alt.religion.shamanism FAQ - Introduction to Shamanism

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alt.religion.shamanism FAQ - Introduction to Shamanism
Version 1.3 - 3 June 2003
This is the monthly posting of the alt.religion.shamanism FAQ -

Introduction to Shamanism. This FAQ may be revised from time to time,

new questions asked  and answered, and redundant questions and

answers removed, based upon comments and input from the participators

in the newsgroup. Answers are copyright 2002 by the individual
authors. 
This FAQ may be freely circulated and posted on individual
web pages as 
long as it is not for financial gain. 
1. Q: What is
shamanism? 
A: Shamanism is primarily a set of spiritual techniques
used to enter 
into a trance state called ecstasy in which the shaman
travels 
out-of-body to Other Worlds in order to diagnose, heal, learn
the 
causes of and solutions to problems, guide souls, etc.
Traditionally 
these purposes have included locating or attracting game
for the hunt, 
weather control, and mediating between the sacred and
profane 
dimensions. In traditional societies a shaman may also perform

divinations, make amulets and charms, neutralize curses, and sometimes

cast curses. (Joseph B Wilson) 
The word shamanism describes: 
1. The
techniques and beliefs used by a shaman/shamanist in his or her

practice of ecstatic trance and related. 
2. A type of religion or
belief system that requires a shaman as a 
necessary central figure,
whose actions are considered required for 
the health and well being of
the culture/group. The indigenous 
shamanic religions of Siberia are
generally used as the standard 
yardstick of shamanism to which other
cultures are compared. 
(StarrHawke) 
2. Q: Is shamanism a religion?

A: No. Shamanism is neither a religion nor a spiritual path. It is a

set of spiritual practices that may be used by anyone no matter what

their religion is. A religion is defined as a set of beliefs, values,

and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader or

tradition. The creeds of the various religions that shamanism can be

found in lack any uniformity, only the practices of the shaman are

similar. (Joseph B Wilson) 
Shamanism is not a religion in and of
itself, but a label used to 
describe a type of religion. It is also
used to describe the 
methodology typically associated with a shaman,
used within a 
religious/cultural context. 
(StarrHawke) 
The word
shamanism is loosely used to identify a classification of 
religions in
the same way that monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, and 
animism are
types of religion, but not religions themselves. 
(Joseph B Wilson) 
3.
Q: If shamanism is not a religion why is this newsgroup called

alt.religion.shamanism? 
A: The topic of alt.religion.shamanism is
shamanism . It is in the 
alt.religion hierarchy because shamanism is
found in many different 
religious traditions. While shamanism itself
is not a religion, it is 
a religious practice. (Joseph B Wilson)

Because the Net Gods decreed it that way. Deal with it. (StarrHawke)

4. Q: Where does the word shaman come from and how does it relate to

shamanism ? 
A: The practice, study and experience of the shaman is
not limited to 
any single cultural group. The word 'shaman' is from
the language of 
the Tungus of Siberia. It is variously 'shaman',
'saman' or 'haman'. 
Among the Tungus it is both a noun and a verb. The
Tungus themselves 
have no word for 'shamanism'. Shamanism is the
magical practices 
that are done by a shaman. It is by no means the
name of their 
religion or of anyone's religion. That being said the
general 
discussion of native religion is not on topic for

alt.religion.shamanism. That is, as it has been pointed out elsewhere,

a very broad topic. [Adapted from Dean Edwards in the

soc.religion.shamanism FAQ] (Joseph B Wilson) 
5. Q: What is on topic
for discussion in alt.religion.shamanism? 
A: A great many things. A
few of them include but are not limited to 
shamanism in general,
historical shamanism, contemporary shamanism, 
traditional shamanism,
non-traditional shamanism, Core shamanism, 
neo-shamanism, and
techno-shamanism, their origins, methods, 
techniques, and objectives.

Healing techniques, soul retrieval techniques, divination techniques,

other miscellaneous magical operations; becoming a shaman, shamanic

initiation, also the different spirits, power animals, divinities,

landscapes, etc., found in the non-corporeal worlds are particularly

on-topic. (Joseph B Wilson) 
6. Q. What is off topic in
alt.religion.shamanism? 
A. Religious philosophy in general whether it
be native religion, 
neo-Paganism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Buddhism, Hinduism, 
Shinto, or any other are particularly
inappropriate. Although it's 
entirely appropriate to discuss shamanic
practices found within 
different religions, discussion of the
religions and religious 
philosophies for their own sake is off topic.
Political issues are 
also off topic, as are anything else that is not
directly or 
indirectly related to shamanic practice. And, of course,
SPAM. (Joseph 
B Wilson) 
7. Q: Sometimes we work with a foot in NOR
and OR at the same time. 
This is done particularly with healing work
because of the need to 
move around and see the spirit of the illness
in the patient whilst 
being able to extract it somehow. I also use a
rattle for a light 
trance in order to speak with middle world spirits
for example if I'm 
working with a place that is spiritually damaged or
I wish to ask for 
a teaching. In your opinion, Joseph, is this
shamanism? There is 
communication with the spirits, but not a lying
down on the floor, 
totally out of it journey. Just curious to see how
far this definition 
extends. ( Jo B.... ) 
A: I've been thinking about
this since you posted, Jo, and I think I 
can now safely answer -- I
don't know! I think it would be considered 
shamanism in a traditional
culture. I don't think that the deep 
trance, the ecstatic journey is
or was used in every instance and that 
light trance often served as it
does today. 
The problem is that damn word is so difficult to pin down.
According to 
Gloria Flaherty (a professor at the University of
Chicago), in 
Shamanism and the 18th Century , University of Princeton
Press, the 
word shaman comes into the field, including the English
language, 
circa 1750. The German scholars working largely (thanks to
Catherine 
the Great's patronage) among the Tungus and Altaic people.
The word 
comes from these cultures. The Germans rendered it schaman,
and as 
they were the most influential of the scholars of the 18th
Century, 
the German term took as a common term to cover all the
various 
indigenous names for shamans. 
In the Tungus language the word
s(h)aman is both a verb and a noun. 
Therefore there a shaman is one
who shamans. Or as we would say a 
shaman is one who shamanizes. Just
adds to the confusion. 
Want more confusion? Apparently the word
migrated to the Tungus 
language via Buddhist missionaries and has it's
roots in the Sanskrit 
word sramana . 
During the 19th and first half
of the 20th century the word was used as 
a synonym for any indigenous
occultist and was interchanged with 
witch, witch doctor, sorcerer,
wizard, warlock, medicine man, 
magician, necromancer, fortune teller,
etc., etc., etc. I suppose it 
made life easier for the scholars,
studying among many different 
peoples to use a word that immediately
said indigenous magical 
practitioner of some sort. 
As happens with
words it started to be applied to others. One book I 
have by a
respected author, published in 1880 or so, refers to Gypsy 
shamans.

Eliade and some others found the way the word was used to be too vague

and therefore tried to identify elements that would make it more

useful. That's a trend that I lend support to. 
As Starrhawke pointed
out elsewhere, shamanism doesn't exist. It is 
not a real thing, it is
just a label for an abstraction. And I agree 
with her that it is a
useful lable. (Joseph B Wilson) 
8. Q: Is the study of shamanism
'safe'? 
A: Once one has come to realize that there are more
intelligent beings 
than just humans, who can be contacted through a
variety of means but 
who exist independent of human life, there has to
be the realization 
that common sense in dealing with any other living
entity in a 
physical way is as important in the Otherworld. Treat any
kind of 
spirit with respect, but also in a similar manner as a
stranger met 
downtown.As with any unorthodox study, experiences will
not always be 
conform what is considered 'normal', as defined by
society. One has to 
be prepared to deal with such confrontations.

While it is not the goal of shamanism, self-realization is often a

result. Some aspects of yourself that become conscious are not always

wanted or desired. Especially with shamanism, where there is a good

measure of working along side other beings, it's not always up to the

person to decide how far and how deep it goes.So it's relatively safe,

as long as common sense is strongly present. (Yerune SilverSong) 
9.
Q: I bought a rattle and a drum, met Power Animals, know my Totem

animal, chat with the trees and spirits and dream an awful lot. Am I

now a shaman? 
A: No. In the shaman's perspective, everyone has such
relations with 
certain spirits, not just a shaman. As it's often
healthy for a person 
to have good relations with other people besides
her direct family, 
it's also healthy to have good relations with those
non-physical 
beings. For a person's health it's important to stay
physically fit. 
Shamanising in this context provides a way of becoming
or staying 
spiritually fit and healthy. A shaman is a specialist in
this, and 
with duties and responsibilities that go beyond staying
healthy. 
(Yerune SilverSong) 
10. Q: How does one become a shaman? 
A:
In traditional societies a person may be eligible to become a shaman

because they are descended from shamans, they received a shamanic

call , or they chose that vocation. The most powerful shamans are

considered to be those who became so because of the first two

elements, the least powerful those who sought out the profession.

Regardless of the method of selection shamans are not considered

legitimate unless they have gone through shamanic initiation and

training which takes place both in dreams and visions and in

transmission from elder shamans in the form of ceremonies and

instruction in shamanic techniques, names and functions of spirits,

mythology, the secret language, and so forth. (Joseph B Wilson) 
11.
Q: What is Shamanic Initiation? 
A: Shamanic Initiation varies from
culture to culture but in 
traditional societies usually involves an
intense vision or dream of 
being killed and dismembered (and sometimes
eaten) and then 
reassembled with a new shamanic body . This dream or
vision is often 
considered the call to become a shaman. Before being
accepted by the 
community a potential shaman must often also undergo
initiation 
ceremonies performed by the elder shamans of the community.
Unlike 
modern civilized initiations into Lodges or Covens the
potential 
initiate may not survive the ordeal of the initiation
ceremony. In 
neo-shamanism the initial Journey to Retrieve a Power
Animal and 
instructions on Journeying could be considered an
initiation of sorts. 
(Joseph B Wilson) 
12. Q: What is Shamanic
Ecstasy? 
A: Shamanic Ecstasy is the trance state in which the shaman
journeys to 
the other realms of existence. Shamanic Ecstasy is the
altered state 
of consciousness a shaman experiences while shamanizing.

(Deermouse) 
13. Q: What is Journey/Journeying/Journey of Soul/Soul
Travel? 
A: The travel of the shaman's spirit (while in trance) to the

non-physical areas of existence known as the Upper, Lower, and Middle

worlds. (Joseph B Wilson) 
14. Q: What is the Lower World? 
A: A term
popularized by Michael Harner and associates referring to 
that area of
non-physical existence that can be reached by journeying 
down into the
earth through a tunnel where wisdom about physical 
reality, the body,
helping spirits, and Power Animals can be found. It 
also contains the
dark, shadowy realms or hells of most cultures. 
(Joseph B Wilson) 
15.
Q: What is the Upper World? 
A: A term popularized by Michael Harner
and associates referring to 
that part of non-physical existence that
can be reached by journeying 
upwards by climbing a tree, mountain,
ladder, or any combination. 
Usually teachers and wisdom about
emotional, spiritual,.and 
philosophical aspects of existence are found
in the upper world. The 
First/Great/Celestial Shaman is located here.
It also contains the 
traditional heavens of most cultures. (Joseph B
Wilson) 
16. Q: What is the Middle World? 
A: A term popularized by
Michael Harner and associates referring to 
that part of non-physical
existence that that parallels the physical 
world we live in. The
non-physical aspects of the world we live in. 
(Joseph B Wilson) 
17.
Q: What is the Otherworld? 
A: The physical world is but one of many
worlds, characterized by the 
solid nature of its components in
relation to each other. Everything 
not-physical, by this definition,
is considered Otherworld. But it's 
not to be considered as a simply
dualistic state of existence, the 
physical world, like any other
world, is part of the whole. (Yerune 
SilverSong) 
18. Q: What is the
Tree of Life, or Axis Mundi? 
A: This is a complex symbol representing
the self-centeredness of every 
part of the Universe. Every part of
Creation is its own center and 
revolves around this. In the same way,
it represents the co-existence 
and relation with all these centres
towards each other. The tree 
symbolizes the Upper World, in which the
branches reside, the Middle 
World where the trunk is located, and the
Lower World where the roots 
are. In this way, it shows the
connectedness and integration of a 
being across all the worlds.
(Yerune SilverSong) 
19. Q: What is a Totem? 
A: The word totem entered
the English Language a couple of hundred 
years ago. It comes from an
Ojibwa word, nindoodem, which means my 
family mark. It most closely
translates to clan. It is a plant, 
animal, natural force or material
that is identified with a specific 
group or clan, rather like a group
badge with sacred connotations. 
(Joseph B Wilson) 
20. Q: What is a
Power Animal? 
A: Michael Harner defines a power animal as: a spirit
being that not 
only protects and serves the shaman, but also becomes
another identity 
or alter ego for him. (Michael J. Harner The Way of
the Shaman, 1980, 
1990; page 43.) 
A power animal is a spirit that
shares a certain quality with the 
person. It can be considered to be
both a personification of that 
quality as well as an entity that helps
you working with that quality. 
In most cases, Power Animals are
spirits who agree to aid you with 
specific tasks and quests, and will
leave when that task is completed. 
(Yerune SilverSong) 
21. Q: What is
a Spirit Helper? 
A: This is a term used by Michael Harner to identify
a spirit that is 
subordinate to the shaman that assists him or her to
carry out 
shamanic responsibilities. He used the term in relation to a
class 
of spirits that would be pretty much identical to the familiar

spirits or the medieval magicians and witches. Harner identifies

Spirit Helpers as plant spirits that in their nonordinary form may

take the form of insects, some other zoomorphic, or even inanimate

forms. They are similar to domesticated work animals such as herding

dogs, hunting dogs, plough horses, pack mules, etc; possessions that

must be trained to do your bidding or at best they have no practical

purpose and at worst may be harmful to you. Unlike guardian spirits,

spirit helpers are only possessed by shamans. . a shaman can come to

possess hundreds of spirit helpers . 
(Michael Harner, The Way of the
Shaman, Chapter 7) The term Spirit 
Helper should not be confused with
generally helpful spirits. (Joseph 
B Wilson) 
22. Q: What is a
Guardian Spirit? 
A: A spirit that protects and assists a shaman (or
other persons) while 
journeying, carrying out shamanic
responsibilities or training. This 
is not necessarily the same as a
Power Animal. (Joseph B Wilson) 
23. Q: What is a Spirit Guide? 
A: A
spirit that advises you and guides you in your Higher Purpose A 
Spirit
Guide is often an ancestor. 
(Joseph B Wilson) 
24. Q: What is a
Tutelary Spirit? 
A: Technically, a spirit that serves as a guardian or
protector. 
Colloquially, a spirit that teaches often by creating
situations for 
experience rather than by giving instructions. (Joseph
B Wilson) 
25. Q: What is a Nature Spirit? 
A: The spirit of any
animal, plant, or mineral. (Joseph B Wilson) 
One realm that is closely
related to the physical world, in which 
nature expresses itself, is
the Green World. There are realms that can 
be considered Kingdoms, the
Plant Kingdom, the Mineral Kingdom and the 
Animal Kingdom. There is
also the Elemental Kingdom. This last Kingdom 
deals with the structure
of natural forces found in nature, such as 
the four elements (air,
fire, water and earth), as well as 
manifestations such as clouds,
rain, storms and snow. In some cultures 
natural occurances such as
storms are not only manifestations of gods 
or spirits, but are the
result of the activity of these Elemental 
beings.Together these
Kingdoms form what is sometimes called the Green 
World, and a spirit
of that realm is called a Nature Spirit. (Yerune 
SilverSong) 
26. Q:
What is a Spirit Wife/Husband/Spouse/Lover? 
A: A spirit who engages
the shaman in an inner sexual relationship and 
may even become the
person's numinous spouse. This is a frequently 
encountered motif in
both Siberian Shamanic Tradition and Celtic 
Faerie Lore. (Dean Edwards
in the soc.religion.shamanism FAQ) 
An entity whose spiritual
significance is expressed through the shaman 
or chosen individual.
(For instance, ancient Celtic kings were 
wedded to the manifestation
of the forces of the land, often 
expressed as a white mare.) (Jilara
in the soc.religion.shamanism FAQ) 
27. Q: What recommended books are
available on shamanism? 
A: Three basic books on shamanism in general
are: 
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy 
by Mircea Eliade

Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr; ISBN: 0691017794; (May 1, 1972) 
*The*
classical reference that clearly defined what is and is not 
shamanism.
This is not a how-to guide to instant shamanism; it is a 
scholarly
read, and may be difficult going, especially for beginners. 
Still, it
should be on every practioner's bookshelf. It provides 
necessary
grounding in classical shamanism, and is invaluable as a 
reference for
understanding aspects of your own experiences. (Metista) 
Shamans,
Healers, and Medicine Men 
by Holger Kalweit, Michael H Kohn
(Translator) 
Publisher: Shambhala Publications; ISBN: 1570626561;
(December 1992) 
Similiar to Eliade's book, but a bit more
approachable, this is an 
exhaustively researched study of shamanic
traditions around the world. 
It's simply filled with accounts of
shamanic theory and methods. 
(Starrhawke) 
The Way of The Shaman 
by
Michael Harner 
Publisher: Harper San Francisco; ISBN: 0062503731; 10th
anniv edition 
(October 1990) 
While Eliade is the father of modern
shamanic scholarship, Harner is 
the father of the popular neo-shamanic
movement. Even if you don't use 
his methods, or agree with his
commercial endeavors, this book is a 
must read, as it established and
defined much of the popular 
vocabulary and theory. (Metista) 
A
separate list with recommendations for useful books on Siberian,

Central Asian, Finno-Uralic, Arctic, African, North and South

American, South and East Asian, Scandanavian, nontraditional,

contemporary and shamanism and Celtic Otherworld Tradition is found in

the Shamanism General Overview FAQ. 
28. Why was this FAQ written? 
A:
This FAQ was written to support the USENET newsgroup,

alt.religion.shamanism . Although the Shamanism-General Overview and

the soc.religion.shamanism FAQs written by Dean Edwards for

soc.religion.shamanism 
are thorough it was felt that a FAQ written in
less academic language would be 
more useful to the participants of
alt.religion.shamanism.