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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happens in the state a shaman reaches, known as a type of ecstasy?
(a) The soul leaves the body, either ascending or descending.
(b) The shaman taps into perfect bliss.
(c) A higher entity takes over and controls the shaman's body.
(d) The shaman's spirit goes on a type of auto-pilot mode.

2. Master shamans focus on a triumvirate which is composed of what?
(a) The heart, brain, and lungs.
(b) Knowledge, power, and healing.
(c) Emotions, thoughts, and breath work.
(d) Virtues, strength, and vitality.

3. How does the author describe his world during a shamanic state of consciousness?
(a) "New, and yet familiarly ancient universe."
(b) "Mildly disturbing, and an incredible trip."
(c) "Marvelous, infinite, otherworldly."
(d) "Simultaneously familiar, unfamiliar, and complete."

4. Which of the following does NOT help a shaman enter a shamanic state of consciousness?
(a) Tattoos.
(b) Songs.
(c) Drums.
(d) Rattles.

5. What does Harner speculate about the mandala?
(a) It could hold the keys to astral time travel.
(b) It may represent openings to the sky or the Lowerworld.
(c) It could represent the doorway to stars and entrance to spaceships.
(d) It may guard coded instructions reserved for the most advanced shamans.

6. Harner writes that in non-ordinary reality, spirit helpers appear as what?
(a) Religious deities.
(b) People once known who have passed on.
(c) Animals, including jaguars, monkeys, and butterflies.
(d) Familiar plants and flowers.

7. What are guardian spirits called in Siberia?
(a) Warning spirits.
(b) Guardian angels.
(c) Angelic beings.
(d) Tutelary spirits.

8. What is the name of the Jivaro shaman Harner works with?
(a) Arechu.
(b) Akachu.
(c) Pikachu.
(d) Machu.

9. What does Harner point out about the Lakota Sioux and the Coast Salish tribes?
(a) Are the best natural healers in the world.
(b) Shun the practice of shamanism and instead pass down stories from one generation to the next.
(c) They achieve altered states of consciousness without using hallucinogenic substances.
(d) Were the first tribes known to practice shamanism.

10. What does the author tell an aspiring shaman to do upon returning from his or her first journey?
(a) Describe the journey aloud.
(b) Go to sleep.
(c) Drink a glass of water.
(d) Immediately stand and walk around.

11. If SSC stands for shamanic state of consciousness, what does OSC stand for?
(a) Other-worldly shamanic consciousness.
(b) Ordinary state of consciousness.
(c) Ordinary shamanic consciousness.
(d) Orthogonal state of consciousness.

12. What are guardian spirits known as in Australia?
(a) Spirit of assistance.
(b) Angelic assistant.
(c) Totem angel.
(d) Assistant totem.

13. In early experiences with the Conibo, Harner hears rushing:
(a) Water.
(b) Wind.
(c) Cattle.
(d) Trains.

14. What does Harner say that middle-class Americans report experiencing on their shamanic attempts?
(a) Tunnels.
(b) Temperature changes.
(c) Euphoria.
(d) Colors.

15. How do the Conibo access the Lowerworld?
(a) By chanting and dancing all night in front of a fire.
(b) Riding on the backs of patagonian capybaras.
(c) Using a giant catahua tree root system.
(d) Through secret holes dug by their ancestors.

Short Answer Questions

1. To learn more about shamanism, what does Harner do?

2. What is the purpose of rapid drumming during the guided journey that Harner takes new students through?

3. In his guided, step-by-step instructions for a first journey, Harner instructs the aspiring shaman to eat:

4. When the shaman is in an altered state, how does healing take place?

5. While working, why must a shaman remain lightly connected to the material environment?

(see the answer keys)

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