article

Shaman and seer

American anthropologist, N. S.31Published In 1962 • Pages: 60-84

By: Loeb, Edwin M. (Edwin Meyer).

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Loeb discusses the differences between the Mentaweian type of shaman or seer from that of the Siberian type which he calls in the text non-inspirational vs. inspirational. He then attempts to show that the seer is the oldest type of Indonesian medicine man and resembles the seer of all primitive cultures, and that the true shaman is a product of higher cultures (p. 60). The major part of the document, however, is devoted to a detailed discussion of the Pagai seer, his role, functions in the society, and the manner in which he (or she) obtains power. The work concludes with a discussion of Pagai sorcery.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Sorcery
Magical and mental therapy
Shamans and psychotherapists
Spirits and gods
Revelation and divination
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Mentawaians
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southeast Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1999
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1926
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
not specified
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
North and South Pagai, Mentawei Islands, west of Sumatra, Indonesia
NotesAdditional notes
By E. M. Loeb
Reprinted by permission of the original publishers Kraus Reprint Corporation, New York, 1962
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
17015424
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Mentawai (Indonesian people)