SHAMANISM

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2004-08-24 18:22:18

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SHAMANISM

Shamanistic practice is one whose complete existence revolves around the cosmos, totem animals, ancestral spirits, animism and plants. It is most common in primitive societies. The shaman must function comfortably in two realities, the ordinary reality of the waking world and the non-ordinary world of the shamanic state. Practices vary, but usually a Shaman is trained privately by an elder Shaman of his tribe. A young apprentice is taught arduously, step by step, from an external authority, how to develop his inherent power by the correct interpretation of dreams and visual imagery, sometimes with the aid of hallucinogenic drugs. Once in trance, (also called the 'vision quest') the shaman usually enters the lower world by slipping into a hole. There his spirit- helpers aid him in performing cures, exorcisms or prophesy. Fasting, or eating special plants is shared. An altered sense of consciousness is almost always necessary for healing or other information which comes from ancestral spirits or totem animals, etc.

Modern (urban) shamans use some of these techniques, but it is rarely structured in the same painstaking way as a tribal shaman -- therefore lacks the same impact or power. Modern practitioners usually collect Native American artifacts, do sweat-lodges, fire-walks or vision quests. There may be some, but probably little authentic training, since a tribal shaman's training takes a lifetime. The urban shaman's motive seems to come from a yearning to connect with Mother Earth through Native American spirituality. This began in the counter-culture of the late sixties, and reached a peak during the Harmonic Convergence in the eighties. Lately it seems to have receded.

Since the 1970's many neo-pagan witches have blended shamanistic techniques with their religious and magickal ceremonies. One of the earliest churches to do so was the Church of the Seven Arrows in Colorado. Church of All Worlds has developed its own methods of transcendence through drumming, chanting, dancing, fasting, vision quests, and the acquiring of totemic spirits.

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