Shamanism, Amaiba, Amaibi and some of their roles in modern life : A view

Thoinu Naorem *

A Maibi at 'Mera Chaoren Houba' event at the sacred Kangla on October 16 2012 :: Pix - Bunti Phurailatpam

Have you ever needed the service of an 'amaiba' or an 'amaibi' in this twenty first century brave new world based on science and hard proven facts? I am sure that an answer in positivity is very unlikely. Though science has, no doubt, helped human civilizations progress beyond imaginations, there still remain few areas that need more than what science can explain and have accomplished so far. I am referring to the areas that can only be explained and fulfilled by nothing other than what an 'amaiba' or an 'amaibi' does. This is the spiritual dimension of life. This may be a little hard to appreciate given the scientific orientation of the present world we live in but in recent times there have been many scientific studies in this field arriving at interesting results.

Take, for instance, a case of a mentally distressed girl who had recurring bad dreams. She sees an old woman in a scary long white robe trying to say something in her dreams. The experience, though in her dream, has been very unnerving and distressing enough to badly affect her daily routine in this rat race of life. She, as expected, tries help from a clinician and medicines but gets no relief.

With no relief and the mounting distress playing their roles, she ventures into new horizons and on the recommendation of a concerned dear one sees an 'amaibi'. A ritual was performed and prayers were said, as expected, in ways guided by the 'amaibi' and she gets well. This is not a lone story. There still are many other varied scenarios where disturbing forces from another dimension get settled by an 'amaiba' or and 'amaibi'.

A haunted house, unusual presence of an unknown and unseen felt without explainable reasons in habituated environments are few other instances. But, the question is on where science missed out in and what actually the 'amaiba' or the 'amaibi' does. In fact, there still remain some grey areas science has yet to satisfactorily throw more light on. That is the dimension of spirits and souls and the 'amaibas' and the 'amaibis' are considered to be experts in that field.

The 'amaibas' and the 'amaibis' of Manipur can be well compared with some select few gifted people called 'shamans' of some other societies of the world traceable from the paleolithic era through neolithic era till date. They get their powers by inheritance or can be an inborn gift. That is also said to be learnable over a prolonged period of time though.

Simply put, a 'shaman' is a person who is capable of communicating with the world of spirits to throw light on the past, present and future of a person. A 'shaman' becomes a medium to communicate with the spirits/gods/deity to reveal the secrets of the mysteries of the world. A 'shaman' can explain things which are beyond the explanation of science. They can interpret the meaning of dreams or prevent lurking dangers by using cosmic forces at their command. They travel in another dimension and mend suffering incomplete souls thereby alleviating various ailments.

Historically, 'shaman' as a name originated from the Evenk language (Tungusic) of North Asia and it became known to the west after the Russian forces conquered the 'shaman' Khanate of Kazan, a medieval Tatar state in the sixteenth century. The term 'shamanism' was first applied to the ancient religion found among the Turks and Mongols. It was found in indigenous religions of various parts of the world such as in Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. Many historians are of the view that 'shamanism' had played a great role in ancient times before major religions like Christianity, Islam and Hinduism came into existence.

To this day, 'shamanism' can be traced to many parts of the world like parts of Russia, China, Korea, Thailand, Africa and India, especially in the tribal inhabited zones. The 'amaibas' and the 'amaibis' of Manipur can be equated with the 'shamans' in many ways including how they go into a state of trance to reach another dimension, how they foretell and warn about events and how they heal ailments not scientifically satisfactorily explainable. Above all the work of foretelling the future, the 'shamans' have their own social roles to play. Our own 'amaibas' and 'amaibis' are not left far behind.

Interestingly enough, there have been many recent research studies to throw more light on the ways of the 'shamans' and some have even tried this modality of therapy in diseases hard to treat with modern medical sciences. One example is the study by Nancy H. Vuckovic, Christina M. Gullion, Louise A. Williams et al in Portland, Oregon on 'shamanic' healing for women with temporomandibular disorders to test the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of a shamanic healing protocol for chronic pain in such disorders. They found it to be feasible, acceptable, and highly efficient. It was reported in 'Alternative Therapies', Nov/Dec 2007, Vol. 13. No. 6. pages 18-29. While it would be irrational on my part to claim that 'shamanism' is a better form of therapy than modern medical science or vice versa, the report itself tells of another facet of 'shamanism'.

Ironically, the mention of the word 'amaiba' or 'amaibi' often arouses an air of superstition, scepticism and illiteracy in this modern world heavily influenced by the technological advances the modern age is so associated with. Truly indeed, there have been stories of fake 'amaiba' and 'amaibi' and of their wrongdoings. There are also reports of malevolent use of their powers. They are excluded from the purview of this article while maintaining my points of views only on those genuine 'amaibas' and 'amaibis' with a good genuine cause.

Perhaps, they also take the service of modern technological wonders themselves. Also, it may be true that their approach to a person in distress may not always be in tandem with or even contradict what modern medical science profess. But, the 'amaibas' and the 'amaibis' play a great role in our modern society more than seeing and helping poor souls in distress in their own ways.

First of all, in this modern age when many of us eat, walk, talk and dream in English, Hindi and ultra modern nascent Meiteilon in different accents that change every around 25 kms, the 'amaibis' and the 'amaibas' use ancient Meiteilon. This serves as a means of how the said ancient language is preserved and makes its presence felt in religious rituals like 'Lai Haraoba' in which they play vital roles. In fact, our traditional 'Lai Haraoba', of which we treasure fond attachment with and of which we feel rightfully proud, would have never been complete without the 'amaibas' and the 'amaibis'.

Again, they are the living reminder of how our land was once the land of seven 'maichous' who professed a common religion called 'Sanamahi' and worshipped the god of nature called 'Umang Lai'. That was before the invasion of Christianity, Hinduism and Islam that changed the course of our history and designated us as hindu -meiteis, christian-chingmees and meitei-pangals or Meitei-christians.

Many of our forefathers abandoned 'Atingkok' and opted for new religions. Only few 'Atingkok' worshippers are left in the present day and they are in the process of converting to different religions. The difference in religion thus established must have played its own role in the social unrest we are thrown in to face today. Religion and community strength have become the 'source' of political power in our present world.

I have been lucky enough to have a chance to personally visit, see and experience the service of an 'amaibi' or a 'shaman', by whichever name you would prefer to call her, in person. Much unlike the general preconceived image of an 'amaibi', she turned out to be a well read, highly presentable lady of around 35. She was a qualified nurse and physiotherapist married to a high ranking officer and leading a happy family life.

She played us a warm host with courtesy befitting any normal decent human being. When things came down to business, she foretold that I would shed some blood in the near future. We knelt down and prayed while she prayed in pure ancient Meiteilon. It was a heart-wrenching moment to feel the vibe of our ancient language. It was as if some dead part of me long lost in the journey of life has been revived and has come back. We prayed for our well being and protection from any impending danger. A few days later I had a cut in my finger shedding some blood. I cannot yet logically disprove if there was any association between what she foretold about shedding some blood and the injury I had sustained in my finger. I still pray for safety.

My experience with the young 'amaibi' has reaffirmed my belief that there must be some aspect of the truth science has yet to explain. This must be the reason why 'shamanism' is being scientifically studied because people study when there is something new unknown to be found or an uncertainty persists. This makes what David T. Freeman once said highly relevant and apt, "The more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know – the less you know, the more you think you know".

These new scientific studies must surely make science a nobler subject. All the while, her rituals remind me of who I am and my root of origin; and on a larger perspective how we, the people in Manipur, once shared common belief and religion before the religious differences probably played its divisive role much to the infirmity of our present generation, a study on which later on, I feel, will be well deserving.

All in all, however far and wide science may have progressed human civilization upto, or however tainted one's views on the 'amaibas' and the 'amaibis' may be, I believe that science still has its grey areas yet to explain and 'shamans' will continue to play their roles to remind us of who we are and our root of origin, the knowledge of which sometimes, without doubt, makes a person a better human being, way better than a technologically advanced yet confused modern man wielding a sophisticated killing machine called Kalashnikovs invented by science.