What does shamanic mean?
Shamanic is an adjective meaning connected with shamans or with the beliefs, rituals, and healing traditions associated with shamans. It can characterize a ceremony, practice, belief, musical tradition, object, or community, as in “shamanic ritual” or “shamanic healing.” The term is especially common in anthropology, folklore, religious studies, and discussions of the traditional religious practices of Indigenous peoples in the Arctic, Siberia, and other parts of Eurasia. “Shaman” refers to a person understood within a particular tradition as a practitioner, mediator, or ritual specialist, while “shamanic” describes the wider cultural and religious setting. In popular writing, the adjective is sometimes used more broadly for anything mystical or purportedly healing, but its specialist use is more exact. The word ultimately comes through Russian from a Tungusic language of northern Asia.
adjectiveRelating to shamans or to the religious practices, beliefs, and traditions associated with them. The term is most commonly used in anthropology and religious studies.
- Relating to shamans or to shamanic religious beliefs, rituals, and practices.
"The researchers documented the community's shamanic rituals and healing traditions."
"The museum exhibit explores the shamanic traditions of several northern Eurasian peoples."
"Music played an important role in the shamanic ceremony."
Shamanic enters English through Russian, which in turn borrowed it from a Tungusic language of Siberia and the Far East.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does shamanic come from?
The adjective derives from “shaman,” which English borrowed from Russian during the eighteenth century. Russian in turn received the word from Tungusic languages spoken in Siberia and the Far East, where it designated a ritual practitioner associated with spiritual communication or healing. The English suffix -ic was then added to form “shamanic,” while related forms such as “shamanism” and “shamanist” developed from the same source word.
How shamanic is actually used
The word is most common in academic writing about religion, anthropology, folklore, and Indigenous traditions. In popular usage it can sometimes be applied loosely to any ritual believed to possess spiritual or healing power, so precise contexts benefit from an explicit historical or cultural reference.
Easily confused with shamanic
A shaman is a person who performs or presides over ritual practices regarded as spiritual or healing in nature, whereas the adjective shamanic describes those practices, beliefs, or traditions.