Category: Shamanism

Tricksters – The animist worldviews or cosmologies within which shamans are required ritualists, mediators, healers, or combatants usually posit co-creation by a wide community of…

Transvestitism – Shamans in many cultures perform alternative gender and other cultural, societal, and kinship roles different from those locally deemed “normal.” Some male shamans…

Transformation – Many shamans are purported to be able to transform themselves, either at will or with the aid of otherworld and other-than-human persons, or…

Trance – Shamans are sometimes distinguished from other religious or cultural leaders by their ability to deliberately enter altered states of consciousness. A trance may…

Townsend, Joan – Professor emeritus in anthropology at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Broadly concurring with Michael Harner’s definition of core shamanism as the essential…

Tourism – Shamanic performances and shamanic use of visioninducing plant derivatives have attracted both scholars and enthusiasts seeking initiation, education, and entertainment. While shamanism tourism…

Totemism – Often confused with the exceptionally close or “spiritual” relationship of a shaman with a particular animal or plant, totem derives from an Algonquian…

Tobacco – Indigenous to the Americas, tobacco is a sacred and powerful plant in many indigenous cultures. Its intoxicating effects were well known and rarely…

Tiered Cosmos – Among some, but far from all, societies that employ shamans, the cosmos is understood to be layered, often in three levels: an…

Tibet – Himalayan country with a long historical influence in the region, especially stretching northward into Buryatia and Mongolia and south into Nepal and India.…