The Way of the Shaman and the Revival of Spiritual Healing in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Loading...
Date
2014
Authors
Advisor
Editor
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism
Title alternative
Abstract
Despite many years of Soviet rule in Central Asia, traditional medical beliefs
and practices were not eradicated and their revival has been noticeable in the
independent republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Religious and magical
healing, including shamanism, are important parts of this renewed tradition.
This article, based on extensive fieldwork conducted in Almaty, Kazakhstan,
and its vicinity between 1996 and 2000, and in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan,
between 2011 and 2013, examines the revival of healing, including
shamanism. It focuses on the way of a shaman and of other spiritual
healers—the process of recognizing the call of spirits and gaining skills and
power, peculiarities of their spiritual development and its social conditions.
Additionally, I present this kind of healing in the context of complementary
medicine in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which, generally, has achieved a
strong position in these countries. I discuss complex factors that influence its
popularity and official recognition, as well as observable fluctuations in the
attitude of the authorities to non-biomedical methods of treatment. On the
basis of my analysis I conclude that tradition plays a crucial role in the revival
of spiritual healing.
Description
Sponsor
Keywords
Shamanism, Shaman, Healing, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Citation
Shaman – Journal of the International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism, vol. 22, nos. 1-2, 2014, pp. 35-59