Shamans Versus Priests

Shamanism contrasts markedly in several important aspects with the tenets that motivate formal religious establishments and the procedures associated with them. First, at the institutional level, the shaman is an individual practitioner whose unusual powers are personal in nature. He usually owes no formal obligation to any faction within the community itself for positon. In fact, he is usually considered an equal among equals and constantly attempts to difuse any power that could be derived from his abilities. This status differs sharply from the priest who derives authority from his constituted office in an established religious organization.

The shaman’s powers are personal and immediate. He directly confronts spirits whose significance to his society. The expectations of receiving prompt response to urgent group or individual needs. By contrast, the priest of a formal religion is usually concerned with the conduct of group events in which, through ritual practice, he brings a participating public into contact with sacred forces that are believed to possess universal authority. Moreover, it is far less common for the priest in organized religious ceremonies to encounter supernatural beings directly or to expect immediate results from them. Instead he acts as mediator and intercessor for the participating group with a more remote divinity whose sacred power transcends the exclusive interest of local communities.

It is clear from religious studies that in practice shamanism and organized religion are not mutually exclusive..