tour 18 of 18
Unknown Amazon
Seated shaman figure
Shamans are people who possess special powers
to mediate between the spirit world and everyday life, and it is
important for Amazonians that, like this figure, they be seated
upright to do so.
The work
of the shaman is to cure illness and protect the community by
fighting hostile spirits. To make contact with the spirit world the
shaman often sits on a special stool, which is often carved into
the shape of a fierce creature such as a jaguar, cayman (alligator)
or bird of prey. These are the kinds of creatures which give
shamans their spiritual
powers.
Those Amazonian
peoples who use stools regard them as a way of linking themselves
to the sky above and the earth below. They feel
'grounded', which is necessary when getting in
touch with the spirit world, like this figure who seems to be in a
trance, brought about by taking a drink or
snuff.
Other
Views:
A Tukano
elder in the 1900s (photograph by Theodor Koch-Grünberg, 1903-5).
He sits on a low wooden stool and smokes a cigar through a
decorated holder.
A stool from the Xinguano
people such as a shaman might use, in the form of a jaguar, one of
the creatures which helps men enter the spirit world (Museum fur
Völkerkunde, Vienna).