Métraux, Alfred (1902–1963) – Swiss ethnographer of Vodou in Haiti and surveyor of Amazonian and Guyanese shamanism, conducting fieldwork in the late 1940s. Métraux was the author of Voodoo in Haiti (1959),
Mental Health – Shamans have been characterized as psychotic, schizophrenic, epileptic, neurotic, or otherwise mentally ill by a number of authors during the 20th century and especially since Maria Czaplicka’s notion of
Melanesia – A subdivision of Oceania or the Pacific Islands (along with Polynesia and Micronesia), spreading from New Guinea in the west to Norfolk Island in the east. It does not always
Mediums – Shamans are sometimes distinguished from “mediums,” a term most often applied to people, generally in Spiritualist or Spiritist movements, who enter trances and possession states and allow the dead or
Medicine Wheel – The term was first applied to the Big Horn Medicine Wheel monument and sacred site on Medicine Mountain, part of northern yoming’s Big Horn Range. The wheel consists of
Medicine People – Also medicine men and medicine women. A term cognate with holy people among many Native Americans that may be comparable to shamans elsewhere. Medicine not only emphasizes abilities to
Medicine Fathers – In the biography of Thomas Yellowtail, a medicine man of the Crow, there are regular references to “medicine fathers” who elect and initiate medicine people, giving them instructions about
Brooke Medicine Eagle (1943– ) Also known as Brooke Edwards. Métis (i.e., of Anglo and Native American parentage) author and popularizer of a version of neo-shamanism. Medicine Eagle is described as a
Medicine Bundles – Among many Native American peoples, it is common to gather sacred and powerful stones, herbs, and other object-persons into bundles that then serve as the focus of respectful ceremonialism
Medicine – A term that is particularly common in discussions of Native American religious traditions and practices. In part, it draws attention to the doctoring or healing powers and abilities of medicine
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