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What is a Shaman? Mankind alone amongst the beasts demonstrably examines and actively seeks to understand and quantify his existence. Until he examines the physical, spiritual and mental as an integrated whole, the Question will not be answered. Until viewed wholistically, any answers can make no sense because the Questions themselves are not understood. -- Craig Berry |
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Psi Field *
Preface *
Jealousy & possessiveness Shamanism Light Work Shadow Work Dark Work |
If you’re an indigenous Tungus tribes-person from the Siberian Tundra, a Shaman is a medicine man and spiritual intermediary. It is suggested that the term, “Shaman” originated from this region and essentially translates as, “one who knows”. In industrialised society, the term, “Shaman” has come to indicate a traditional person of spiritual and healing powers. I will use the term, “shaman” in this industrialised and somewhat incorrect, generalised term from this point on.
The first thing you would probably find about one who is a real shaman (and not a New-Age, plastic shaman as described by many traditional societies) is that they generally quite reluctant to use the term to describe themselves. Most [if not all] indigenous societies have their own titles for the people that perform the role/s recognised as those of a shaman. I would describe a shaman as one who sees the world with the understanding that the world they see is changing, malleable and without clearly definable boundaries; a shaman seeks to create change for the benefit of their people, facilitating healing through a variety of means. A shaman sees not only that described as, ‘the physical world’, but the underlying energetic and overlying spiritual aspects of the one world in which we all live. The terms used here are very important and are not used lightly. A shaman does not see [nor attempts to see] differentiations between energetic, physical and spiritual realities; seeing instead the inter-reliant, integrated whole that is reality, not just the physical reality. Reductionism misses the point! Industrialised societies generally have a reductionist philosophy infecting or at least, affecting their scientific thinking. Reductionism is hell bent to divide and define the larger whole into smaller and separate components. In and of itself, this process is merely one of investigation. The problem arises when reductionist science then regards each of these, “component parts” as distinct and separate things. To provide an illustration, I will use the human being (having taught tertiary level Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology, a subject close to my vocation). Science tells us a human made up of distinct [although dependant] components and has defined and established specialised modalities; each based around these theoretical divisions. In illustration, let’s examine the gross divisions only and their associated orthodox specialists (not including sub-specialties):
Why reductionism does not work at a clinical level The shaman sees a person! The whole person! An entire, singular and miraculous being of myriad aspects BUT a single, whole individual - first, foremost and always. To understand the relevance of this concept, try to remove fully one of those aspects listed above from a person; (a) you can’t without killing or disabling that person, and; (b) such a thing is essentially illogical. Even the most ardent scientist will tell you this! I am not saying that a surgeon is not valid. Not at all! The idea of a surgeon sewing a hand back on is a very appealing one to a person who has just had their’s cut off! A shaman might suggest that if that same person had been mindful and respectful of their world and their place within it, they might not have lost that hand in the first place. I'd be the first to say that any shaman who had lost a hand would be very happy for the attentions of a skilled surgeon - everyone can slip up from time to time! Shamanic sight - in illustration I like illustrations. Let’s explore an illustration of how a shaman sees things shall we? Picture a soap bubble floating in the sunlight. See the amazing variety and dynamic interaction of colours?
Imagine these colours and their multitude of shades and hues representing aspects of a person’s structure, function, mind, energy, life, soul and spirit (for a start); all swirling & interacting but also in equal tension, both with the rest of the bubble but also with the gas contained and the atmosphere through which it moves. This is a nice metaphor to describe how a shaman looks at a person, and the world in general. Distinction of energetic, physical and spirit worlds is more an observational convenience than a description of three different levels of existence to a shamanic practitioner. A word of caution, even the most accomplished shaman walks in the physical world. To attempt to live with full awareness of all aspects, all the time, is a path to madness. The, “One” or “God” or “the Universe” or “Allah” or whatever other name you choose to call the divine presence that maintains our universe has yielded a physical existence for a real and purposeful reason. I find it most interesting that Science is finally starting to catch up with this wisdom in Quantum Physics. A recent and welcome adaptation to the quantum model of reality is the essential striking of the term, “impossible”; replacing this absolute term with a far more maleable, “improbable”. Quantum physics admits that only when a thing is observed is its place in the physical fixed for the duration of that observation. Interestingly, most developed shamanic practitioners, either knowingly or unknowingly have been saying and working with this same principle for ages, just without the mathematics. So now we've come full circle. What is a Shaman? A shaman is one who walks in the world, seeing it both for what it is and what it can be. A shaman seeks to alter the observations of themselves and those who seek their counsel to equalise tensions (bringing health and balance). A shaman will commune and communicate with the energetic, physical and spiritual aspects of our world; helping life into this world, bringing healing to those within this world and assisting spirits in passing from this world. Shamanism is not a religion; [in overview] it lacks a hierarchy, written rules, leaders, evangelism and concepts of divine retaliation for breaking rules (but most shamanic belief structures hold the concept of divine accountability for their actions). Shamanism acknowledges the spark of consciousness in all components of our miraculous universe, both animate and apparently inanimate, with everything having energetic, physical and spiritual aspects. A tree might have as much to say as a person, you just need to know how to ask and hear the answer; that is what a shaman does! What sort of things does a Shaman do? A shaman will typically operate skills in what has become recognised as light, shadow and dark work. These terms do not acknowledge the common inflection of judgement with the concepts of light and dark. If this remains a problem for the reader, think of these divisions as shallow, medium and deep rather than light, shadow and dark. Light work covers more physical modalities like herbal and dietary medicine, counselling and music, to list a few. Shadow work begins the more esoteric areas of spirit and energetic communications, intercessions, clearings and soul recoveries (more on this later). There are aspects of light work that also have elements of the esoteric as there are no clear boundaries between light and shadow work. Dark work is deeply esoteric and is the realm of demon extractions, exorcisms, curses, possessions and the like. When is a shaman not a shaman? Perhaps this is a good time to explore, “What a shaman is not”. A shaman is not someone who has paid a heap of money to some entrepreneurial teacher to 'learn' and 'be certified' in shamanism. The very idea of an, “Internationally recognised qualification in Shamanism” might make someone who knows of or interacts with a real shaman roll on the floor laughing. One who is a shaman might simply shake their head in amusement if not bemusement and say that at least these people are asking questions; maybe not to the right people, but they are seeking, which is the first step. Shamanism is normally taught in a master-apprentice role with the training taking many years. A shaman is often thought to be either called or might be selected. An example of selection in some cultures is to be struck by lightning with no apparent injury. Callings may be in the form of dreams, awareness etc. Shamanic training may also be facilitated in part by spirit entities; described as gifts of knowing in some cultures, but well tested by their peers before acceptance. Those who seek to enter the path of shamanic service are well tested by the very practices they undertake to master and pretenders place themselves in direct and dire peril if faking their calling, especially in dark work where their roles are often far more confrontational and combative. The role of a shaman within a community is a sacred one; a shaman is an intermediary between the physical, energetic and the spiritual, often deeply involved in every aspect of the community’s health and wellbeing. NEXT - Shamanic Journeys |
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