Shamans as healers and their treatments

Shamanism and healing are important terms used for the treatment of various diseases throughout human history. These two concepts have been closely associated with each other throughout history and have been adopted in various cultures. Especially in Central and Northern Asia, shamanism and healing practices are intertwined. In general, Shamanism is a system of belief and practice that aims to cure diseases by using the power of nature and spirits. Shamans aim to improve the spiritual and physical health of patients and the community by communicating with spirits. Among these spirits, there are good spirits, as well as spirits that bring disease and death. The shaman tries to prevent what will happen or correct the problems by speaking to these spirits in their language from the spirit world. The aim of this study is to analyze the healing role of shamans through this cosmological perception. In the first chapter, how shamans make sense of the disease and the relationship between the meaning given to the disease and the role of shamans as healers are discussed. How shamans attain the qualifications they need to perform the role of healer expected of them has also been examined in relation to the concepts of disease and treatment. In the second chapter, the objects, symbols and metaphysical narratives that shamans used as a kind of diagnosis and treatment tools while performing their treatments were discussed under the title of "treatment tools", while various rituals were mentioned under the title of "treatment rituals". As a result, this study discussed shamanism's understanding of disease and healing and examined healing tools and methods in this context.