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Shamanism
Nyx Whyteraven
The term Shaman originates with the Buryat and Evenk people of Siberia. The Evenk are also called the Tungus by non-Evenk Russian peoples. Shamanism is an ecstatic practice in which the shaman derives his or her powers from altered states which can be achieved in a number of ways ranging from fasting or deep meditation to the use of ethnobotanicals to induce hypnotic or ecstatic states. Shaman are deeply connected to the Earth. They are powerful healers able to move between realms and communicate with their spirit animals when they may need to call on them for knowledge or assistance.
The term “shamanism” has become a catch-all term used to describe healers, seers, and medicine men and women, in general. After the initial discovery of the Shamanic practices of the Buryat people, world travelers, who then encountered other indigenous peoples and witnessed their spiritual and healing practices, dubbed their healers and spiritual guides “Shaman” rather than asking them what they, themselves, called their tribal healers. This made the term a common, catch-all for tribal spiritual healers. While Shamanism does fall under the general umbrella term of Pagan and it does have some similarities to other Pagan practices, true shamanic practice includes very specific aspects. It begins, more often than not, in childhood where the tribal Shaman will see that a particular child is meant for or called to the life and will begin training him or her.
One who is called to Shamanism in adulthood often feels the call after a serious illness or near-death experience, resulting from an accident or other trauma. In order for the shaman to understand sickness, he must experience it for himself. Coming face to face with death can, in many cases, rip away the blinders that hide other realms of existence from a person. Part of the training to become a Shaman includes quests into ecstatic states. These are altered states of consciousness that are believed to be marked by any of a number of experiences each specific to the individual Shaman or apprentice.
Shamanic practice is solitary. A Shaman works alone for the good of his community. It is said that a Shaman walks between two worlds. In his book, The Wisdom of the Wyrd, A Work on Saxon Shamanism, psychologist Brian Bates explains that in Norse and Saxon belief systems, the belief is held that all of life is connected by way of strands in a giant web and that all we do causes the strands that run through our lives to tremble and vibrate in ways that can have far-reaching effects throughout our world. This is called the “Wyrd,” or the intertwined fates of everyone and everything in the world, and this is what the Saxon Shaman seeks to help keep healthy and in balance. Shaman are, in truth, spiritual rather than physical healers despite the term often being used to encompass both the aspects of physical and spiritual healing.
Shamanism focuses on returning and maintaining balance within individuals and the world, while the path to Shamanism can be a long and difficult one, it would be beneficial if more of us were to take a path in life that would allow us to aid in healing our wounded Mother Earth and in turn, our species as a whole.