A Shamanist or Something Else?

[kokopelle]

The shamanic path is a long one with a lot of depth. Practitioners are asked to do an incredible amount of work on themselves as they move forward in their abilities. However, the work is not only about technique. Fancy footwork does not make a person a shaman or shamanist. What does? These are my thoughts.

I consider myself a shamanist by intention and training. Is this enough? In the past I posted the following list as an estimation of what being a shamanist was about:

1. Have you energetically removed yourself from the restraints of the past?
2. Have you energetically faced death and are at ease with the reality of a world beyond the physical?
3. Have you learned the symbolic language of the mystical?
4. Can you achieve altered states of consciousness?
5. Do you travel between the spirit world and the physical world?
6. Do you use your skills in service to your community?

This seems solid to me. The feedback I received confirmed this list was a good start. While doing and living these traits does not make one a shamanist, they are strong indicators of someone walking a shamanic path.

Recently I began to read Mircea Eliade's book "Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy ". Eliade defined a shaman as follows:

"he is believed to cure, like all doctors, and to perform miracles of the fakir type, like all magicians [...] But beyond this, he is a psychopomp, and he may also be a priest, mystic, and poet".

A few days later I pulled another book from my shelf and read something similar. Serge Kahili King writes in his book "Urban Shaman":

A lot of people have different ideas of what a shaman is and does, but like Eliade, I tend toward a strict definition. Not every medicine man is a shaman, but a shaman might be a medicine man. Not every tribal priest is a shaman, but a shaman might be a tribal priest. Not every psychic healer is a shaman, but a shaman might be a psychic healer. For purposes of this book and my teachings, I define a shaman as a healer of relationships: between mind and body, between people, between people and circumstances, between humans and Nature, and between matter and spirit. In practicing his or her healing, the shaman has a view of reality very different from the one most the world uses, and it is this unique viewpoint which really sets the shaman apart from other healers.

These texts made me wonder if there was a black-and-white line between being a shamanist and being something else. The references were about full blown shaman. I am the first to acknowledge that shaman and the shamanist are not the same type of person. Still, I believe there is a loose linkage between the two as every shamanist is a shaman yet to be recognized. The shamanist has every potential to be a shaman. What then differentiates the shaman and the shamanist from other healers, priests and energy workers?

What are the special qualities or traits that separate these people from others of ability? Is statement of intention enough to be a member of the shamanic path? What is the difference? Your opinions please!

Comments

[r-monoxide.livejournal.com]

I've always had trouble with the word "shaman" because there are several ways to define it. In anthropology we used the definition of a shaman being a person who used altered states of consciousness. I could be considered a shaman by the definitions you use and the anthropology definition, but I don't self-identify as a shaman. I consider myself a druid.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

You are quite right that the term shaman comes with so much baggage and nuance that it is almost unusable expect in the broadest anthropological/descriptive terms.

Are you a solitary druid or are you a member of a group? I ask this because I am pondering the correlation between people being members of a group and it being "acceptable" for them to use a title.

[madfedor.livejournal.com]

Giving due acknowledgment to the semantic problems around the word, I've come to the recent conclusion that there is a fine line between walking a shamanic path and being a shaman. I consider it a matter of overlap and focus, not just definition.

Simply put, a person on a shamanic path is a shaman only in a cultural context. It accomplishes nothing to travel the paths of chaos (my term) if I am unable or unwilling to share what I've seen and learned with those unwilling or incapable of making the same journey.

I like King's "healer of relationships". I like it very much. It defines my path quite precisely. I am a shaman, in that there are times when I accomplish that healing.

A cosmetic distinction, but an important one, addresses the identification of the cultural context. I am not any [qualifier] shaman. My cultural context is generic, meaning that anyone with membership in any community, closely defined or not, can benefit from my healing actions.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

(IMO!) There are few people who are truly shamans by the existing definitions and accepted contexts. "Who is a shaman?" is becoming a non-issue for me. The designation has become diluted and in some ways tainted. I plan to write about that in another article.

I do honor those who are recognized as shamans by their groups. This is a designation of both honor and responsibility... most responsibility. The rest of us are still walking the shamanic path. Our efforts are needed in this time of disunity from ourselves and nature. The shamans may be in the forefront, but shamanists very much have our role in healing the world.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

I like your working definition thus far. It's a much more thorough explanation than core shamanism, IMO.

I haven't read Eliade yet, but I have seen some criticism of his work in that it attempts to pigeonhole shamanism too much, particularly in the "pure" vs. "degraded" forms of shamanism. Just FYI.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I think the working definition is a good "trait" list.

Eliade definitely comes from the anthropological school. Those guys had the first shot at defining the thing called shamanism. I believe they did a decent enough job. We just have to keep in mind where they were coming from.