View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How old is shamanism estimated to be?
(a) Approximately 12,000 years old.
(b) At least 20,000 to 30,000 years old.
(c) Less than 3,000 years old.
(d) No one can even guess.

2. Harner asserts that shamanism has advanced in areas without technological innovations because:
(a) Technology hasn't erased these people's ability to tap into their intuition.
(b) The plant world communicates better with people when there is no technological interference.
(c) Of the need by these people to find ways to deal with survival and health issues.
(d) These people are neither distracted nor electromagnetically impaired by electronic interference.

3. Why is Harner afraid to take maikua?
(a) Its bitterness leaves his mouth dry and burns his throat.
(b) He's heard stories of death and madness that result from taking it.
(c) Nobody has ever taken maikua and lived to tell about it.
(d) It is a poison that affects the liver and impairs eyesight.

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

5. How does a shaman typically travel into the Lowerworld?
(a) Through a hole or tunnel.
(b) On the wings of a dragon.
(c) Wearing a special cloak.
(d) By teleporting.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do shamans use their guardian spirits?

2. On his or her first guided journey, the shaman student is asked by Harner to visualize what?

3. Why does Harner include the examples of the Lakota Sioux and Coast Salish tribes for Westerners in particular?

4. What must the shaman feed his spirit helpers?

5. Harner asserts that shamanism transcends any particular what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss what Harner says about the humility of shamanism?

2. Why does the author find it encouraging for Westerners that not all tribes use drugs in their shamanic practices?

3. Describe an environment that's conducive to the shaman being most effective while in a shamanic state of consciousness (SSC).

4. What is the participant of the exercise in Chapter 2 instructed regarding the end of the journey?

5. Describe the spirit helpers known as tsentak.

6. Explain the connection between an individual and his or her guardian spirit.

7. What are some of the similarities Harner notes in first-hand shamanic experiences reported by middle-class Americans?

8. Describe the tunnel a shaman utilizes to journey into the Lowerworld.

9. What are the main functions and activities of a shaman, as described in Chapter 3?

10. Harner compares rock-seeing to what Western practices?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 872 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample