The terms "trance" and "ecstasy" are used in many definitions of shamanism to mean both a specific physical behaviour and a specific mental state correlated with a culturally defined form of ritual behaviour. In fact, there is no evidence for this correlation. According to the symbolic representations of shamanistic societies, the shaman's ritual behaviour is both the means and the proof of his having "direct contact" with the spirits. His functional behaviour follows a prescribed pattern; it can be accounted for by reference to symbolic representations