Summary Of Fate Of The Lhapa
Mari Womack’s overview of shamanism to a large extent stays within the biomedical way of understanding of the role, by comparing it with psychosis or analyzing the physiological changes occurring in shamans. However, both Susan Greenwood and Robert Dejarlais’ analysis, backed up by Sarah Sifers’ documentary “Fate of the Lhapa” extend Womack’s ideas as well as emphasize important aspects of shamanism that seem to be unnoticeable in her outline. Thus, the concept of metaphorical travel could be better understood by means of externalization and participation, while the role of shamans should be emphasized as primarily human, arising from years of apprenticeship. First, Womack discriminates between shamans and mediums by different types of involvement
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The tools used by shamans are indeed to prove that the sickness, or disorder, can be fixed, as the patient can actually see the shaman in action. However, following Desjarlais analysis of the altar, the role of the both physical and metaphorical devices is far greater. First, they allow the patient to visualize the sickness, or even the guiding spirits, in the physical form, in a way that’s comprehensible to the patient (Desjarlais, 292). Therefore, the inevitable fear of the unknown gets mitigated, as the patient can channel his worries or hopes into a precise object depicting either bad or good spirit. This idea is further extended upon the description of shaman’s journey, full of locations and phenomena which are understandable to the patient: the fear is translated into forest, the risk into a valley (Desjarlais, 292). Moreover, following Halliburton’s claim, the change in what the patient feels changes how the patient feels, thus giving a long-term effect to a short procedure (Halliburton, 163). Thus, aside from making these emotions somewhat physical, the storytelling has further importance of rerouting patient’s attention away from the illness itself, contributing to his further well-being. Therefore, the theatrical devices have much more meaning than just a placebo, in fact becoming an element of an actual
The tools used by shamans are indeed to prove that the sickness, or disorder, can be fixed, as the patient can actually see the shaman in action. However, following Desjarlais analysis of the altar, the role of the both physical and metaphorical devices is far greater. First, they allow the patient to visualize the sickness, or even the guiding spirits, in the physical form, in a way that’s comprehensible to the patient (Desjarlais, 292). Therefore, the inevitable fear of the unknown gets mitigated, as the patient can channel his worries or hopes into a precise object depicting either bad or good spirit. This idea is further extended upon the description of shaman’s journey, full of locations and phenomena which are understandable to the patient: the fear is translated into forest, the risk into a valley (Desjarlais, 292). Moreover, following Halliburton’s claim, the change in what the patient feels changes how the patient feels, thus giving a long-term effect to a short procedure (Halliburton, 163). Thus, aside from making these emotions somewhat physical, the storytelling has further importance of rerouting patient’s attention away from the illness itself, contributing to his further well-being. Therefore, the theatrical devices have much more meaning than just a placebo, in fact becoming an element of an actual