Shamanism

The shaman in the movies is portrayed as a kind of medicine man, dancing around a fire and shaking herbs and rattles to appease the demons and heal the sick. This article is intended to reveal what shamanism really means to the people who practice this beautiful art, and to educate the reader beyond the Hollywood definition.

What is Shamanism?

Shamanism was defined as a technique of ecstasy and is classified by archaeologists as a magic-religious phenomenon. The shaman in an ecstatic trance is believed to be able to ascend to heaven or descend into the underworld in order to gather visions and advice to help his or her people. During this trance the shaman may appear to have a magical control over wind or fire and all other elements. The shaman has spirits who help them to attain ecstatic consciousness, however the shaman retains their own consciousness as well, and cases of possession are rare.

Anthropologists have begun to take a renewed interest in shamanism and advanced states of altered conscience. Modern researchers have begun to explore these old techniques, and a field called "anthropology of consciousness" has emerged in psychology circles which have opened up investigation into the research of nature as pertaining to the history of consciousness. Outside the realm of research, people who have become interested in shamanism are delving into new and different forms of reaching altered consciousness, but if not done correctly, these experiences can be terrifying and leave lasting damage.

Early shamans practiced exercises which led to lucid dreaming, or what is commonly called out of the body experiences. Near Death Experience believers are also big practitioners of lucid dreaming, believing the answers that they seek and which eluded them when they either made the choice or were told to come back to earth can be found in this particular state of consciousness.

So what does the Shaman do, exactly?

Their specialty, along with having the knowledge of herbs in order to heal naturally, is the ability to move between the two worlds, leaving their physical body and travelling only in their "soul body" to reach higher levels of understanding available only to those who are able to fly beyond imagination and physical realm. This is called Shamanic Flight. Their helper spirits assist them in reaching these other realms, and it is there that they have the visions, talk to ancestors regarding a problem, or learn of new herbs and medicinal plants for healing their sick, or depressed. They also are able to gain knowledge of things yet to come, and in many cases it is said that they can predict the outcome of a sufferers (or queriants) life.

Sometimes a shaman is chosen or has a calling to do this. Many shamans begin their journey as a result of a near death experience themselves, which partially explains why so many NDE believers are drawn to this practice. Being in the unique position to understand someone's pain through their own NDE, a Shaman is in the position to sometimes be able to see an outcome or answer that others may not.

The shaman enters a trance, called ecstasy, which means "to be placed outside of." Ecstasy may look like a seizure of the Shamans body by a spirit and is the provoked ascension of the soul to the heavens or down into the underworld. The shaman has trained for a long time in order to achieve this state, and has often trained under adverse and painful conditions. The outcome of this training is phenomenal, as shamans can accompany souls to the underworld and stay with them until they are comfortable and ready to move on. (The underworld is not the Hell of the Christian doctrines, of course, it is simply a resting place for souls until they are ready to move on, but some souls, such as children, can be frightened of new places at first just as they were in life, and the Shaman is a comfort. Whether you believe it or not, wouldn't you feel comforted to know your child wasn't scared of where they were?)

The experience and feelings of the Shaman often happen in a trance state of which there are several types. These trances are a form of self hypnosis, although unlike the hypnotist that tells you to act like a chicken, the shaman is in complete control. It is like being in an "awake" trance, if you will. Often referred to as hyper-suggestibility, it is the same type of trance used classically by the hypnotherapies trying to bring about the changes necessary in a smokers way of thinking in order to achieve the desired result of quitting.

However, the shamanic trance differs in the sense that the Shaman does it in order to heighten all of their senses during their journey to the other worlds, in order to realize situations, answers, and gather information. These are the heavy trances, the lighter trances are said to feel to the shaman the same as if you were so engrossed in what you were doing that you were unaware of your surroundings-easily startled out of it but groggy for a minute.

Each trance state depth has its own uses, light trance states are used to practice heightening sense awareness, for the journey to the other world. They are said to feel like a heightened sense of awareness. Deeper trances are where the novice can get freaked out, as they feel more like a dream that is vividly happening in reality. Novices who try to take an herb or drug to hasten the trance instead of practicing for it are in real trouble.  The shaman trains their mind to respond as they want it to, and practices daily for sometimes hours in order to achieve a trance like state over which they have control.

Like anything else that takes practice to learn to do well, if they stop practicing consistently, they will gradually fall away from being able to achieve any form of trance at all, and will have to start the process of learning to meditate to a trance all over again.