Characteristics of a Shaman/Shamaness

"And there, as they assert, they cut his head open, take out the 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."

--Shamanism:  Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade