Symbolic illnesses, real handprints, and other bodily marks: Autobiographies of Okinawan priestesses and shamans

Journal/Book: Ethos. 1997; 25: 4350 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 640, Arlington, VA 22203. Amer Anthropological Assoc. 408-427.

Abstract: Okinawan kaminchu priestesses and yuta (shaman-type practitioners) describe histories of illness on the path to accepting the religious roles. These illness narratives fit a socially recognizable formula for women religious leaders, a formula that shows the Okinawan listener that the teller is a legitimate religious leader. The types of illness, however, are quite different. Priestesses typically report minor illnesses that involve: some type of bleeding or bodily rupture or ''mark,'' whereas shamans typically report severe and long-term illnesses that involve problems with the ''head. '' The differences in their illness narratives reflect the different cosmological meanings of the two religious roles. Priestesses are understood to be incarnations of deity while shamans are understood to be especially skilled at communicating with deities and ancestors.

Note: Article Sered S, Bar Ilan Univ, Ramat GaN, ISRAEL

Zurück | Weiter