Observations placeholder
North Borneo shaman
Identifier
002396
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
The process is not described but it is likely that inherited genes played a part in choosing the candidates
A description of the experience
H Ling Roth – The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo
And there, as they assert, they cut his head open, take out his brains wash and restore them, to give him a clear mind to penetrate into the mysteries of evil spirits, and the intricacies of disease; they insert gold dust into his eyes to give him keenness and strength of sight powerful enough to see the soul wherever it may have wandered; they plant barbed hooks on the tips of his fingers to enable him to seize the soul and hold it fast; and lastly they pierce his heart with an arrow to make him tender hearted and full of sympathy with the sick and suffering