The Shaman's vision by Ian
Shaman (From Evenki, saman: ecstatic one)
A healer or wise-person, believed to have the ability to perceive spiritual beings and matrices of power, and in some instances perform magic.
Shamanic practice often involves entering into trance states induced by rhythmic music, drumming, dancing, the wearing of animal pelts or paraphernalia such as feathers and horns, and imbibing in naturally occurring psychedelic drugs like peyote.
The visions and journeys of the shaman are said to transcend the usual boundaries of space and time. And some shamans apparently perform magical feats such as creating a butterfly out of thin air.
Many shamans adhere to a cosmology of three interconnected worlds:
- The underworld of demons and spirits of the unhappy dead
- The middle world of everyday earthly life
- The upper world of helpful spirits
In shamanism mental and physical illness is often seen as a loss or theft of the soul. To heal another person, the shaman apparently embarks on a spiritual voyage to recover a soul to its rightful owner. Alternately, they may remove a spiritual object from a sick person’s soul that is presumably responsible for the illness.
Because it is believed that illness may be brought on by spiritual attack or molestation, the shaman battles negative spiritual forces, beings and objects, which in subtle planes may be tampering with a sick person’s soul.
Most negative forces are said to emerge from the underworld into the middle world, where the shaman battles them by harnessing the helping powers of upper world spirits.
dream of the shaman by Cornelia Kopp
Anthropological research on shamanism suggests that many shamans undergo some form of crisis at a young age, which in contemporary society would likely be viewed as a breakdown or the onset of a mental illness.
This crisis may involve an inner experience of being dismembered, seeing one’s skeleton or being skinned alive.
While some may uncritically accept the enchanting and miraculous truth-claims made by shamans, most psychiatrists would probably say we have no way of knowing whether or not shamanic altered states are genuinely transpersonal and spiritual or mere personal wishes, physiologically induced hallucinations or, perhaps, the activation of memory or primitive brain regions. As for stories about magic, these in large part remain part of an oral tradition, sometimes recorded by anthropologists but clearly not part of the mainstream media or scientific community.
Meanwhile some traditional Christians see the whole shamanic experience as an egotistic and spiritually unclear demonic deception.
Regardless of where one stands on this issue, it seems valid to ask the following questions: Are some shamans psychologically wounded opportunists capitalizing on the vulnerability or gullibility of others? Might some shamans be deceiving themselves and really believe they’re doing valuable spiritual work when, in fact, they’re suffering from a personality disorder? Or, conversely, might the shaman truly have access to realms, powers and abilities that most of us don’t understand nor possess?
The Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade notes that not all initiated into shamanism emerge as successful shamans. Some fail to regain a sense of psychological balance deemed meaningful by self and society. Others choose to pursue another vocation if being a shaman is not economically viable in their community.
At Earthpages.org
- Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls’ 50th Anniversary Teaching
- Why Study Shamanism
- Alchemy, Egypt, and Shamanism
- Spirit Guides & Totems
- The Shaman’s Journey: Impeccability
- The Shaman’s Journey: Intent
- The Shaman’s Journey: The Value of Emotional Control
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