into convulsions or into a state of unconsciousness is all that is requisite for becoming a priest. Thus we read respecting the Fijian priests: >> The power of receiving 1 Bourkie, 'The Medicine-Men of the Apache,' in Smithsonian Reports, ix. 452 sq. 2 3 Im Thurn, Indians of Guiana, p. 334. Ehrenreich, Beiträge zur Völkerkunde Brasiliens, p. 33. + Musters, Unter den Patagoniern, p. 194. 5 Shooter, Kafirs of Natal, p. 191. Fritsch, Di Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika's, p. 99. Holden, Past and Future of the Kaffir Races, pp. 285 sq. Maclean, Kafir Laws and Customs, p. 80. Kielland, Zululandet, pp. 54 sq. |
