What is Shamanism? Where to begin?
Shamanism is so many things, and to me, it’s everything! Tomes have been
written on this topic! And it wouldn’t do Shamanism justice to sum it all up in
a few sentences. Below are some of the common definitions of shamanism:
Shamanism is a
spiritual path
Shamanism is an earth
religion
Shamanism a form of
animism (a world view in which everything is alive)
Shamanism is spiritual
healing
Shamanism is natural
healing
And while all
these statements show at least one facet of Shamanism, they are far from
expressing it all. On these pages I hope to be able to add information on
various aspects of shamanism. It may take me a while to get round to adding all
the information I want to publish about shamanism, especially as they website also
has other sections such as Yoga, magick, etc. but I am on the job!
My Personal View
on Shamanism For me Shamanism
truly is a way of life. It is about being in harmony with nature, with Mother
Earth. Shamanism is my chosen spiritual path and a way to grow and become
whole. Also, Shamanism is an incredible tool for transformation. It has helped
me a great deal in overcoming the trauma of my childhood and the many other
traumatic experiences that followed thereafter, layer upon layer, building upon
the original wounding.
Shamanism has
helped me to come into my true power and develop my spiritual gifts. When one
has seen the down-side of life and experienced great suffering compassion comes
easily. From my own suffering was born a burning desire to help others who have
suffered and need healing. And Shamanism, in my opinion is one of the greatest
tools for personal transformation and spiritual growth.
Though I am
experienced in various other forms of healing as well (see more on the About Me
page), I find Shamanism to be more profound and effective than anything else.
Shamanism really gets to the root of the dis-ease, which is always some form of
separation from spirit.
Though at first my interest in Shamanism was mainly for healing, I soon began to see the depths
of the disempowerment that was the root cause of my problems, and the problems
of my fellow seekers and clients alike. It became clear to me that no complete
and lasting healing could take place until the issue of disempowerment was
addressed, until all personal power lost through trauma, abuse and other
circumstance had been reclaimed.
Shamanism and
Holistic Health In other words,
in order to become whole, which is your natural state, you need to be fully
empowered! The words healing, whole and (w)holistic all stem from the same
root. Shamanism is a form of holistic healing, because in Shamanism all aspects
of one’s being, spiritual, mental, emotional and physical are considered and
addressed. Also, Shamanism is holistic because it aims at restoring wholeness.
It is logical that as long as parts of yourself are missing, you cannot be
whole - nor fully healed. Shamanism is a very effective way to reclaim these
missing parts and the power lost, so you become whole and fully empowered
again, and can eventually return to Oneness with All-That-Is.
Power The word “power”
has many associations and brings up strong reactions in people. To a shaman
power is the natural state, and power is something to be desired. But nowadays,
due to the influence of society, power has become a thing to be feared! People
fear being under somebody else’s power and control. They fear somebody else may
abuse their power to harm them. And they fear their own power because they have
been told it may corrupt them. All these false beliefs are nothing but
conditioning, by society and mainstream religion - conditioning designed to
keep you small, powerless and meek..
When I ask
clients or workshop participants why they have come, most will say they need
healing. Few will say they want to empower themselves, very few indeed will
admit they seek power. And those who do admit to seeking power say so
reluctantly, almost as if ashamed. And why is that? We have been
conditioned to believe that power is a bad thing – which is very convenient for
those who want to keep us down and in the slavish mentality.
Can a Shaman Empower Another Person? Yes, absolutely
-- but… the power a shaman retrieves for another will not last long unless the
recipient of that power makes an effort to keep it. Some people have chronic
patterns of disempowerment. They go back to victim patterns soon after a
healing session and give power away on many levels. Therefore
healing, besides reclaiming power for the client, must also aim at making the
client aware of how and when they give power away, so they can choose to act
differently from then on.
Why Power Is So Important As already
explained above, there can be no wholeness while one’s power is missing.
Furthermore, a disempowered person generally gets trampled over, taken
advantage of and abused by others in various ways and on a regular basis. Their
pattern of disempowerment attracts takers, bullies and aggressors into their
lives – with the result of them becoming more and more disempowered, ending up as the typical doormat or victim in the worst case scenario.
Also, if the
client’s power issues aren’t addressed, they are likely to need healing again
and again as their problems won’t end. They may become dependent on the healer
for help, maybe even emotionally dependent.
For the above
reasons I strongly believe that any good healer, any competent shaman should
strive to help their clients to empower themselves. You might have heard the
saying: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,
teach him to fish, and you feed him for life.” And so it is with
power as well: the best solution is to help a person to find and maintain their
own power.
