Óengus and the Burmese Shaman
| Óengus |
Burmese Shaman |
| He is of an elevated social status. |
The person seeing the spirit in Burma may be
of any social class, but strongly tend to be
lower class. They also tend to be women.
|
| He sees an attractive spirit woman in dreams. |
He or she sees an attractive spirit in dreams.
|
| She will not have intercourse with him. |
The spirit may become the lover of the person
they appear to, or may wait until a formal marriage ceremony is performed.159 |
| Óengus falls ill because of his love for the
spirit.
|
People loved by nats typically fall ill until they marry the nat.
|
| His illness includes being unable to eat. |
Some people have difficulty eating or drinking when they are in the illness stage of the relationship with the nat.160
|
| His illness includes being in a catatonic state. |
Catatonic states are not mentioned in relation
to Burmese shamans.
|
| He is initially helped by a person with super-
natural powers (Fergne) to take the first steps in resolving his crisis.
|
In most instances, a shaman identifies which
nat is in love with the person and performs a ceremony to formalise the person's acceptance
of the nat's proposal and minimise the amount
they are "disturbed" by the nat.
|
| A number of people assist Óengus in attaining union with Caer. |
The ceremony to marry the nat is large and expensive, involving many.161 However, the community perception of spirit marriage and
shamans in general is not high, due to the fact
that shamans dance wildly in public, have intercourse with their nats, and are thought to
be promiscuous.162
|
| Óengus finally attains Caer. He is referred to as "The Young Son" which may possibly indicate
an oracular role and that he has gained a higher level of power. Óengus takes on the swan form
of Caer, but does not "become" Caer.
|
When the person marries the nat they become
full fledged shamans and become an oracle for
the nat they married.163
|
| Óengus and Caer together return to Óengus'
home and put all into trance with their song,
thus transmitting the gift of their union to
others.
|
The shaman, possessed by their nat, is
consulted by people with problems of various sorts, and dances at the nat festivals, where
they perform the central ritual function for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people.164
|
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Footnotes
159 Spiro, 1978, p. 211
160 Spiro, 1978, p. 212
161 Spiro, 1978, p. 213
162 Spiro, 1978, p. 209
163 Spiro, 1978, pp. 212, 221
164 Spiro, 1978, p. 221
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