I'm tempted to begin by giving you the most standard definition of shamanism but I believe that first I'll tell you what I personally feel shamanism really is. For me, asking about the nature of shamanism is like asking what it means to be a full human being. It is the most basic way of experiencing and being our true nature as humans. It is the root and foundation of all that we are. It is a way of being; an attitude, feeling, behavior and knowing that we are an interdependent part of a vast mystery of consciousness that is dynamic and uncontainable. Shamanism informs us through each breath we take that we are beings with no beginning and no end; that our spirits and bodies are fluid, ever-changing expressions of a vast unity, and that there is endless creativity and variety in what the so-called physical can be and in how we experience ourselves and everything else; and that everything else is just like this too; that all is alive, inspirited, able to relate, communicate, and create together while shape-shifting endlessly from one adventure to another, both inside and outside of Time and Space.
Shamanism is a conscious, mutually nourishing relationship with every part of creation--seen and unseen-- where we act with respect, integrity, curiosity, tenderness and honor; where we share our full selves with human, tree, water, rock, bear, fae, gust of wind, planets, stars, birds, sun, gods and goddesses, hint of moonlight, fungi, tutelary deities, etc. etc...... and forms of consciousness we cannot even begin to name; with the rest of the endless cosmos within and without. Shamanism is our intimate reciprocal connection to the fullness of Life in all its manifestations; it is the elixir of Eros running through us. It is both scintillating, ever-shifting dream as well as primal, grounded practicality. Shamanism is human nature and all of nature, when we're being our most authentic, unconditioned selves. It is experiencing the unity of all that is and radiating that aliveness into every part of our world. Shamanism is knowing that the phrase "we are all ONE" is not a metaphor, but rather the bedrock of our existence along with the understandings and actions that necessarily fall out of that knowing.
Now, most of what I just described as shamanism, many would define as animism instead and perhaps take exception to me muddying those waters. And they would segregate shamanism as explicitly that extension of animism where someone intentionally goes into a trance state, takes soul flight into the spirit realms, relates to spirit beings and allows those spirits to use them as a conduit for certain energies.. And with the understanding that shamanism is known to be that particular flowering from the root of animism, I agree, reluctantly; and yet, the line is so very permeable, how can one truly separate shamanism from animism. There are those who say there are animistic cultures that are not shamanic....but I don't know. I can't really fathom how one can live a sincerely animistic life without at least experiencing shamanic states of consciousness even if it's not some "formal" practice. But this is how the mind works, separating, bracketing, solidifying.....and I'd like to flow a bit here and move on.....
So... although it is a rare way for humans to now be in the world, to have a personal shamanic relationship to life is our birthright and is deeply coded in our biological and spiritual DNA. We are meant to go into all kinds of altered states; we are meant to live ecstatically; we are meant to have such keen physical senses that they are portals into other realms of consciousness; we are meant to relate consciously, naturally and consistently to non-human life-forms as well as to the unseen world. We are made for that! I will delve more into this in later blogs and eventual podcasts but for now I'll tell you the more standard, modern definition of shamanism which is, albeit in a less rapturous mode than mine, also....... a lens of truth.
Shamanism is a many, many thousands-of-years old method of using trance states to access wisdom, guidance and direct healing energies from the unseen or spirit realms. By "spirit realms" I'm not referring to a category of any one specific religious orientation but to the vast underlying, mysterious reality that informs our lives. Working in partnership with the spirit realm and from a shamanic perspective, all imbalances in our lives--whether physical, emotional, mental or energetic--are perceived to originate within our spiritual nature. Thus, the focus of all shamanic work, whether it be healing, divination, blessing, invocation or inquiry, is to discover what the imbalances are and to address them at their source. (This is a more contemporary viewpoint. In some traditional shamanic cultures, shamans might curse as well as cure and align with spirits not opposed to doing so.) And I want to make a distinction here between having a personal shamanic practice and/or orientation towards life versus working in the role of practitioner on behalf of others. The personal practice and stance is a natural, available aspect of our humanity; the work on behalf of others has traditionally been something one is called to do by the spirit world, as there tends to be a different sort of immersion needed and accountability called for within the two orientations.
Despite all the beliefs and experiences encountered within a shamanic way of life that seem so far-fetched and unrealistic to many within contemporary culture, ultimately shamanism is a very practical life orientation. It is not New Age-y, flaky or ungrounded; it's concerned with what works and does so through an experiential process that includes the acknowledgment that the unseen spirit realm and the seen physical world are always one fluid reality, both informing the other and both being expressed through the other. We are all of it....
Contemporary shamanic practices rise out of many different ethnicities and lineage-based wisdom traditions from around the world over a very long period of time. But most of the known ones had at their core the use of a trance state---either sonic-driven, prayer based, song and/or dance evoked, or plant medicine(entheogenic) induced--in order to connect with the compassionate spirits for assistance of some kind. And these Helping Spirits are very creative, adaptable, and resourceful. They've cooperated effectively with people of many different cultures and beliefs for thousands of years of great change. So, despite that we all have our different histories, filters, belief systems and ways of languaging our lives, this approach is still responsive and will adapt to meet very specific needs and understandings.
Shamanism is standing outside as night wraps around your body, feeling the thrum of the earth's heartbeat in your feet, tasting the caress of winds that have known waters, fields, stones, starlight and forests and feeling the rapture and wonderment and un-answerableness of your question---"what does it mean that the earth is so beautiful?" And living that mystery in the heat of your belonging.....
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