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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Harner, what are "big dreams?"

2. When the Coastal Salish wear masks and dance their spirit guardians, what does Harner call this practice?

3. What is the most famous method of acquiring a guardian animal spirit?

4. In the Jivaro tradition, the identity of a power animal is what?

5. A shocked power animal may do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what the author says about being able to restore power to a patient from a distance.

2. Where do "big dreams" come from, and what purpose do they serve?

3. When was the book Natural Magick written, and what is it about?

4. What is a vision quest?

5. What are power objects, and what are they for?

6. How does a shaman obtain a power song needed to retrieve a power animal?

7. Why does a power animal need to be danced regularly?

8. In the power restoration exercise presented to the reader in Chapter 5, what typically happens when the participant goes through the tunnel and reaches the Lowerworld?

9. Describe what Harner writes about the mythical past link between humans and animals.

10. What connection does a patient often have with a returned spirit animal?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Harner names humility, respect for nature, and the ability to honor an experience as three traits needed by a good shaman. Explain why each is important in shamanic practices. How do the three traits work together to help the shaman? the patient?

Essay Topic 2

Describe similarities middle-class Americans who try shamanism report regarding the portal to Lowerworld and their firsthand experiences in non-ordinary reality. Why does the author emphasize these similarities? What do they convey regarding the nature of shamanism?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the journey the author takes with Akachu, the Jivaro shaman, detailed in Chapter 1. Can you tell which parts of the journey are literal and which are figurative? What clues reveal the literary portions? The figurative parts?

(see the answer keys)

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