An Indigenous Shaman
This is an interesting culture. It’s also a young culture compared to many of the cultures on the planet that have thousands of years of history behind them.
One thing we do not have is a shamanic culture. The original native inhabitants of this country had spiritual and religious roots. They also had a healer, sage or medicine man (or woman) in their community.
The Europeans who subsequently came here did not bring a shamanic presence with them. Their concept of a “medicine man” was already influenced by medical and pharmacological knowledge. Spiritual support was available through local clergy.
People nowadays drawn to shamanism face the interesting task of creating shamanic roots for themselves on which to build their knowledge or practice. This can take a couple of forms.
A person may have an affinity to a particular shamanic culture (i.e. South American Peruvian Shamanism) and devote their studies to reproducing the style and techniques in their practice.
Or a person may study many different cultures and adopt particular techniques from each into their practice. Often this person will start with and build upon the concept of Core Shamanism, an observation that there are various beliefs that exist within most shamanic cultures regardless of geographical location. Core Shamanism was defined by Michael Harner, founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
Neo-shamanism is a term used to describe the creation or revival of a shamanic culture. Most of us doing shamanic work in this country fall into this category.
Out of respect for indigenous cultures that have a history of shamanic initiation, I do not call myself a “shaman”. (OK, “The Crying Shaman” does sound better than “The Crying Neo-Shaman”!). I use a variety of techniques from different shamanic disciplines when I work with people.
Frankly, I like this! Because so many people are working with such varied knowledge and techniques, one day we will be able to describe our Western shamanic culture. It will be broad and inclusive, taking into account many different belief systems.
Perhaps, then, it will be a common practice for our communities to call upon their local shaman for support!
Tagged as:
shamanism,
spirituality
Neo-shamanism and Core Shamanism
by thecryingshaman on September 30, 2010
An Indigenous Shaman
This is an interesting culture. It’s also a young culture compared to many of the cultures on the planet that have thousands of years of history behind them.
One thing we do not have is a shamanic culture. The original native inhabitants of this country had spiritual and religious roots. They also had a healer, sage or medicine man (or woman) in their community.
The Europeans who subsequently came here did not bring a shamanic presence with them. Their concept of a “medicine man” was already influenced by medical and pharmacological knowledge. Spiritual support was available through local clergy.
People nowadays drawn to shamanism face the interesting task of creating shamanic roots for themselves on which to build their knowledge or practice. This can take a couple of forms.
A person may have an affinity to a particular shamanic culture (i.e. South American Peruvian Shamanism) and devote their studies to reproducing the style and techniques in their practice.
Or a person may study many different cultures and adopt particular techniques from each into their practice. Often this person will start with and build upon the concept of Core Shamanism, an observation that there are various beliefs that exist within most shamanic cultures regardless of geographical location. Core Shamanism was defined by Michael Harner, founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
Neo-shamanism is a term used to describe the creation or revival of a shamanic culture. Most of us doing shamanic work in this country fall into this category.
Out of respect for indigenous cultures that have a history of shamanic initiation, I do not call myself a “shaman”. (OK, “The Crying Shaman” does sound better than “The Crying Neo-Shaman”!). I use a variety of techniques from different shamanic disciplines when I work with people.
Frankly, I like this! Because so many people are working with such varied knowledge and techniques, one day we will be able to describe our Western shamanic culture. It will be broad and inclusive, taking into account many different belief systems.
Perhaps, then, it will be a common practice for our communities to call upon their local shaman for support!
Tagged as: shamanism, spirituality