The Kyrgyz Bakshi

[David Morris]

Boy was this ever a "tourist's" point of view!  Reminds me of Pynchon's 
letter to Hirsch about the attitude of the colonist.

>http://www.europeaninternet.com/russia/media/tca.php3?id=382361
>
>The Shaman: A Magician, Healer, Or Exorcist?
>By Ekaterina Luzanova
>A shaman's ritual actions include driving himself into ecstasies, [...]. 
>While having hallucinations or visions, the shaman "hears" supernatural 
>voices.
>The purpose of the rite is to neutralize or propitiate the spirits. In 
>reality, the process of the shaman driving himself into ecstasies serves to 
>hypnotize both the surrounding people and the shaman himself. Usually the 
>shaman believes in his ability to communicate with superior forces. This 
>self-reliance may become fatal for a patient, because, if a folk-healer 
>possesses some skill and knowledge of how to heal, a shaman is just a 
>master of demonology.
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