A shaman or medicine man is someone who can talk to spirits, both good and evil, and get them to do his will. He can travel through the spirit world, cure the sick, see the future, make a woman fertile and find good places to hunt or fish. He practises magic, white or black, and is sometimes the leader of his people, especially in war.
Shamans are common in societies that make a living by hunting or herding animals. They are found in Siberia, Australia, Borneo, India and North America.
In what follows I am thinking mainly of the shamans of Siberia, who have been the best studied, but shamans are more or less the same throughout the world. That is an amazing fact if you suppose that shamans are making it all up. If they are making it up, why are they so alike?
Most shamans are men, but in some societies they can be women too.
Unlike witches or sorcerers, shamans practise white magic as well as black, can travel through the spirit world and their powers are more inborn than learned.
You do not choose to be a shaman: the spirits choose you. You do not learn to be a shaman, you become one. Many are born with a sixth finger or too many teeth or have some bone others lack. The trial comes at age 15 or so: the spirits come and put you to the test. Your body goes into a fit and then for many days you are in a deep state beyond sleep. When you come out of it, if you do, you are a shaman.
Being a shaman often means walking the fine line between life, death and madness.
You have a spirit who protects you throughout life. The stronger he is, the stronger you are as a shaman.
A white shaman practises white magic, a black shaman black magic. Some practise both.
Shamans seem to leave their bodies and see another world, which is how it seems to them too. Sometimes the spirits come and possess their bodies and speak through them. A shaman’s soul can possess an animal. Sometimes shamans fight as animals.
The lay of the land: for a shaman the spirits, both good and evil, fill the whole world. They fill not just the air, the heavens and hell, but animals, trees, rivers, rocks – everything. The world is spirit-filled. This is called animism.
The spirits are what cause disease. So to cure someone you must deal with the spirit that is making him sick.
Shamans live on earth, but their souls can travel at will to the spirit world. It contains a hell or underworld where bad spirits live and several heavens. At the centre of the earth is a tree that reaches up to heaven. In heaven are other trees where souls are born.
See also:
- “The Way of the Shaman” by Michael Harner
- A Guide to Turks
Hi I am fevah and I am a shaman for Eua a tiny Island in the south pacific, I do have five fingers but my head does have an extra bone protuding from my skull. I am one of only three left of my kind here. Your post is ok but does not sum me up that’s for sure.
LikeLike
Do you know of any good websites about shamanism?
LikeLike
I am sorry but I don’t. I feel that many sites I have looked at have been not very good at all. I have been searching for other shaman from overseas to help with a task to big for us alone to carry out. It seems that shamanism has been watered down to the point that I liken it to going and learning to a hobby.From what I have seen on my wandering on the internet people people really think you can go and pay someone to teach you how to be a shaman. To be shaman is not a choice, it is something that happens to you, you are chosen, by spirit.What comes next if you are lucky is you are then chosen by a teacher, if you are unlucky, then you will not find a teacher and then your mind may be lost. The journey of the shaman is between two worlds this world and the spirit world sometimes the lines are blurred as to which world you are in. This is why the mind of the untrained shaman can be lost. I have found no real shaman on the internet but I will keep trying, as this is my task. I know they are out there I see them in my wandering in spirit but for now the do not see me.I hope this has been of service to you.
Ofa Atu
LikeLiked by 1 person
It has. Thank you.
LikeLike
I recommend this site. 🙂
LikeLike
TOLKİEN_87@HOTMAİL.COM I NAME mUSTAFA tÜRK PEOPLE I WANT OTHER ALL WANT TURKİC PEOPLE SPEAK
LikeLike
tolkien_87@hotmail.com and koktengri@rambler.ru
LikeLike
Err….why wasn’t Africa and Brazil added to the list of locations where Animism is practiced?
LikeLike
To be responsible on a site like this you need to discuss the white New Age cultural appropriation aspect of “shamanism”. Check out this site with lots of Native American members:
“New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans”
http://www.newagefraud.org/
“Do you think you are “Indian at heart” or were an Indian in a past life? Do you admire native ways and want to incorporate them into your life and do your own version of a sweat lodge or a vision quest? Have you seen ads, books, and websites that offer to train you to be come a shaman in an easy number of steps, a few days on the weekend, or for a fee?
Have you really thought this all the way through? Have you thought about how native people feel about what you might want to do?”
“Native people DO NOT use the label “Shaman.”
“Think also about how it makes it harder for natives and whites to get along when whites have been given an untrue picture of native cultures. We have to learn to get along and we can’t do that as long as whites give support to operators who push a fraudulent version of what we are like.”
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE and commented:
This information is good for anyone that is premed
LikeLike