[Shamanic healing in the age of modern medicine]

This study on the therapeutic aspects of shamanic medicine differentiates the anthropologic approaches used in the 19th and early 20th century from contemporary approaches developed since the n Central to Eastern Asia. In addition to reviewing the major works on shamanic practice, this study takes into account lesser-known data on contemporary shamanic practices in Nepal. Shamanism embraces special cosmogenic beliefs. From a biological standpoint the shamanic trance like various healing techniques raises interesting questions about the involvement of certain brain regions in the development of mental factors that may generate somatic symptoms. From the therapeutic standpoint it shows the importance of managing social and psychoaffective factors. The current resurgence of shamanism could signal the revival of the disrupted ethnic identities. The shaman and medical doctor occupy symmetric, inversed positions. The shaman is a master in the management of social and psychoaffective health determinants. Until now the physician may have tended to overlook the human side of disease.