MacDill Humanities Class Blog 2012: Shamanism

I am always fascinated with spiritual world; the reason why we exist, the meaning of life, what happens after we die and so on. The reason I chose this topic is because I’m a shamanist myself. It’s a belief of indigenous people, not so many have people heard of it. Before giving a definition of shamanism, I’d have to explain about spirits.

Spirit

As the scientific technologies grow day by day, people of this day only believe more in the things that they can see, hear or feel; in their common senses with proven assurance. Here are some facts. An eagle's eyesight is capable of seeing fish in the water from thousand feet above. Similarly, 3-year old children and dogs can see the aura (subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person) of people. It also can be seen through a special device. But a person would deny them, if he can’t SEE through his own eyes. Suppose an eagle and a man look into the water for fish from a few hundred feet of high altitude. What would the man say? “There’s no such thing as a fish,” but there are probably fish in the sea, right? Therefore, we cannot just deny the fact of the existence of spirits.

So if we give away the doubt, then there has to be PROOF. Some scientists said they had found proof, but some still don’t believe it. The term SHAMAN is the biggest proof of spirits.

Do you think people die and disappear? The answer is NO. Even though their bodies graved in the ground, their souls still go with their mind, memories, and even have the bruises and marks from the body. Also souls reincarnate, if their life wasn’t worth good enough, would be born as a human again. If worth it they’d go up and up and become spirits and higher ranks. Worse ones become a species of animal. Sometimes they can’t even find their kind and extravagate around the in-between world. Therefore, each soul have different place and kind to-be born. They all have different ranks. Just like normal human beings. There are bad spirits and good ones as well. But most importantly they are capable of influencing people; us.

Afterlife

You, me, us humankind will die someday for sure. Well, what happens after that? When we leave our bodies behind, we go directly through the Jury of God. It’s the most accurate and fair system. (Which every religion agrees) Without it, everything would have been in chaos. Anyone who’s living in this materialistic world would think, “Who’d believe that mythical gag?” I’ll tell you the proof.

Shaman

Is there a way dead can connect to us? Yes, and that’s what Shamans, called uliyachi, are also for. They are the “messengers” between the two worlds. We can meet our ancestor’s spirit through shamans. They would talk and act just like the way they did when they were alive, even have the same memories, and would also slobber and preach to their children. They might even tell you where they’d hidden a treasure.

Siberian Shamanka

WHERE ARE SHAMANS FOUND?

Mongolian Shaman in trance

Shamans are found in many parts of the world, but they generally do not exist outside of animist cultures. That means shamans hardly ever exist except in gathering-hunting, nomadic animal-herding, or horticultural (gathering and gardening) communities.

Indian Shaman - Yakut Shaman healer - Thunderbear (Canadian Mohawk)

Once a culture turns to agriculture, the religion changes from animism to something else, usually worship of goddesses and/or gods, and shamanism disappears, though some cultures retain some elements of shamanic practice longer than others.

South African Shaman witch doctor Mapuche Shaman in Chile

Shamanism

Shamanism is a specific set of beliefs and practices used by shamans in serving the spirit world and their own people. It is the shaman’s job to keep the people in harmony with nature and the spirit world, and to heal them or bring them back into harmony when needed.

Shamanism is not a religion. It is an outgrowth of the oldest spiritual belief system, animism. Gathering-hunting people, nomadic animal herding cultures, and some other animists who live in small, mobile groups or isolated villages still depend on shamans for healing and spiritual protection in many parts of the world.When a culture turns to farming (depending on raising large quantities of a few crops and staying in one place), the spiritual belief system gradually changes from animism to something else, such as the worship of human-like gods and goddesses, and shamanism usually dies out.

References

As I was doing this research, I found this documentary feature film that follows the quest of an American guy and his wife in trying to find healing for their autistic son. After discovering that their son's condition appeared to be improved by contact with horses, the family leaves their home in Texas and go on a journey to seek help from the traditional shamans in Mongolia.
You can get insight into the shamanic tradition and healing process from this movie.

The Horse Boy (2009)