Shamanism is found at the root and heart of belief itself. No study of religion, belief or even thought can be complete without considering the thoughts, beliefs and practices of the earliest of human cultures, and that, without exception (as far as I am aware) leads to the consideration of shamanism.
Yupik shaman exorcising spirits
Of course, just because shamanism is at the root of modern culture it doesn’t follow that it is accepted as a valid belief system. Many in the business of promoting monotheistic religious systems have sought to deny those roots, dismissing shamanism as primitive and disorganised, to be superceded by their more sophisticated and comprehensive religions. Many, of course, now deny spiritual reality completely while others, perhaps reacting to this cold, disenchanted view of existence, and its implications for the future of our planet, have turned back to the old ways, in hope or desperation.
The diversity of human culture means that to provide a comprehensive definition that encompasses all forms of shamanic cosmology and practice would be impossible, even in a thousand blog posts, but a look through the literature and online resources has enabled me to distill the components of shamanism that, even if not universal, seem widespread enough to be regarded as a ‘good enough’ definition of what shamanism is and what shamans do.
Etymology
Looking for the origin of the word ’shaman’ is a mystery quest in itself, although it certainly derives from one of the languages of the indigenous people of Northern Russia, Mongolia or China. Whether the word originates from the Evenki (formerly known as Tungus) people, or the pre-Chinese Manchu is disputed and to debate it involves a detailed cultural and linguistic knowledge. However, a popular belief is that the word ’saman’ involves concepts of both knowledge and inner heat, often interpreted as a state of ecstasy. It is interesting to note that the Evenki were used to looking after reindeer in sub-zero temperatures and perhaps such a harsh climate would force them to turn inwards. I would encourage anybody with a good etymological knowledge to post their ideas on the origin of the word.
Sami shaman with drum
Talking with the Spirits
First and foremost, the shaman is an intermediary between the everyday world and the world of the spirits. Many shamanic cultures were animistic, regarding all created things as having a spirit, and therefore it was vital to the health and wellbeing of the community that they had a means to contact these invisible forces to ‘guide, guard, instruct and bless’ (Cowan,1996).
A shaman might be called upon for a number of reasons or might be singled out as being an expert in one particular aspect or even one specific spiritual realm. Some of the tasks performed by shaman include:
Altay shaman with gong
The Ways of the Shaman
It may be apparent that much of the above is not exclusive to what is normally termed ’shamanism’. For example, Spiritualist mediums receive spiritual messages via trance, use energy healing techniques and perform psychopomp work in ‘rescue circles’. However, shamanism is as much to do with the means to achieving contact as to the results. As mentioned earlier, shamanic practice is synonymous with the achievement of ecstasy, literally being ‘outside (ex) of the body (stasis)’.
Regardless of tradition, the shaman will strive to achieve some kind of altered state of consciousness. Sometimes this is seen as requiring a state of spiritual (and sexual) excitement, leading to trance (and possibly temporary spirit ‘possession’) whereas other, especially more modern, styles favour a less intense state of focused visualisation.
The ways in which shaman achieve ecstasy also vary widely, ranging from the ritual ingestion of psychotropic substances, to endurance feats, to rhythmic dancing, ‘whirling’, chanting and/or percussion. I will go into some of these in more detail in part two, where I will focus on some specific shamanic traditions.
Interrelatedness
Another theme that is central to shamanism, and certainly one of the reasons for its survival and adoption in modern western culture, is the belief that everything is connected to everything else. Most of the shamanic traditions I have come across teach variations on this theme with animals and plants regarded as our relations, rather than our ’subjects’, in a fragile web of interdependence. The recent focus on ecology is a partial return to this way of thinking, albeit often on a purely rational level. Likewise, our modern policies of sustainable agriculture have a precedent in the shamanic practice of travelling to the spirits of wild animals (or those who controlled them) in order to gain guidance on where it was permissable to hunt.
Look out for Part 2, where I will be focusing on some specific shamanic traditions
Coming next: The Astrological Signs: Cancer and Leo
Do you have any personal experiences with or opinions on Shamanism that you would like to share? If so, please leave a comment below.
Reference:Cowan, T. (1996) ‘Shamanism as a spiritual practice for daily life’, Crossing Press, Toronto
Great article on shamanism. Can’t wait for part 2. By the way, I believe that as we approach the end of the Mayan calendar, shamanism – or more specifically the shamanic journey – will soon be the spiritual practice of choice in the west. Learn more about journeying at http://www.donaldgerard.com/?page_id=172.
The cold, disenchanted view spoken of isn’t really so cold and disenchanted. Does knowing how a magic trick is performed make it any less impressive? I personally don’t believe so, just as I see the scientific view of existence to be beautiful and enigmatic. Concepts such as shamanism are potentially harmful to society as they tend to be counter-productive to the advancement of our species.
Other things, even as seemingly harmless as tarot reading, can seriously impact people’s lives in negative ways. People believe that a deck of cards that vaguely and randomly produces possibilities can predict their fate. If they believe it strongly enough, they can make some very bad choices in life. The tarot reader is left blameless, as it was the “divination” of the cards and how they’re mysterious and all of that nonsense. Then, there’s the whole racket involved with the selling of such services. I’ve been to a few “Pagan camps” that turned out to be basically a flea market for their wares and services, added in with workshops that were pretty pointless and a bunch of contradictory, recited babblings amongst themselves.
I turned away from Catholicism and began studying Pagan religions in hopes of better answers. All I got was the exact same environment I experienced while hanging out with Mormons. Everybody seemed to be either brainwashed or desperately lying to themselves to feel as though the world was a beautiful place where no evil could touch them. After years of bouncing philosophical concepts around in my head, I came to the realization that religion is never a good thing, even if the intentions are of the purest qualities. Nothing works anywhere near as well as science and philosophy. Science proves existence of concepts while philosophy is used to reason out your emotions and reactions. Religion preys on emotions and neglects logic, normally using chanting and dancing to work people up into a frenzy, or fetish as it’s also called. They feel a common energy and refer to it as God or God’s will or whatever. I honestly feel sorry for any and all practitioners of any and all faiths and hope that one day they will question everything and realize how foolish they’ve been over the years.
Thank you for your time and I’ll be expecting explosives in my mailbox soon.
Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting article. Waiting for trackback
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Thank you for your feedback SalviaFan.
I hope to put part 2 up in the next week or so.
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