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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does a shaman enter a shamanic state of consciousness?
(a) For clarity and balance.
(b) To practice astral travel.
(c) To prove to the elders that he or she is a shaman.
(d) For a serious, specific purpose.

2. How does Harner end his first shamanic journey exercise for the reader?
(a) Wolf howl.
(b) Prolonged string vibration.
(c) Sound of a bell.
(d) Four sharp strikes.

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

4. What does Harner suggest is the purpose of songs during a shamanic journey?
(a) To keep the patient calm and relaxed.
(b) To amplify the shaman's altered state.
(c) To guide the shaman towards acceptable portals.
(d) To attract beneficial healing spirit helpers.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Way of the Shaman," the author shows similarities between:

2. What is the purpose of rattles used during a shaman's work?

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

4. After a journey that lasts several days in the jungle with his companions, Harner is taken where?

5. Master shamans focus on a triumvirate which is composed of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Prompted by similarities he found in books and accounts about shamanic experiences, what did Harner decide to do in order to learn more about shamanism?

2. Harner emphasizes in Chapter 1 that becoming a shaman involves what?

3. Harner says that apprentice shamans report similarities in how they get out of difficulties. What are some of the difficulties he mentions?

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

5. What does Akachu question when he and Harner are getting to know each other?

6. How does Harner say that a shaman can be distinguished from other medicine men?

7. Who is Akachu, and how does he help Harner?

8. Describe the spirit helpers known as tsentak.

9. How and why is a shamanic state of consciousness (SSC) achieved?

10. Describe Harner's journey with Akachu.

(see the answer keys)

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