The word shaman is a Siberian word meaning “walker between the worlds” or one who enters altered states of consciousness for the purpose of accessing knowledge to help others (Harner, 1990). It also references the cycle of life-death-rebirth (both literal and figuratively as in initiations) and the concept of a wounded healer, one who uses the healing of ones own woundedness to help others.
The term shamanism describes the set of values, practices, worldview, and views about human nature that shamans use to guide their practice. Shamanism teaches that all elements are connected, and that what happens in other places, to other people or to the environment effects all, like the proverbial ripple in the pond. The circular nature of the medicine wheel represents this principle and guides the values and principles of shamanic practice. The medicine wheel is divided into four quadrants each representing the four directions and containing the animal nations present in each direction. Specific qualities reside in each quadrant; for example, in some traditions the buffalo nation resides in the north. The buffalo represents, right relationship with environment and our community. The qualities contained in each direction are used for teaching and healing in shamanic practice. This belief is supported by the Quantum Theory mentioned above, assuming that all mass is made of energy.
Right use of resources and living in balance with the environment are two important principles of shamanism. The Native American use of the buffalo is a perfect example. Native Americans who resided in the plains were particularly dependent upon buffalo for everything from hides to make clothes and housing to the bones for weapons and tools nothing was wasted. When buffalo populations were decimated by over hunting and by the waste of the buffalo by white settlers the Native American tribes were devastated
Right use of power is another important principle of shamanism. Shamanic tradition teaches that each of us is born with original medicine; we are unique and there will never be another like us. Personal power is viewed as how we use this original medicine. Right use of power means that we use our personal power with integrity and enlightment (Arrien, 1993). Since part of the role of being a shaman is to be of help to others, this requires living in sacred community where all individuals are valued, and their roles are equally valued and all aspire to support the whole community.
The worldview of shamanism is transpersonal to a large degree, which means all knowledge is passed from one generation to the next either through conscious means or through unconscious means. On a more controversial note, knowledge for all species is equally passed from one generation of humans to another (Schultz, 1990). Shamanic practice uses elements of ceremony in reference to this fact such as the stones (sometimes called stone people) who sacrifice themselves during sweat lodge ceremony as wisdom keepers and healers.
Life is viewed as moving in a spiral, not a straight line. This means that people will have very similar experiences in different times and in different circumstances. Oftentimes these experiences are rooted in family of origin material that is seeking resolution, obviously a Freudian concept. One can tell this is happening when one thinks, “why does this keep happening to me?” or when one notices that one seems to keep recreating the same types of relationships over and over. This spiral offers constant opportunities for self-evaluation, growth, and transformation.
In the shamanic view, illness and dis-ease are only symptomatic of the transformation process and happen when people lose their integrity where integrity means having the quality of being whole (Canda and Furman, 1999). The practices of shamanism are intended to guide people through this transformation process thus restoring integrity, primarily through the shamanic journey process, soul retrieval, and extraction.
First, I will describe the shamanic journey in the traditional sense and then using a method in which I am certified called Shamanic breathwork (SBW). Traditionally, the shaman would undertake a shamanic journey on behalf of a distressed individual (seeker) seeking healing or enlightenment. In some traditions the shamanic journey is facilitated with hallucinogenics such as peyote in North America or ayahuasca in South America (Harner, 1990). In other traditions, only the beating of a drum, which Native Americans believe represents the heartbeat of mother earth, facilitates the shamanic journey. Drumming, when done at a rhythm of 7.5 cycles per second, induces the theta/low alpha state of consciousness that results in an altered state of awareness (Ingerman, 1991). The practitioner typically works in a dark space and may have an assistant to drum for him/her. In some traditions the shaman begins his/her work standing up, and when the desired state is reached will collapse to the floor signaling the assistant to stop drumming (Harner, 1990).
The purpose of the shamanic journey is to travel to different psychic worlds where different experiences are available for the purpose intended by the seeker. Three worlds exist; the lower, middle and upper are traveled to psychically using a variety of ways. In order to get to the lower world, one travels by canoe, tunnel, or on the backs of serpents (Harner, 1990). The lower world is where the spirits of plants, animals, and people who are connected to the earth live. The landscape is earthy, containing caves and dense forests. The upper world is ethereal, made of bright colors and crystals. Power animals live in the upper world along with teachers in human form who offer guidance about relationships. The middle world superimposes nonordinary states of consciousness onto our current reality. Here the shaman can travel to different times in human history primarily for the purpose of healing by using soul retrieval or extraction which are specific forms of shamanic healing (Ingerman, 1991).
Soul retrieval is performed to restore soul loss, which leads to illness or dis-ease. Soul loss happens when, due to some type of trauma, a part of the individuals self or soul fragments and does not integrate into the ego. Current psychological thought holds that, although rare, this does happen and manifests in a variety of ways such as repression, development of other personalities (a very controversial theory) and dissassociative states of consciousness. From the shamanic perspective, everyone has experienced soul loss because everyone has experienced some form of trauma; only the degree and severity differ. Birth in and of itself is viewed as a traumatic event that may lead to soul loss. A shamanic practitioner who journeys on behalf of and usually with the seeker present does soul retrieval. Typically the practitioner lies on the floor next to the seeker touching at the feet and shoulders for connection while an assistant drums (or in our modern era uses a recording of appropriate drumming). The practitioner journeys to the middle world
|
