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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 do individuals need the protection of a guardian spirit?
(a) To counter chaotic spirits.
(b) To maintain a strong, steady heartbeat.
(c) They are weak.
(d) To reach adulthood.

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

3. In the cultures Harner studies, shamans are primarily:
(a) Men.
(b) Grandmothers.
(c) Children.
(d) Women.

4. In rock-seeing, a shaman takes two rocks, sits with them, poses a question, and then examines the stones for what?
(a) Signs that the stones have transformed during the session.
(b) Traces of minerals that can be used for healing rituals.
(c) Words temporarily appearing on the surface pointing to an answer.
(d) Living creatures or features that provide clues regarding answers.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the author encounter when he drinks maikua?

2. Shamans from Venezuela, North America, Australia, and other regions all report having similar what?

3. How do spirit helpers assist the shaman?

4. Harner asserts that shamanism has advanced in areas without technological innovations because:

5. Harner's personal observation is that people develop shamanism as a tool for using the power of the human mind for what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does a shaman take care of his or her tsentak?

3. Describe the roles of drumming and rattling in a shaman's work.

4. Describe the spirit helpers known as tsentak.

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

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

7. What does a shaman do with the tsentak to help a patient?

8. Describe Harner's experience of spiritually going to a cave beneath a waterfall with a Jivaro shaman.

9. Describe Harner's journey with Akachu.

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

(see the answer keys)

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