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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. While working, why must a shaman remain lightly connected to the material environment?
(a) Because of having to move between realities.
(b) Because of the shaman's physical requirements.
(c) To harness the power of nature.
(d) To incorporate the properties of the material world into the cure.

2. Harner asserts that shamanism has advanced in areas without technological innovations because:
(a) Technology hasn't erased these people's ability to tap into their intuition.
(b) The plant world communicates better with people when there is no technological interference.
(c) These people are neither distracted nor electromagnetically impaired by electronic interference.
(d) Of the need by these people to find ways to deal with survival and health issues.

3. What do various cultures report noticing the shaman give off when in a shamanic state of consciousness?
(a) A highly directional beam of light, like a laser.
(b) Light in a halo effect.
(c) Rhythmic sounds.
(d) An unusually sweet aroma.

4. The author states that the humility in shamanism lies in what?
(a) The manner in which shamans speak to new and old souls.
(b) The reverence shamans feel towards nature.
(c) The shaman-patient relationship.
(d) The number of spirit guides who choose a particular shaman.

5. What does the author encounter when he drinks maikua?
(a) Dangerous creatures.
(b) Beloved pets he knew as a child.
(c) Winged benevolent beings.
(d) A frightening emptiness.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are guardian spirits called in Siberia?

2. Harner writes that in non-ordinary reality, spirit helpers appear as what?

3. Harner asserts that shamanism transcends any particular what?

4. At the conclusion of the rock-seeing process, after the shaman turns the stones around and examines all sides, what does the shaman do?

5. If SSC stands for shamanic state of consciousness, what does OSC stand for?

Short Essay Questions

1. Summarize the first shamanic journey exercise presented to the reader in Chapter 2.

2. What are some of the similarities Harner notes in first-hand shamanic experiences reported by middle-class Americans?

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

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

5. How and why is a shamanic state of consciousness (SSC) achieved?

6. Describe the spirit helpers known as tsentak.

7. Describe Harner's journey with Akachu.

8. What is the participant of the exercise in Chapter 2 instructed regarding the end of the journey?

9. Prompted by similarities he found in books and accounts about shamanic experiences, what did Harner decide to do in order to learn more about shamanism?

10. How old is shamanism, and what cultures have best preserved this practice?

(see the answer keys)

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