shamanism as i see it
Shamanism is a term used to refer to traditional ways of healing and supporting harmony within nature’s universal laws and cycles of life and death. This ancient craft can be found in a rich diversity of forms across the globe. The earliest, undisputed burial site of a shaman dates back in the region of 30,000 years in the area currently known as the Czech Republic.
Rooted within the animistic worldview, shamanism invites us to be in relationship with life in a way that honours the interconnectedness and interdependence of our existence with all living things.
It recognises that there are vast plains of unseen existence that influence our physical reality, and that everything visible is alive, with its own consciousness, animated by Spirit.
Since there are as many definitions of shamanism as there are practitioners, I make no attempt to define shamanism for other people, only for myself!
SIX COMMONALITIES OF HEALING PRACTICES CONSIDERED SHAMANIC
Working in partnership with spirits to effect change in the physical by bringing through insight, guidance or healing for the Land and the community.
Use of intentional practices to enter receptive states of consciousness, such as lucid dreaming, use of instruments, imbibing plants, entering ecstatic states, fasting, periods in darkness, silence, singing or chanting.
Participation in journeys or communication between different realms of existence.
Leaders of ceremonies, rituals, healing, transitions (births, death, rites of passage), problem solving and divination.
Attention towards honouring the ancestors to maintain harmony in the here and now.
The word ‘shaman’
Originating from the Evenk peoples of Siberia, speakers of the Tungusic language family, it was appropriated and applied generically by Western anthropologists. Consequently, many people avoid the term ‘shaman’ as a cross-cultural category altogether. Others appreciate it for creating a common benchmark in cross-tradition dialogue to help identify what we’re talking about.
Local traditions and practices vary tremendously from one community and culture to another, using words from their own language to identify the person who conducts them. Within the cultures that shaped the heritage of the British Isles, various names were used to denote the seers, mystics, sages, healers, herbalists, diviners and various spiritual roles. Many of these words meant something akin to, ‘one who sees’, or ‘spirit worker’, highlighting that shamanism is not a belief system but is based upon knowing through direct experience in relationship to the unseen world.
Völva, Seiðr (Norse cultures), Bean feasa (Irish Gaelic culture), Fiosaiche (Scottish Gaelic cultures), Druid (Celtic cultures), Noaidi (Sámi cultures)
Shamanism is an extension of nature itself, expressed through the diversity of human cultures.
Therefore like nature, it’s fluid and ever evolving. Simultaneously ancient and contemporary. For me, this explains how the craft has both evolved and sustained over tens of thousands of years as part and parcel of ordinary community life.
In light of this, there’s no need to appropriate other people’s traditions, songs, ceremonies and cosmologies. When we take the time required to truly enter into stillness and deep heart listening, the ancient Spirits of our Land are right here waiting for us to connect in ways that make sense to our current understanding and context. This wisdom is alive in the earth that forms our flesh and bone and that lies beneath and all around us. It’s encoded in the air that fills our capillaries and imbues all space. It permeates the waters within each of our cells and the vast water bodies that encompass the globe. It animates the eternal flame within our heart and the light that radiates from our closest sun and moon, and all the other countless stars and celestial bodies held within the cosmos.