Shamanism: Agony Before the Ecstasy
                               or:
                  Give me that Old Age Religion

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PERSONAÌ NON-COMMERCIAÌ USÅ IÓ GRANTED®  ANÙ OTHEÒ USÅ IÓ 
FORBIDDEÎ WITHOUÔ PERMISSIOÎ OÆ THÅ AUTHOR® 
                
     There have been many changes in the Craft and the broader 
Neo-Pagan movement within the last decade.  The wider dissemi-
nation and rediscovery of traditional knowledge and lore, as 
well as efforts to create a real sense of community for the 
Wicca, and the advent of major gatherings has been good for the 
movement, while other innovations seem to be a hindrance and a 
blind in our quest for the Gods.  

     As is true of any religion, the Craft has myths of origin 
and function.  The early origin myth that portrayed the Craft as 
a European, Paleolithic faith that was practiced and preserved 
across the millennia, only to go "underground" during the 
"Burning Times", before being resurrected by Gerald Gardner (and 
others) in the 1940's has now been largely replaced by the newer 
myth that modern Wicca is functioning as a (mainly) white, middle 
class Euro-American Pagan shamanic system.  A popular corollary 
to this second myth is the notion that shamanism can be taught 
and absorbed in a weekend or week long workshop.

     Margot Adler, Isaac Bonewits and others have discussed the 
nature of this first myth at length.  Culturally, there is no 
more continuity between the religions of the Cro-Magnon culture 
of Europe and British Wicca than there is between Christianity 
and the Paleolithic religions of Egypt or Arabia.  I might add 
that the entire cultural and religious complex of a Paleolithic 
gathering and hunting faith is inappropriate to most of us, as 
dinner is more often provided by McDonald's than by McMastadon's.

     This more recent myth (modern Wicca as shamanism) is not 
useful to the Craft, as it fosters the inaccurate and offensive 
notion that the participants attending these weekend seminars 
have had the training, and developed talents on a par with those 
of native peoples with shamanic medicine systems, such as the 
Jivaro of the Amazon, the Lakota of North Dakota, or Tibetian Bon 
lamas.

     There are many possible paths to enlightenment, and not all 
paths are useful for all students.  Just as not all health 
professionals can or should become neurosurgeons, it is not 
beneficial to think that all of the Wicca and Neo-Pagans can 
benefit from shamanic training.  Truth be told, none of the 
material currently offered to Crafters/NeoPagans at large even 
remotely approaches the requirements for shamanism.  

     The term "shaman" ultimately derives form the Sanskrit word 
"sramanas", meaning an ascetic, or one who practices a form of 
denial.  This term was borrowed by the Tungus peoples of Asia, 
who term their elite religious practitioners of magic, healing, 
psychology, and spiritualism "shamans".  Shamanism can be traced 
to at least the upper Paleolithic period of prehistory (c. 25000 
BCE), and may indeed date to the period of late Homo erectus (c. 
400000 BCE).  Identical artistic conventions and religious motifs 
identifiable as shamanic are present in Central America, 
Australia, and Asia.  Shamanism is a religious and spiritual 
system that functions to provide "primitive" cultures with a 
spiritual technology that helps to resolve social and medical 
problems.  A shaman functions as a guardian of the spiritual and 
cultural traditions of a society, and maintains balance and 
tranquility within their community.       

     Most tribal, village and band structured societies lack the 
notion of a dichotomy between physical and mental ills.  The 
entire person was sick, and needed healing.  So strong is this 
connection between the physical and spiritual components of the 
person, that damage to one portion of the whole, whether physical 
or psychic, manifests in the "other" realm.

     A potential shaman was oftentimes a person who was seriously 
ill, usually near death.  During the process of dying, the 
physical body undergoes states that are accompanied by 
corresponding psychic stress (astral and ethereal encounters, of 
you will).  At a point of major crisis within the process of 
death, the Gods/Spirit Guides/Power animals are re-presented to 
the person through the symbols and myths of that specific 
culture. During this condition of crisis, the person dies, or is 
cured by being given the information that they need to be healed, 
along with certain mystical techniques.  (This is one major 
difference between the shaman and one who "merely" undergoes a 
near-death experience-the latter cannot long retain or 
communicate their spiritual knowledge to others.) The shaman has 
returned to life in a miraculous fashion. 

     Now, the shaman has returned, but not as the same person. 
Their world view and mind  have been shattered and re-integrated.  
They have survived death, and returned as masters of the Divine 
flame.  They can cure, blast, divine, manifest states of physical 
control and abilities that are far beyond those of ordinary 
members of their society, and send out their spirits.  They can 
conduct others to the realm of the spirits to be healed, or 
taught.  

     This is the easy method for beginning on the shamanic path.  
Now, let us examine the more difficult, but more common method:

     A member of the society (or a visiting anthropologist doing 
their MA or Phd fieldwork) feels the need, or receives a divine 
sign that they need  to become a shaman.  (This is well described 
in Michael Harner's book, The Way of the Shaman)  The candidate 
prepares for initiation by undergoing a preparatory phase that 
generally involves some sort of extreme physical hardship, such 
as running for days, going without sleep for extended periods, 
piercing the body with needles or thongs (as with the Lakota Sun 
Dancers, or Yogis) to cause exhaustion/pain and create a 
physiological condition where one can survive and experience a 
shamanic vision quest.  

     The hopeful initiate will then go through an ordeal of body, 
soul and spirit.  Through whatever means (continuous drumming, 
cognitive inversion, lengthy trance dances, and, occasionally, 
entheogenic substances like peyote or amanita) the would be 
initiate is stripped, one layer at a time, of their comfortable 
images of the world and the self.  This process is not without 
certain dangers of its own, as individuals with no previously 
known history of epilepsy often go into seizures characteristic 
of grand mal episodes.  (It should also be noted that such 
physical states do not, of themselves, indicate the attainment of 
any desirable spiritual state.)  The mechanisms of the conscious 
mind that classify sensory information into objects and concepts 
(thereby shielding the person from a direct knowing of reality) 
are bypassed or overridden. 

     I should try to clarify some of the terminology and concepts 
associated with these "non-ordinary" states of consciousness and 
awareness.  All of the states that have been discussed so far are 
classified as "trance" by the anthropological community.  Trance 
states can be loosely defined as any state of awareness that 
bypasses the normal information processing of the conscious mind.  
This category can also include any activity of a repetitive 
nature that induces a feeling of timelessness in a person.   It 
is also recognized that trance states differ in depth and/or 
intensity.  The capacity to enter trance states is (seemingly) 
present in all humans to one degree or another.  Manifestations 
of trance states in an individual generally depend on the 
attitudes of the particular group towards trance.  During trance 
states, many different sorts of activities can occur.  These 
include:

1)   Mediumship , or "Channeling" information or a personality 
that is not normally accessible to the person.  

2)   Being "ridden" by a deity (as in Haitian Voudon or Brazilian 
Santeria) and manifesting the traits and attitudes of that 
deity.  

3)   Possession, or the state that results in the temporary 
displacement of the personality by an outside entity without 
the permission or control of the vehicle.  

     In many, many cultures, conditions required for a shamanic 
initiation require that  the psyche and body perceive the 
nearness of death.  I am not referring to a symbolic or 
ritualistic representation of death, but to the actual process of 
dying.  At the point of no return, when a union of the entire 
being has been attained, the shamanic vision quest will begin.  
The term "Vision Quest" is used rather sloppily in Neo-Paganism.  
Anthropologically, it refers to a vigil where one is presented 
with the underlying symbols that form the basis of that 
particular culture.  This (hopefully) results in a journey back 
to the pristine, or original condition of human existence, where 
people, animals, plants and gods share a oneness of being.  

     This journey is often facilitated and directed by chanting 
the old legends, or, in the Huichol Mexican Indian culture, by 
actually assuming the identity of a god or ancestor and walking 
back through sacred and real space to the land of their origins, 
which they call Wirikuta.  (See the book Peyote Hunt by Barbara 
Myerhoff for details.)  In this culture, a candidate lives the 
legends, actualizing them anew here on earth.  The Huichol are 
well prepared for their experiences and visions by a lifetime 
that has been spent hearing the old tales, and living with their 
religious symbols daily.
 
     A common motif of many shamanic initiations is to feel that 
the flesh is dissolving off of the bones, until the candidate is 
reduced to a skeleton.  The body is then reconstructed by the 
Gods or spirit helpers, giving the shaman a body that is of 
divine origin.  In a similar vein, the Australian Aborigines 
undergo a ritual procedure where they feel that crystals are 
actually being placed inside their bodies, and while experiencing 
this agony, feel that their bodies assume the properties of 
crystals. Generally, clear quartz crystals are viewed as 
solidified light or the souls of other shamans. 

     As the Vision Quest begins, one of several possibilities 
will occur:

a)   the person may die of fear.
b)   the person may die of physical injuries.
c)   the person lives, no shamanic experience occurs, but becomes 
insane from the unresolved stresses the psyche has 
experienced.

d)   the person lives, but no initiatory experience occurs. 

e)   the person emerges as an insane shaman, with talents, but no 
integrated personality.

f)   at the moment of crisis, the person may either be given, or 
find the tools and spiritual helpers they need to heal 
themself, and return to the world with a knowing of the 
wholeness of the Universe that is seen, interpreted, and 
realized through the attitudes, symbols, and myths of their 
culture.  The initiate has become the first shaman, the 
first initiate, who can perceive the numinous unity of all 
things.  

     A shaman can be distinguished from other members of a Pagan 
society by the following criteria:

     (1)  A shamanic vision quest is of greater commitment, 
longer duration, and is much more demanding of body and spirit 
than the "simple" vision quest of a layman that occurs as part of 
a socially sanctioned  rite of passage.

     (2)  A shaman will obtain abilities and talents from many 
different guardian spirits or deities.  Members of a Pagan 
society that has a shamanic religious complex normally obtain one 
or two power animals during their lifetime, but a shaman has an 
entire mythic realm of animals, plants and natural forces at beck 
and call. 

     (3)  A shaman is able to manifest extraordinary abilities as 
needed.  The simplest demonstration of this is the physical 
balance and leaping abilities that a shaman can exhibit as a 
direct proof of their kinship with the messenger birds of the 
spirit world.  

     (4)  A shaman can possess his/her spirits or gods and assume 
their forms and talents - the reverse of a classical possession. 
 
     In short, the way of the Shaman is fraught with perils and 
traps to catch the unwary. The journey from near death crisis to 
ecstasy requires time, patience, and agonies of spirit and body.  
Mircea Eliade has observed that  a shaman suffers more than any 
other member of a society.  They are only rich in their 
understanding of the unbroken wholeness of being, and in their 
ability to live within this garden of Eden, experiencing a 
kinship with all of being, and deliver its apples to other mere 
mortals, or to transport them there for a visit.

     For reasons that I hope are clear, one cannot call seminars 
that are currently available to Neo-Pagans "shamanic training".  
The psychic, physical and emotional stresses that a teacher of 
shamanism would need to inflict on their students to would be 
illegal, foolhardy, and generally not useful in our modern 
society.  Putting a feathered headband over a patische of Hindu 
tantra, American Indian ways of  healing, and poorly understood 
traditional Wicca and then terming it "Shamanism" is offensive to 
Native Americans (and others) who have invested years of their 
lives and endured numerous personal hardships to attain their 
enlightenment.  At best, Neo-Pagans can become guests to their 
religious and cultural traditions, and should not expect them to 
welcome the efforts of the white man to plagiarize the only 
things that have not yet been taken from them-their  ceremonies 
and practices.

     That said, I believe that there can one day be shamans among 
the Wicca and Neopagans.  There are means  within a Euro-Asiatic 
heritage to actualize  the goal of shamanism.  The shamanic 
complexes of Europe and Asia are probably less well known to us, 
due to the relative paucity of material, and a scarcity of living 
practitioners.  Close reading of the Finnish "Kalevala", the 
Norse "Lay of the High One" or the Saga of Hrolf Kraki, as well 
as Irish mythology, poetry and legend can suggest a variety of 
approaches towards  a European shamanism.  The ancient musical 
instruments of Europe and Asia (bullroarers, skin headed drums, 
whistles that imitate the call of birds or animals, rattles can 
be used to induce trance (at the simplest level of usage). 
     
     One possible plan for shamanism would involve a series of 
rituals designed to determine whether or not the person actually 
needs this path.  That decision made, intense work with the 
music, symbols, tools, deities of the religious framework 
(Finnish, Norse, Britic or Continental Celtic or Germanic, etc.)  
that one has chosen would then be needed.  This undertaking will 
require years to allow the rituals and myths to effectively 
penetrate to a level of subconscious understanding.  [Hint: If 
you cannot do a full ritual in your tradition perfectly (without 
the book) during a flood while rebuilding a car engine, you 
aren't ready for the next step.]

     Physical disciplining, and achieving an understanding of the 
human potential is the next step.  The entire being will undergo 
the process of initiation, and must be prepared.  Our culture has 
encouraged us to forget the senses, strengths and capacities of 
our bodies.  A discipline such as ultramarathon training, ritual 
dance, or a high level of attainment in a traditional martial 
arts discipline (iaido, Shaolin Wu Shu, or Pentjak Silat) are 
probably the simplest approaches available in modern America.  
Many traditional dance and martial arts systems can teach at 
least the physical and psychic fundamentals needed for moving 
meditation and shape-shifting, which were two of the traditional 
attributes of an Old World shaman.  
        
      It should be realized that tribal Europeans and Asiatics 
possessed spatial, color and temporal perceptions that are very 
different from that of moderns.  While our rational, scientific 
culture knows that the world is round, our ancestors of seven 
thousand years ago dealt with the reality of curved spacture has 
encouraged us to forget the senses, strengths and capacities of 
our bodies.  A discipline such as ultramarathon training, ritual 
dance, or a high level of attainment in a traditional martial 
arts discipline (iaido, Shaolin Wu Shu, or Pentjak Silat) are 
probably the simplest approaches available in modern America.  
Many traditional dance and martial arts systems can teach at 
least the physical and psychic fundamentals needed for moving 
meditation and shape-shifting, which were two of the traditional 
attributes of an Old World shaman.  
        
      It should be realized that tribal Europeans and Asiatics 
possessed spatial, color and temporal perceptions that are very 
different from that of moderns.  While our rational, scientific 
culture knows that the world is round, our ancestors of seven 
thousand years ago dealt with the reality of curved space.  While 
our society uses rectilinear spaces that are then filled with 
objects possessing straight lines and angles, many Pagan cultures 
of Europe and Asia structured their living environments around 
the motifs of the spiral, ellipse, or circle.  An examination of 
the art of the early Minoans, Celts, or Tungus reveals a 
strikingly fluid artistic style.  Symbols and spatial concepts 
appropriate the chosen Pagan culture should be experienced on a 
daily and frequent basis to effectively communicate to the 
subconscious mind their importance.  After all, these symbols and 
spatial concepts will enable reintegration of the self during the 
shamanic vision quest. 

     The methods of old Europe and Asia seem to have been 
designed for a solitary practitioner, or a very small group.  At 
a minimum, the initiate must discover, actualize, and climb (or 
descend) through the world tree (which is the cosmic axis) or 
maze to a place that is no place, at a time without time, and 
realize the unity of all things.  The concept of a tree that 
unites all of existence is central (no pun intended) to the 
shamanic systems of Asia, Europe, and the Americas.  The shaman 
oftentimes climbs up an actual tree as he or she ascends through 
the worlds.  Once again, the mythic cosmos and actions in the 
physical world have an isomorphic relationship.  The world tree 
is today seen in Continental Europe as the maypole, a remnant of 
the Irminsul, the oak tree that united sky and earth.  (It should 
be remembered that the sky was masculine and the earth feminine 
to the Germans.)  

     In much shamanic artwork, the tree seems to symbolize the 
attempt to attain the One.  The ovoid is associated with the 
shamanic state after climbing the tree.  This can be seen as a 
female symbol.  

     Europe and Asia also have a history of religious dance, and 
I suggest that small groups might be able to integrate dance into 
forms and rituals that might allow the attainment of shamanic 
initiations.  Many dances (i.e., earlier forms of the waltz, 
quadrilles, English country dancing, Dervish zikr) posses 
spiraling patterns that can be seen to express the principles of 
divine motion.  (In passing, it should be noted that the common 
square dance term "Do-See-Do" translates into English as "back to 
back", which refers to the dance of the witches that was 
considered obscene by the clergy of the Middle Ages.  An analysis 
of these dance forms in light of patterns of kundalini 
circulation might prove interesting to the reader.)

     The act of climbing the tree or walking through the maze and 
breaking through the barrier is the uniting of the spiritual and 
the physical, allows the initiate to perceive and manifest the 
One (called Godhead or "Dryghten" by some). 

     Iî yoga¬ thå yogé caî attaiî stateó oæ ecstasù (Nirvana© 
wheî thå kundaliné energù (vieweä aó female© ascendó througè thå 
chakraó tï thå toð chakra¬ blossomó aó á thousanä petaleä lotus¬ 
anä uniteó witè thå divinå lorä oæ creation®  Iî eitheò 
description¬ thå shamaniã initiatioî allowó onå tï seå thå worlä 
iî itó pristinå condition¬ anä tï experiencå thå unitù oæ alì 
things®  But¬ leô uó noô insulô thoså whï havå maintaineä thió 
patè iî aî unbrokeî unitù foò 2µ thousanä yearó bù stealinç oò 
imitatinç theiò paths®  Tï paraphraså thå statementó oæ anotheò 
teacher¬ manù arå called¬ buô fe÷ chooså tï come®  Leô uó hopå 
thoså whï chooså tï comå havå thå strengtè tï becomå shaman¬ anä 
noô shams®