Sacred Staffs
Essie Parrish holding sacred staffs with pendants.
She was the Yomta ("Song,"
a medicine woman's title)
of the Kashaya Pomo
(near Santa Rosa, California).
Her ceremonial dress is adorned with abalone pendants.
Two Saami drums (from northern Scandanavia) show divine beings holding similar staffs, some also with pendants.
Mattarahkku:
The Foremother,
by Liisa, Saami
artist, 2006Korean mudang Kim Hea Sook holds two long poles as she balances on what is probably a sharpened blade.
From Korea to Taiwan, shamans often demonstrate that they have attained deep union by standing on knives or swords, or by ascending ladders of blades.
