Shamanistic practices in hunting
di...@my-dejanews.com
took place in the ice age. Does any of this concur with what shamanistic
wiccans do?
ROCK PAINTINGS AND ANIMAL CEREMONIES
Finnish rock paintings represent the philosophy of Stone and Iron Age man and
his life as a hunter. The drawings on vertical rock faces reflect his world
view, in which elks play a central role. Close on 70 % of the motifs in a
total of 33 prehistoric rock paintings discovered in 1978 show elks and human
figures. Comparison with corresponding material from north Eurasian hunting
cultures indicates that the Finnish rock paintings are manifestations of
animal ceremonies and the shamanistic tradition associated with them. This
embraced the idea of souls in contact with one another. According to this
both humans and animals had guardian spirits. These spirits were contacted in
ceremonies before and after hunting. The shaman, on behalf of the community,
conducted a ceremony during which he fell into a trance and became his own
guardian spirit, his alter ego, then seeking the guardian spirit of the game
in question. Every species of animal had its own guardian spirit, which had
to be consulted by the shaman in order to ensure success in hunting. The
purpose of the ceremony after the hunt was to guarantee a sufficient supply
of a particular game species in the future too, by returning a game animal to
the keeper of its species.
The points at which game was most easily accessible can be concluded from the
location of the rock paintings, along the waterways. The paintings referred
to sacred places at which it was possible to contact the keeper of a game
species and to request success in the hunting of this species. Similar to
these are e.g. the sacred places of the Lapps with their seita idols. The
rock paintings with elks depict the guardian spirit and the keeper of the
elk. Pictures might be painted before the hunt, to guarantee success, or
afterwards, to guarantee future luck in hunting. The anthropomorphic figures
could represent a shaman, a person capable of contacting the spirits. Other
pictures, different living creatures and abstract symbols represent the
shaman's animal helpers.
Ancient religion of the Finns Reprinted from the Ancient World Web site.
Pip
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Suzanne Simmons
di...@my-dejanews.com wrote in message <780nps$qan$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
>A brief description of the shamanistic practices that pre-historians
believe
>took place in the ice age. Does any of this concur with what shamanistic
>wiccans do?
>
>
>ROCK PAINTINGS AND ANIMAL CEREMONIES
>
these acts mean, they do practice rituals to respect the spirit of the
animal they are hunting. I feel,IMO, that Pagans are most responsible
hunters, because of the tendency of Pagans to feel respect for other
creatures and awareness of the need for spiritual balance in Nature. There
were good reasons for what the Ancestral peoples did in these acts of
ritual; indeed, for them, it meant survival. People depended upon a
successful hunt, and therefore had to continue to honor the animal spirits
or the animals would no longer give of themselves to feed the mantribe.While
no one can claim that they got their rituals from the Ancient people, we as
Neo- Pagans
are in a position to understand their ways, what little we can glean from
them.Oh, yes, and for those who like to pigeonhole, I know plenty of
Wiccan/Shamans, Wiccan/Shaman/Thelemites, etc. The diversity of subjects one
studies does not diminish one's abilities so long as one can keep their
brain from fragmenting! ;)
~Rhyanon~