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Come on Hue, you know as well as I do that the word is used generally because it's a lot easier than listing off the title every single culture has for the role.

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Yes I know what you say to be true, but MANY native cultures call that disrespect...particularly the Siberian one. Tengerism.org is a site created by the people of this culture, and they discuss this in the following link:
http://www.tengerism.org/origin_of_shaman.html
By the way this site http://www.tengerism.org/ is a very cool informational site.
Now I see your point about the use of the term being a good general term and I see no disrespect whatsoever, but if some guy wants to call  himself a shaman then I see no disrespect there either...which is MY point. Now, using that term to describe ones self might indicate a issue involving self importance...just as any title denotes self importance, but beyond that there is little wrong with it. It is really not worth losing sleep over...and if some idiot can get other people to believe him when he uses that title, then that was a lesson that those people needed to learn. I do believe, however, that shamanic ideas and techniques are relevant to the lives of people in our culture as these views have changed me enormously over the last few years. I did once try to pass myself off as a  transgendered Samoan midget, but being several inches over six foot I could find no one to validate my claim

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Shaman
1: a priest or priestess who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and controlling events
2: one who resembles a shaman

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The root of this term means "monk" or "priest/priestess," not "culturally recognized as a priest/priestess."  I'm not sure where your strict limitations on the right to use this term originate, but it is not from the actual definition. 

Is not someone who practices shamanism accurately described as "a shaman"?  Certainly you can question whether the practices an individual claims to be involved in are factually shamanistic, but it does not seem reasonable to claim that someone cannot become a shaman without being embedded in a certain culture.

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The point i'm making is that one cannot decide "im a shaman" and in doing so becomes a shaman. A person can certainly take part in shaman-like activity, but to the assert that that is true shamanism is a mistake.

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Veritas said:

Quote:

Shaman
1: a priest or priestess who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and controlling events
2: one who resembles a shaman

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The root of this term means "monk" or "priest/priestess," not "culturally recognized as a priest/priestess."  I'm not sure where your strict limitations on the right to use this term originate, but it is not from the actual definition. 

Is not someone who practices shamanism accurately described as "a shaman"?  Certainly you can question whether the practices an individual claims to be involved in are factually shamanistic, but it does not seem reasonable to claim that someone cannot become a shaman without being embedded in a certain culture.

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Icelander said:

What else then?

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NiamhNyx said:

Your definition is not correct. It is a popularized, generalized definition of the term, a different use of the word entirely. My definition and views on the matter come from, and are broadly accepted in, the field of anthropology. Yeah, there can be a lot to criticize about anthropology. I won't pretend it's flawless, but this is where I'm coming from. A priest is a different kind of thing entirely. There may be some parallels and crossovers, but priest and shaman are essentially different social roles.

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bbaeker said:

is saying that steak is not a vegetable elitist? of course not, because steak and vegetables are specific things...which are different

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A shaman is not a thing, it is an individual with a particular set of abilities.  As such, it is not determined by molecular structure, as is the difference between animal and vegetable matter.  If an individual displays the particular set of abilities, then they are a Shaman whether you think they can be or not.