The Credible and the Credulous: The Question of “Villagers' Beliefs” in Nepal

Abstract

In the mid1980s, I was in Nepal looking at the formation of a "national culture" through interethnic relations in healing. I learned soon enough, though, to simply tell people there that I was studying dhami-jhdnkris,' shamans. This deceptively simple tactic for dealing with people's curiosity always produced a gratifying response. First a chuckle, and then a comment. One way or another, this comment would focus on the oddness of a person from a "developed country," a bikasit des, trying to know about this most "Nepali" phenomenon. "So what have you decided?" I would be asked by a laughing stranger, "Do you believe in dhamis?" Or, even funnier to them: "Have you become one yet?" Sometimes my statement elicited a story. "I don't believe in shamans myself"always this introduction-"But one time I saw a shaman in [insert name of remote place in the mountains] who did the most amazing thing [insert elaborate description of the shaman's magic feats and/or miraculous cure]. Now how can that be explained?" Another response was, "Of course, our shamans really do work. They cure people in a 'psychological' way." In the rural area of eastern Nepal where I lived I was often told, "Well, you've come to the wrong place then. The dhamis around here stink." And then I would be instructed about a