Tribal societies across Asia use many and varied rituals. Asian tribal people do not recognise a separation between the sacred and the secular, and their concepts and actions stem not from an organised belief system but from a world-view of all things as inter-connected. Living in small groups, often in remote areas, these tribal people include small tribes such as the Konds in India, groups in the Sumatra and the Celebes, and the Senoi of Malaysia.

As the home of the gods, high mountains are usually considered sacred. There are many gods and spirits, sometimes with one High God over all, and a myriad ritual observances and taboos aim to preserve the harmony of the living community with the spirit world beyond.

Central Asia, the great area stretching from European Russia to Kamchatka and the Arctic, has been a conduit to the Middle East and Europe for shamanistic ideas.

The Shaman is a visionary, an intermediary between the people and the spirit world who also practices healing as a profession. His contacts with the spirits, those of the natural world or of the dead, takes place while in an ecstatic trance.

With its unique techniques of ecstasy, shamanism laid the foundation for the two main directions of religious experience in other areas: the inner, technical attainment of religions such as Buddhism; and the visionary, numinous experiences of the prophets. — Religions of the World