Modern Versions of Shamanism, Part V: Shamanism, Sickness, and Healing

Shamanism, Sickness, and Healing

Traditional shamans viewed illness as “loss of the soul,” (Eliade, 8.) It was believed the human soul was a “precarious psychic unit, inclined to forsake the body and an easy prey for demons and sorcerers. (Eliade, 182) It was possible that a frightening dream caused the soul to depart the body, or the dead who were reluctant to leave took another soul with them, or the soul wandered off too far on its own accord. (Eliade, 301) It was then that the shaman was called and would find and capture the soul and place it back in the patient’s body. (Eliade, 215)

Renna gives us a modern explanation of soul loss:

The idea behind soul loss and retrieval is very straightforward: in traumatic situations, some part of one’s soul may split off and hide to escape the trauma. For example, we’ve all heard people speak of not remembering the instant of impact in a car crash, or “going numb” during an emotional crisis. This “splitting” is a useful survival technique but it becomes a problem if we remain fragmented after the trauma passes. Since this occurs on the spiritual plane, that’s where the search and retrieval need to take place. (Renna Shesso, www.harusami.com/soul2soul/althealing/retrieval.htm)

In instances of soul loss, traditionally the shaman would take a journey for the patient. (Eliade, 303) However, Antonio and Toby both say that it is much more effective to teach people how to take their own healing journeys. (interviews, fall 2007.)

It was believed that illness was sometimes caused by possession by evil spirits, and the shaman healed by expelling the demons. (Eliade, 215) Yet another cause of illness was believed to be the intrusion of harmful magical objects into the body by a sorcerer, and it was the duty of a shaman to remove them. Eliade, 300)

Antonio told me of a very formative experience for him in his shamanic training when he was working as a psychiatric nurse at a maximum security facility for the criminally insane. His experience accounts for energy that could have been interpreted by traditional shamans as a magical object intruding into a patient, causing harm.

I had the opportunity to walk through some of the darkest minds imaginable in that place. They wanted to kill you daily. That is energy that is there. It’s palpable, it’s very real. What I learned was one that this energy was there. Two, is that it could kill you. And three, most importantly, how to protect myself. So that experience was crucial to my practice and I learned that you know that if you don’t learn that you are in for a hard time because you will take in an awful lot of energy that can harm you. But like I say that process was absolutely essential for me. Most of the people that were there simply didn’t learn that. And they were destroyed. My best friend died at age 35 of a heart attack. (Antonio Arguello, interview, Nov 5 2007)

Antonio spoke of fear as something material that manifests in the unconscious mind.

[F]ear itself would manifest as something. Something material. It could be a dark shadow, it could be the bear, it could be some kind of fierce animal, it could be some kind of uncomfortable energy, all those kinds of things…. So down here in the unconscious there’s going to be stuff like fear, mistrust, things of that nature that exist here. So, the event is long over, what remains is the spiritual essence of this act. Energy. It’s actually energy, and if it were not real then it wouldn’t effect us in any way. But it’s very real and it exists. So this energy is always seeking to express itself, trying to get through here [into the conscious,] the job up here is to keep it down. So you got a lot of energy being expended right there to deal with this kind of stuff, and this stuff will always just kind of sneak out. It does affect our lives adversely. (interview)

The process of shamanism, he told me, is the transformation of the energy of those things. Antonio, regarding the expenditure of energy in the unconscious, said that this can lead to disease, that it depended on the amount of energy that was down there. If an event that traumatized a person has caused a lot of materialization of such demons, and the energy “down there” is “pretty huge,” it causes physiological changes in your body its leading to stress-related disease.” (interview)

Eliade tells us that “the recovery of physical health is closely dependent on restoring the balance of spiritual forces,” Eliade, 216.) Very much along the same line, in response to the question of what she believed illness to be, Renna wrote:

“To me, illness and disease are the human struggling in body, mind, heart, spirit and every way to meet the challenges of surviving in the physical world - not always successfully, as the world we live in is polluted, frenetic, way out of whack and not especially human-friendly. Healing is when we come back into balance, whatever that means for each of us.” Renna Shesso, correspondence, Nov 27, 2007)

Maggie talked about harmony in the physical and emotional body. “[Disease and illness is caused by] separation from our source energy, a separation from love, a choice to separate ourselves from our source. We talk about disharmony in the body and how does it get created. It is usually in emotional turmoil,” (Maggie Connor, interview Nov 1 2007.)

Toby discussed emotion as well, in conjunction to mental states. ”I think for the most part illness and disease are highly associated with our emotional states and the way we are thinking, so our mental states,” (Toby Marchand, interview Oct 22 2007.)

The examples above illustrate shamanic views on illness. For in order to heal, one must first identify disease. As Eliade noted, shamans know the “mechanism” of illness, therefore are able to heal. (Eliade, 31)

One form of healing is done through contacting the unconscious mind of the client. Maggie, Toby, Antonio, and Renna do journey work with their clients. They all also know how to do energy work in healing. All of my subjects except Maggie described the aid of animal spirits in the healing process conducted through journey work. (Interviews, fall 2007)

Gagan writes in detail about the role of the unconscious mind. She writes that a “fluid” relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind is central to psychological health. She explains that traumatic memories and unacceptable impulses are housed in the unconscious, and that they drain psychic energy from body and mind. Gagan, 65) This virtually echoes Antonio’s assessment. Gagan says that the unconscious is a “repository” not only for stuff that is repressed by an individual, but for healing forces as well. (Gagan, 65) She says that journeying and communion with a person’s animal spirits provides surrogate energies for the bonding experience ideally provided for infants and toddlers in developmental stages. (Gagan, 93) Journeying also provides a safe place to release pent up rage. (Gagan, 108)

Essays | 11.05.2008 14:55 | No Comments

Modern Versions of Shamanism, Part IV: Journeying and Spirits

Journeying

In ecstasy, one stands outside waking rational consciousness. According to Eliade, a shaman is able to enter into a trance and have his or her soul leave its body and travel either to the sky or the “underworld.” (Eliade, 5.) The terms shamans today like to use is “Higher World” or “Lower World.” Renna Shesso, one of the shamans I interviewed, explains: “ [the underworld] has nothing to do with a Hades-types underworld. It’s just one of three spirit-plane regions described by various cultures worldwide: an Upper World, a Middle World, and a Lower World.” (Renna Shesso, correspondence, Nov 27, 2007)

Eliade explains various shamanic journeys to the “underworld” from all around the globe. All of the shamans from different cultures described a different “place.” Yet despite the differences in detail, all of “underworlds” described shared certain common characteristics. Within each culture, the “underworld” was a “place” souls would go upon leaving their body. The experiences in the underworld or Lower World have to do with the beliefs of the particular culture. (Stutley, 7) Each would find a divinity there that was particular to their own culture. From a Jungian perspective, they are specific expressions of the deep archetype.

The shamans I interviewed illustrate the different conceptions of the Lower World. I asked each of them to describe to me what they experience as “the underworld.” Although each shaman I asked belongs to the same culture, the differences that they exemplify can be accounted for by the mixture of world-views our diverse culture possesses. Still, they share a common thread when the Lower World is conceptualized as the Jungian collective unconscious, source of archetypes.

The underworld- it’s the other side of the dichotomy, everything in creation is a dichotomy so where there’s tremendous light, there’s tremendous darkness… the underworld to me it’s different than maybe the Native American underworld or even the underworld of you know like Christian… like hell or purgatory. To me it’s like the un-manifest. It’s, nothing exists there, yet everything is possible there, and it’s purple black, it’s like a deep deep deep blackness you know those nights where it’s so dark, you just can’t see, you if put your hand out in front of you you just can’t see there’s not even starlight it’ that kind of darkness. I actually like it because there’s a peace to it. (Maggie Connor, interview, Nov 1, 2007.)

This sounds like one possible conception of the unconscious, described to me by Maggie.

Toby described a place where archetypal images reside.

In the underworld- it’s a place, a sacred place of a lot of safety and healing, also a grounding place. Obviously you’re going down to the earth, you’re going into the womb of the Earth Mother and down there reside totems, and other spirit helpers that can give you knowledge, teaching, wisdom, healing. You can just go down there to relax and just feel a sense of connectedness and grounding and not maybe necessarily get any intellectual wisdom or knowledge you can just go down there to hang out and feel good and come back. (Toby Marchand, interview, Oct 22, 2007.)

Renna’s description, although brief, is along the lines of Toby’s. “I meet my power animals there, [totems] and we converse. It tends to look like a realistic place in nature.” (Shesso)

Antonio described for me the complete shamanic world view, according to his sources. He explicitly used the terms unconscious, subconscious, and consciousness as he drew me a diagram.

[Gets a piece of paper.] So what I am going to do here is give you the shamanic view of consciousness. A lot of the time I talk about this stuff in terms of consciousness, a lot of the times I talk about this thing is in terms of spirit. When I talk about spirit what I’m talking about is this idea of life. The life that we carry within us so when I say spirit that is what I am referring to. Because everybody uses that term in lots of different ways…. So this area down here I am going to refer to as Lower World. I’m going to refer to this area up here as Upper World, and this [between them] is Middle world. Middle world is basically this world that we walk around in… and they [shamsns] use probably “Lower World” in several different ways… I think of it more in terms of the unconscious. Most people, let’s say that this is our daily conscious life. [Draws a small circle in the middle of the page.] So it usually touches on all these areas here (Lower, Middle, and Upper world) but to a limited degree. Let’s say you’re doing a meditative practice, then you’re getting into subconscious [draws a larger circle around the small circle in the middle] and mostly everything here [points below the circumference of the larger circle] is called the unconscious, or I’m going to call it or refer to it as Lower World. But also in the Lower World you can have access to the Upper World… Now beyond this, lets say the table here is the collective unconscious, and that is like we identify ourselves as Americans, or Catholics, or Bronco fans, or whatever. So that is the collective unconscious. Beyond that you get into cosmic consciousness… so that these things here extend out to infinity. And consciousness basically is that way in that it is, we pretty much limit ourselves. It’s a self-limiting kind of process. … I would say that what shamans do is just basically travel this whole spectrum of consciousness at will and intentionally for lots of different reasons… 73 (Antonio Arguello, interview, Nov 5, 2007)

Eliade says that this ecstasy, like ek stasis indicates, is a “coming out of oneself” that makes mystical journey possible. (Eliade, 467) He reports that the traditional shamans were more powerful, and could actually fly. (Eliade, 289) These days the shamanic journey is not interpreted literally, not exactly. Larsen notes that rather it is an “internal voyage” for “guidance.” (Larsen, 9) I have found that the shamans I spoke with are out on that question. It is not certain to what degree they themselves believe that the soul actually leaves the body in a journey, conceding how difficult it is to know about consciousness and its location in space and time geographically. It is highly likely that the voyage indeed has an internal component as it is unlikely that the Lower World is an actual place tied to the literal, conscious mind, if each shaman that journeys there sees it differently based on the content of their cultural underpinnings and the subjective content of their personal unconscious.

On this subject, my interviewees shared their views on the internal/external voyage question. It would seem that the contemporary shaman’s understanding of the journey is that it is both internal and external, and has to do with the enigmatic thing we now call consciousness.

Maggie also has a dichotomous view. I asked her, “Where do you go when you travel down there [the Lower World]?” She said:

Well it’s not like down there. In consciousness it’s really important to get this aspect I think. Michael Ludwitz calls it the “hamburger universe.” He says there’s this mentality of “down there.” It’s in our language, it’s in our grammar, but it’s in our consciousness in how we think in terms of “down there” versus “up there.” (Connor)

She described a cultural specific Christian world-view to illustrate common thinking to contrast her experience:

Like God’s in heaven, sitting, and Jesus is sitting on the right hand of the Father with all the saints and Mary… and everyone who’s worthwhile is in Heaven, right, up there in the clouds, away from us. And then anyone who just isn’t worth their salt is “down there” in hell with the Devil and they’re paying for their sins. But what’s interesting to me- it’s not anywhere. There is no up there or down there, it’s everywhere. [My italics] The underworld exists here, on this plane, in consciousness, it exists in people’s fears, in their anxieties in the things they become addicted to physically that keep them kind of chained to the physical, and then heaven exists on this plane as well in your consciousness. (Connor)

“So your soul doesn’t actually leave and go somewhere when it travels to the underworld?” I asked.

Well it depends on who you talk to… I’ve taken a shower, gone to bed, had a dream that I was being taught in caves with kukui nuts and an oil lamp, like we were hiding, so that we wouldn’t be found because of what I was learning. [At an earlier time one could get killed for transmitting sacred knowledge.] And the next day, my feet were all sooty and black. Who knows? I don’t know what happens. I don’t have the answer to the kind of stuff other than there’s a lot more going on than the dimension that we are aware of on a day to day basis. (Connor)

Toby had similar things to say, and references what sounds like the collective unconscious.

Yeah I think [the soul] does leave in the sense of what we call time and space… People talk [about] the underworld and maybe they perceive it being down in the earth… and that you’re somehow going down there and your psychic umbilical chord is connecting you to your body. I’ve read things about that but maybe its not even anything like what we call time and space. Maybe you’re still in yourself but the spirit world is in you anyway. Maybe there’s not this physical movement… I know there are techniques people use to travel to other people and they’ll actually travel to that person’s home and they can say, “Well I know they have a plant in that corner and they’ve got this type of TV,” and you can tell they’ve been in that room. So maybe in those levels people are moving through space and time across geography to get to a space, and then other times their journeying doesn’t have anything to do with moving through molecular space but it’s part of that unified oneness. (Marchand)

Nevertheless, a shaman is able to journey to gain knowledge, power, and to help others. (Gagan, 8 ) However, these days, shamans such as Toby and Antonio are teaching people to take their own journeys to heal, to get teachings and reclaim lost power.

Sometimes the journey is a literal one, like a medicine walk where one can experience visions (as conducted by Toby); or a metaphysical one, in which the journeyer goes to the “Lower World” to commune with animal or diety-type spirits acting as teachers. (Interviews, fall, 2007) Here the shaman explores the contents of the personal psyche and the wider collective unconscious, and encounters archetypal manifestations.

Spirits

Eliade describes shamans as having immediate and concrete experiences with gods and spirits. (Eliade, 88) A shaman has helping spirits, also known as “familiars,” “helping,” “assistant” or “guardian” spirits. A shaman also has access to tutelary spirits, which are divine or semi-divine beings that come during a shamanic seance. (Eliade, 88) Helping spirits can be souls of deceased shaman ancestors, or spirits of plants and animals. (Eliade, 91-92) Animal spirits help in the preparation of the ecstatic journey. (Eliade, 92) The horse was a powerful symbol of carrying a shaman into the sky in ecstasy. (Eliade, 467) Traditionally, a shaman controls his spirits and communicates with them. He or she may be possessed by spirits when these spirits are invited or otherwise seek to come into him or her. (Stutley, 29) No shamanic seance is possible without guardian and helping spirits, asserts Eliade. They authenticate the shamanic journey, reveal mysteries, and provide teachings. (Eliade, 95)

In my interviews I found that the journey is not achieved because of these spirit helpers, it is on the journey that one meets them. Traditionally shamans also encountered spirits on their journey, but now it does not seem that journeyers use animals to facilitate flight of the soul, nor make use of other ascension symbols such as a chain of arrows, a ladder, bridge, or rope, (Eliade, 121) each of which is a culture-specific form. The modern meditations shamans use to go into an altered state incorporate imagery of natural openings, such as a crack in a rocky outcropping or sidewalk, or a hole in the trunk of a tree. (Marchand, Arguello)

Spirits provide teachings. (Marchand) They assist in transforming negative energies. (Arguello) In metaphysical journeys spirit helpers teach the journeyer, and provide surrogate energies that one may have lacked in early development. (Gagan, 82)

Antonion also spoke of the manifestations of repressed emotions in the Lower World. These he called demons, or negative energies.

So let’s say somebody is attacked by a bear when they were a child, they are probably going to be pretty afraid of bears. So down here in the unconscious there’s going to be stuff like fear, mistrust, things of that nature that exist here. So, the event is long over, what remains is the spiritual essence of this act. Energy. It’s actually energy; and if it were not real then it wouldn’t effect us in any way. But it’s very real and it exists. So this energy is always seeking to express itself, trying to get through [into consciousness]. The job up here [in consciousness] is to keep it down. So you got alot of energy being expended right there [in consciousness] to deal with this kind of stuff. And this stuff will always just kind of sneak out. It does affect our lives adversely. So in the shamanic world and the reason the psychiatrists do not want to go here because they don’t know how deal with this. They prefer to leave it there [in the unconscious], put a lid on it kinda stuff becuase all it’s going to do is upset you. And the shamanic approach, goes here, goes here, and deals with this energy. (Antonio Arguello, interview, Nov 5, 2007)

Shamanism’s mission then is to deal with these energies that are inhibit the state of well-being in the client.

Essays | 1.05.2008 19:05 | No Comments

Modern Versions of Shamanism, Part III: Ecstasy

…A shaman is able to see the soul, as one is a specialist in the matters which pertain to it. (Eliade, 8 ) According to Eliade, a shaman experiences the numinous and the sacred more intensely than the other members of the community. (Elaide, 32) He says that the quest for the sacred is universal and normal to human behavior, but that shamans differ in this by their ability to have an “ecstatic experience,” and that this is their vocation. (Eliade, 107) Shamanism is analagous to using the technique of ecstasy. (Eliade, 4)

Ecstasy

Gagan writes that the altered states of consciousness of ecstasy are achieved by narrowing the focus of attention. (Gagan, 43-44) Ecstasy, asserts Gagan, is the “voluntary use of an altered state combined with the intent to serve the community,” (Gagan, 32.) Ecstasy includes dreams, visions, and dialogue with spirits. (Eliade, 115) It is through ecstasy that a shaman is able to access other realms and do shamanic healing. Toby emphasizes that being able to do these things is a very natural process able to be done by anyone. Toby and Antonio have said that everyone that has come to them wanting to learn their techniques are able to do so. Toby and Renna say that children often have experiences of the spirit world and energy. Toby claims that often parents explain these away as simply imagination. (Personal interviews, fall 2007)

Stutley claims that “genuine ecstasy is a psychogenic reaction according to the dictates of the visionary’s mind, so expressing the conscious and unconscious desires of the ecstatic shaman,” (Stutley, 28.) In my research on the ecstatic experiences of the shamans in my study, I have found that ecstasy does not originate in mental nor emotional conflicts in the shaman’s mind. They are obtained through techniques similar to ones described by Eliade and which fit with some of Carl Jung’s theories. Examples of these include dreaming, meditation, and drumming. The practice of shamanism brings forth “a cure, a control, an equilibrium,” says Eliade. (Eliade, 29) He has found shamans to be intelligent, healthy, normal individuals with exceptional character, not psychotics. (Eliade, xviii)

However, Eliade does say, that the shamanic vocation, like any other religious calling (which Toby and Antonio both had at one time), is often manifested by a crisis- a “temporary derangement of the future shamans spiritual equilibrium,” (Eliade, xviii.) But the ecstatic experience seems not like a problem for the shaman, it is the answer. By nature of this particular skill and the ability to cure him or her self and other people, shamans have the knowledge of the “mechanism or theory of illness.” This peculiarity is confirmed with the shaman’s own experience which is “unusual” or “abnormal” when compared with that of others. (Eliade, 31) Antonio claimed knowledge of energy served to save his life while working among the criminally insane, which he claims was a part of his shamanic training. A shaman cured Toby’s chronic back pain, which propelled him into his own vocation.

Stutley’s claim that ecstasy expresses the conscious and unconscious desires of the shaman echoes the Freudian viewpoints of dream analysis, which holds that dreaming is a form of wish-fulfillment. According to Freud’s theory, these desires are typically repressed urges that are sexual or violent in nature. This Freudian explanation extends over similar phenomenon such as fantasy, myth, or works of art. (Larsen, 24) Others have expanded on this viewpoint. Carl Jung views products of the imagination not as pathological, but as natural and instinctive. (Larsen, 25) Dreams, says Jung, are “involuntary, spontaneous products of the unconscious psyche [often revelatory]… pure products of nature not falsified by conscious purpose,” (Jung, 48.) Dreams may contain certain psychic forms called archetypes. (Jung, 48) Shamanic visions contain these as well, as Eliade, Maggie, Toby and Antonio assert that one can access the same realms in visions as in dreams. Jung asserts this realm to be the collective unconscious.

An archetype is a “numinous content,” (Jung, 40) a universal image that has existed since the “remotest times,” (Jung, 5.) It is a symbolic, impersonal figure, “essentially an unconscious content that is altered by becoming conscious and by being perceived, and it takes the colour from the individual consciousness in which it happens to appear,” (Jung, 40.) This content, percolating up from the “transpersonal” realm is personalized as it is altered, and takes specific form for the person experiencing it.

Mere wish-fulfillment as an explanation for dreams or ecstatic experiences falls short of attributing the deeper meanings properly attributable to them. Not all dreams have archetypal and/or ecstatic components. However, this alternate dream theory is in alignment with shamanic phenomena, and attribute appropriate importance to unconscious content which shows itself valuable in various therapeutic techniques. Aside from this debate on the nature of ecstasy, through it anyone is able to experience the contents of the unconscious and the relation of these to their conscious minds.

Stutley tells us that the Greek root of the word ecstasy ekstasis (ek- outside of, and stasis- to stand) signifies the “escape from one’s own rational and definite position,” and asserts that the goal is the same in mysticism. Both of these, she says, “transcend the assumed limits of personality,” Stutely, 28.) Ecstasy references a person who is standing outside his or her self, outside the ordinary, rational waking consciousness. It is the fundamental technique of shamanism.

Eliade tells us that the experience of ecstasy “becomes communicable through universally current symbolism,” (Eliade, 411) through archetypes. Communication through symbolism is the thread that passes on information of what is being experienced by the shaman. Examples include metaphors such as flight and journey which are used in describing the ecstatic experience of the shaman. It is in this way that the shaman crosses the “veil” between human beings and the spirit world, obtaining useful information (Stutley, 28) pertaining to the noumenal realm of the sacred, and that which might be called “the soul.”

Achieving Ecstasy

According to Eliade, ecstasy, also considered a trance state, is achieved by means such as singing, dancing, (Stutley, 2) drumming, narcotics, and possession by spirits. (Eliade, 95) Yogis could achieve the power of flight by psychological discipline and yoga, asceticism and alchemical practices. (Eliade, 409)

Antonio has used drumming to enter the altered state of consciousness, but can now journey without the use of any mechanism to induce ecstasy. (Arguello, interview, 2007) Toby uses meditation. (Marchand, interview, 2007) Renna uses a combination of methods: she sings, drums, dances, and rattles. “I… open myself to perceiving spirit as directly as possible through shamanic journeying and “transfiguring” - letting my hold on a human perspective and identity slip away to better be aware of the divine energy that animates all,” (Shesso, correspondence, 2007.) Maggie calls it a “ a state of allowing… it’s a state of being open… in all your channels, all your chakras, all your energy centers, and wide open, three hundred sixty degrees and connecting to the source that created everything and when you put yourself in that place some pretty amazing things can happen.” She says that she also transcends the limitations and definitions of the ego and lets go of limiting beliefs, and uses meditation to go on shamanic journeys. (Connor, interview, 2007)

Essays | 18.04.2008 22:15 | 2 Comments

Modern Versions of Shamanism, Part II.

Definitions

A shaman is a “technician of the sacred” states Mircea Eliade in his classic text, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (Eliade, 33.) Shamanism is not one fixed belief system, but instead is a number of disparate beliefs having many facets and continually increasing as new situations arise, although retaining many of the old beliefs and overlapping traditions, says Margaret Stutley in her book, Shamanism, an Introduction (Stutley, 3.) He or she is one who believes in the world of spirits which he controls or cooperates with for the benefit of the community (Stutley, 2.) Stephen Larsen, in his stirring work A Shamans Doorway: Opening Imagination to Power and Myth asserts that shamans have the special ability to dream, trance and imagine, and are experts at reaching into the causal level for the needs and wants of the people in the community (Larsen, 9.) A shaman is a healer, reports psychologist Jeannette Gagan, PhD. in a fascinating book, Journeying: Where Shamanism and Psychology Meet (Gagan, 27.) In light of these varied statements, to fully understand what a shaman is, one must describe shamanism in its many facets and techniques, consider its positioning in epistemological debate, and discover what its modern-day practitioners have to say about it.

Aspects of shamanism are found the world over in one form or another. Eliade traces shamanism back to at least the Paleolithic era (Elaide, 11) in Siberia and Central Asia where it traditionally dominated the magico-religious aspect of society (Eliade,4) and describes phenomena with common characteristics in North and South America, Oceana and Indonesia, where it exists alongside other magico-religious practices (Eliade, 5.) The shaman is a mediator between humankind and the gods, says Eliade (Eliade, 8.) They operate within the mythological structure in which they are ethnographically situated, that is, a shaman would address divine entities by the terms used by that particular culture of people. Larsen calls shamans “mediators between myths and reality,” (Larsen, 9) those whose “vocation is the relationship between the mythic imagination and ordinary consciousness,” (Larsen, 59) and who immerse themselves into myths, which are the “local versions of (Jungian) universal archetypes.” (Larsen, 65) Stutley claims that shamans have protected mankind’s mythical knowledge (Stutley, 6.)

Maggie illustrates this point. When asked about the mythology she operated within, she related this mythical knowledge:

… a part of that mythology has to do with the [original] continent of Mu, or Lemeuria. There were no boundaries, it was one land mass and one teaching: that we are brothers and sisters of the light. The sages of the time knew that there would be a breaking up of the lands… and what they did was they took that wisdom and knowledge and protected it. [My italics.] That teaching in Egypt shows up as Egyptian mysticism, that teaching in India showed up as Indian mysticism… that is why there is so much commonality in the indigenous systems in the world. That is kind of the big picture, and then the smaller picture in terms just of the individual and individuality of one being is that you are a spiritual being manifested in a physical body.

She not only notes the protection Eliade mentions that shamans (termed by her sages) provide to mythological teachings, but, in a mythical way she explains why shamanism appears so similarly in various contexts across the globe. Her myth alludes to the essential oneness of all things, which is a metaphysical, spiritual teaching. This myth also explains the condition that human beings are in, (spiritual beings manifested in a physical body) and this provides the context for her work.

Toby, when asked to confirm that he operated in a Native American tradition he responded in this way:

Yes and no. I was taught that way- some of my books and things are at that level, but I try in a lot of ways to divorce myself from that. I’m not Native American- I mean I’ve got some Ojibwa blood in me that goes way back- but to me its more important that we’re all just human beings. The natives do not own this stuff. You can find in Siberia, you find it in North America, you find it in South America, you find it in Hawaii, you find it across the globe, and like journeying…. [a shamanic technique] People do that in South America and people do that in Siberia- two cultures that never crossed paths. Why is that? In my opinion it is because it’s totally natural. People stumbled upon it through spontaneous living, and you see it crop up across the whole globe and in every culture because it is just a natural process and a natural way of connecting [to Spirit].

Toby also acknowledges shamanism as a word-wide phenomenon, and makes the point that its techniques are natural, and that they do not fall outside the capabilities of any human being.

Traditionally, a shaman is seen as someone who does things that are anything but natural: Eliade writes that a shaman functions as a magician, a medicine man, and a guide of souls, a mystic, priest and poet, able to cure maladies and perform miracles (Eliade,4.) Stutley, on the other hand, writes that shamans treat diseases, especially psychosomatic ailments which affect both the body and mind; and aid clan members with a variety of difficulties and problems (Stutley, 2.) Antonio told me that the shaman is a clan’s psychotherapist (Antonio Arguello, interview.)

I asked all of the interviewees what sort of activities they engage in that pertain to their work. Maggie says: “I call myself a personal trainer for your mind, and I’m beginning to call myself a personal trainer for body, mind, and spirit. I’m also a certified master trainer in a number of different disciplines.” (Maggie Connor, interview.) These includes Neuro Linguistics Programming, which is a modern version of huna, the Hawaiian teachings, and Time Line Therapy. Her business was called Ultimate Journey.(www.ujpro.com) She sees people individually and does a form of psychotherapy which engages the subconscious and the “higher self.” Maggie also does group trainings on the Big Island of Hawaii. “Really, what I do is assist people in connecting to their own inner source of truth,” she said (Maggie Connor, interview.)

Antonio said that although wanting to retire “I still see people individually, I do group work, like workshops sometimes, presentations, for instance… sometimes I go down and I do a lecture [at UCD for Professor Coggan] as well. Just different places around, universities, churches, groups, street corners, under the bridge, anywhere.” He hosts drummings, and teaches people how to journey, which is a key shamanic healing technique, also used to aid the client in communicating with his or her unconscious mind (Antonio Arguello, interview.)

Toby’s business, Nature’s Healing Path, LLC. is a “practice in emotional and physical healing as well as a practice in teaching energetic and metaphysical techniques, using knowledge that comes from shamanism.” Toby’s techniques include the following: journey meditations, relaxation meditations, instruction in shamanism, prayer and ceremony, energy work, techniques in connecting to nature and spirit worlds, medicine walks, energy healing, backpacking trips into the mountains while, practicing many aspects of shamanism, and vision quests. (www.natureshealingpath.com)

Renna, as already mentioned, does soul retrievals, shamanic extraction of misplaced energies, and training in shamanic practices. This includes drumming, dancing, singing, using a rattle, and shamanic journeying (Renna Shesso, correspondence.)

Maggie, Antonio, Toby, and Renna all train others in shamanic practices. They also all heal various maladies of their clients, some physical, some mental and emotional. They are experts at matters pertaining to human consciousness and energy work.

A shaman is able to see the soul, as one is a specialist in the matters which pertain to it (Elaide, 8.) According to Eliade, a shaman experiences the numinous and the sacred more intensely than the other members of the community (Eliade, 32.) He says that the quest for the sacred is universal and normal to human behavior, but that shamans differ in this by their ability to have an “ecstatic experience,” and that this is their vocation (Eliade, 107.) Shamanism is using the technique of ecstasy (Eliade, 4.)

Essays | 24.03.2008 22:58 | No Comments

Modern Versions of Shamanism, Part I.

Introduction

“Shamanism” is a term that is shrouded in mystery or dismissed as non-relevant to many who are unfamiliar with the concept. However, the concept is surprisingly modern as it is ancient, and its benefits valuable, although largely hidden from view in our society. Metaphysics has been largely pushed aside by our culture ever since the scientific revolution, and removed from the realm of “reality,” as in that which is empirically, objectively provable. Despite this development, metaphysics is still the basis of traditional religions, and one may even argue that religion with the mythological mind-frame is on a bit of an upswing with the rise of religious fundamentalism in the United States (which has considerable political clout). Although undermined by the scientific method and rejected by religions outside of shamanic cultures, shamanism has not disappeared from society, but has surfaced in a variety of potent ways in the United States.

This ancient phenomenon has appeared in the vast array of cultures across the globe with certain well-documented similarities- most extensively written about by Mircea Eliade (Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, 1951. Princeton University Press: 2004) and it exhibits some of these in the forms it takes here today. The modern forms of shamanism, as do the traditional, vary amongst each other, and they demonstrate contrasts with the traditional versions. However, the core remains the same, which I will explore within the pages of this study. This work explores texts on shamanism, as well as four case studies of shamans located in the Denver, Colorado area. I have found that shamanism has developed as it situates itself in modern times. Among the facets of today’s shamanism are life-coaching, alternative healing arts, and an uncommon type of psychotherapy that does not shy away from involving matters of the soul in its practice. Sometimes it deals with consciousness and its manifestations in the unconscious, and vice versa: manifestations of the unconscious in the conscious mind. It deals directly with energy and appearances coming from the noumenal world, considered by generations of scientists as either nonexistent, or simply beyond the bounds of human knowledge. Its methods, by which the shaman was healed and then teaches others, (Eliade, 31) serve to unlock a latent power for the subject, and provide healing beyond what traditional psychotherapies often been able to achieve (as documented by Jeannette Gagan, PhD. in Journeying: Where Shamanism and Psychology Meet, Rio Chama Publications: 1998.) Its effects are of valid application to sciences of mind, epistemology, and those concerned with the well-being of humankind.

Modern versions of shamanism have been described to me by the four shamans I located in the last six months. Three I met through someone besides myself who knew a shaman, and the fourth I found after doing an internet search. Each of them is known as a shaman by the members of their community and can perform essentially shamanic techniques as will be described in greater details is this study.

I met Maggie Connor through a friend, who presented her to me as a shaman. Maggie is a kumu (teacher) of Hawaiian mysticism, or huna. She has been studying with George Na’ope, also known as Uncle George, who is a kumu hula master. He is honored for being a “keeper” of the traditional Hawaiian sacred knowledge, including the prayers and chants which are the hula. (Maggie Connor, interview, 11.1.o7) He is recognized for being a “Living World Treasure” by the Hawaiian Governor and the Hawaii state legislature. (www.nea.gov) He performs ceremonies, and is known as “Keeper of the Light,” or the “Keeper of the Calm” by his community. A student of Uncle George, Maggie has studied huna for sixteen years, is a PhD candidate, and performs shamanic techniques taught by the Hawaiian mystics. (Maggie Connor, interview.)

Maggie says she is able to communicate directly with a person’s unconscious mind. She is trained in hypnosis and kinesiology. (Maggie Connor, interview.) The style of kinesiology Maggie uses in sessions with her clients is similar to a divination process of the Eskimo where a system of muscle testing is used. It is designed to communicate with the unconscious mind though the use of physical cues of the body. For example, when Maggie uses kinesiology, she asks her client to hold his or her arm at a 90 degree angle from the body. The practitioner then asks the client’s unconscious, to display a signal for “yes,” and a signal for “no.” Pressure is then applied to the arm. The arm will either be stiff and hold the position or be soft and give away, and this establishes a cue for an affirmative, and a negative response to further questions. In the Eskimo tradition, the subject would sit on the floor with a belt used to hold up his or her head. If the head became heavier following the posing of a question, the answer was affirmative, if the head became lighter, the answer was negative. (Eliade, 296.)

Toby Marchand was presented to me as a shaman by Maggie Connor. Toby has been studying shamanism for twelve years. He met his future teacher seeking relief from chronic back pain. He was healed by this traditional Seminole Indian shaman, who is at least a fourth generation medicine man, and was his student for six years. He was acknowledged by his teacher as a shaman, and now he teaches the same techniques that healed him to others. (Toby Marchand, interview, 10.22.o7)

Antonio Arguello was presented to me as a shaman by my professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, Dr. Sharon Coggan. Antonio is mostly a self-taught shaman, although he did receive some training from a Lakota medicine man, whose lineage is that of the honored visionary Black Elk. He obtained much knowledge through books on shamanism, although he has been able to do shamanic journeying since before he knew that it had a term. Like many traditional shamans, (Eliade, 13) Antonio was taught shamanism in these visions and dreams. He is a published author of shamanic literature, (The Death of the Last Dragon, 1997) and lectures at universities, including the University of Colorado at Denver for Dr. Coggan. Antonio also does individual and group work with people using shamanic techniques, teaching them the techniques. (Antonio Arguello, interview, 11.5.o7)

I found Renna Shesso through an internet search on shamans in Denver, CO. Since it is my goal to explore how shamanism appears in society, I wanted to find one subject to interview from the highly pervasive source of information, people, and service provision that is the internet. Renna Shesso met world-known author and shamanic practitioner Sandra Ingerman (www.shamanism.org) in 1988, and has done numerous advanced formal trainings with her since then. The techniques she practices and uses to help people are consistent with shamanic practices outlined by Eliade, such as soul retrieval and extraction of “misplaced energies.” She also provides shamanic training to others. (Renna Shesso, correspondence, 11.27.o7)

I hold for all of these individuals that they are authentic shamans consistent with the definitions and information presented to me by authors of texts on shamanism, a discussion of which follows.

Essays | 15.03.2008 14:11 | No Comments