So far there are no young shamans, who must be selected by spirits, have shaman ancestors, and undergo an initiatory illness. Stories and legends follow every stage of the shaman s life. Heroines often live alone, undergo an initiation, or marry an animal. Another constant female image is the wise old woman. These strong images empower women today.
Shamanic traditions are alive in the Amur and much needed.
They needed fortune-tellers to set the most appropriate time for harvest, and turned to the kaula s, the Hawaiian diviners, who played a role analogous in many ways to that of the miko in Japan. The paper discusses how the Japanese tradition mixed with local, Hawaiian ways of divination. Subjects were 40 healthy male and female experienced practitioners from 30 to 60 years of age. However, when the data were analyzed by level of S-IgA response, there were distinct profiles of associated psychological descriptors for each. It can be seen as a treasure house of folk knowledge especially among the nomadic and hunting keepers of tradition such as healers, spiritual leaders of the community, fortune-tellers, soothsayers, who were able to predict the weather, the singers of heroic epics, historical songs and myths, shamanic hymns and prayers, good actors and musicians.