Shamans, Healers, and Medicine Men [1987/1992] – ★★★★★
A comprehensive, endlessly perceptive, & inspiring book on shamanism.
“Shamanism…is not a somehowShamans, Healers, and Medicine Men [1987/1992] – ★★★★★
A comprehensive, endlessly perceptive, & inspiring book on shamanism.
“Shamanism…is not a somehow obscure or incomprehensible or mysterious magical path, but a simple heightening of the emotional experience of the world; “the goal of the shamanic path of initiation is to broaden and deepen the normal emotionality that we all know” [Kalweit, Shambhala Publications, 1987/92: 219].
This book, translated from the German, is by Holger Kalweit, a German ethnologist and psychologist who studied shamans and shamanism in different corners of the world, including Hawaii, the American Southwest, Mexico and Tibet. With concrete examples drawn from the Ainu, Siberian, Yahgan and other shamanic traditions, Kalweit delves into the very heart of shamanism and explains detailly the nature of being a shaman, “a possessor of profound knowledge that cannot be grasped in words”. From shamanic training, testing and rituals inducing trance to shamanic healing powers, and duels and competitions, Kalweit touches on many topics and hardly stops there, elucidating further on such concepts as consciousness, reality, dreaming and on a variety of parapsychological phenomena, including “magic”, visions and near-death experience.
Holger Kalweit starts his book with these words: “there are three things our culture has forgotten: basic health, healing, and holiness…” these concepts have the same goal: sanity, integrity, completeness, salvation, happiness, liberation, magic” [Shambhala Publications, 1987/92: 1]. The path of shamans is to simply bring themselves into harmony with nature’s laws, to engage in “spiritual re-shaping”. The author says that “there are as many forms of shamanic training as there are cultures with shamans”, but broadly “[s]hamans participate in two worlds…their physical mother is responsible for their first birth; for their second, the godfather may be a cosmic life-giver, a god, or a spirit [Kalweit, 1987/92: 18].One chapter in this book section is titled “Lightning Shamans”, where the talk is about shamanic initiation by a lightning bolt. For example, in the Siberian Buryats’ tradition, “the lightning shaman is imbued with the power of the lightning bolt” and in the tradition of the indigenous people of the Andes, the appearance of a lightning signals the initiation experience of a shaman [Kalweit, 1987/92: 46].
Kalweit is an author who is acutely aware of colonialism, intellectual and scientific imperialism, ethnocentricity and all kinds of prejudice that can plague anthropological study and research, and draws differences between the Western, traditional, reason/logic-oriented views on various phenomena and the tribal, more emotion/intuition/spirituality-oriented views on the same concepts. Kalweit’s point is that it is wrong to put one above the other since both, in equal measure, form part of the normal human experience of the world. For example, the West is quick to designate shamanic behaviour as abnormal or pathological, which is an incorrect way of thinking. However, the relation between the two does exist, writes Kalweit: “the psychotic is…no shaman, but shamans pass through psychotic episodes, venturing as they do to the edges of being’s abyss – and psychotics pass sporadically through shamanic episodes, have genuine shamanic insights and glimpses into the higher world” [Shambhala Publications, 1987/92: 213]. He also states that though the West sees the path of shamanic initiation as “degenerate”, in tribal societies, the path is accepted and encouraged [1987/92: 54], and “the high cultures of Asia see the transformation of human consciousness…[as] something holy and worth striving for” [1987/92: 53].
There were a number of chapters in the book that recalled to me The Way of Zen [1957] by Alan Watts, especially chapters that talked about trance, a state of deep-hypnosis which may be brought about by drumming, a rhythm, a chant. The vital component of entering a trance-like state is “courage to let oneself go completely”: the West “have always struggled between letting go of the self and keeping a tight rein of waking consciousness to establish security through reason.” [1987/92: 78] Referencing William James and Aldous Huxley, Kalweit talks here about the many benefits of reaching this mystic state, including help with learning new languages, realising one’s creativity and “gaining access to a field of consciousness beyond a three-dimensional space” [1987/92: 80]. Apparently, sportsmen during important sporting competitions and people coming very close to dying (or experiencing other very stressful or emotional events) sometimes spontaneously experience these states too, which open to them a whole different world.
As I am particularly interested in the nature of consciousness, it was fascinating for me to read paragraphs devoted to it, too: “our consciousness is neutral; it knows neither good nor evil; it is beyond human value criteria. The powers with which shamans work are neither black nor white, neither positive nor negative. They are applicable to all human objectives” [Kalweit, Shambhala Publications, 1987/92: 191]; “consciousness is…independent of the brain….[it] is the origin and the future of all that is living, an expression of a higher order of space and time, of a limitless essence” [1987/92: 33]; The author puts a strong case forward against the mythologizing and discrediting altered states of consciousness. He says that they should not be designated to the ego level [1987/92: 82, 213] and some people do experience different levels of consciousness without being aware of it: “children remain unconsciously caught up in their experience; psychotics are persecuted and tortured by it. Shamans elegantly master both worlds, the normal and the altered, and are intermediaries between the two” [Kalweit, Shambhala Publications, 1987/92: 220].
Kalweit’s book is certainly a more accessible book than previously reviewed by me Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy [1951] by Mircea Eliade. If Eliade’s book explains beliefs, traditions and practises of shamanism across different cultures and regions of the world more or less systematically, Kalweit’s book goes into greater depth on each of the core ideas implicit in, and reasons behind, shamanic beliefs and rituals.
Kalweit’s conclusive remarks and predictions are quite bold, too: “the journey to other spiritual words…is an indispensable part of the psychology of the future, of genuine shamanic therapy” [Kalweit, Shambhala Publications, 1987/92: 221]; “we…may hope that the anthropology of the future, in investigating the higher potential of humanity through the example of the shaman, will develop a genuine understanding of the “other world” rather than persisting in the antiquated “charlatan theory” [1987/92: 34]. Kalweit is a proponent of transpersonal anthropology that could be contrasted with tradition anthropology. Whereas the latter views shamans “from the outside”, transpersonal anthropology involves “broadening our ideas and our range of experience and calling us to tread in the footsteps of the shamans” [Shambhala Publications, 1987/92: 262].
Mircea Eliade’s book is a fascinating, albeit dated, account of shamanism that focuses on the application of the tradition iShamanism [1951/64] – ★★★★
Mircea Eliade’s book is a fascinating, albeit dated, account of shamanism that focuses on the application of the tradition in different world regions.
Shamanism is by Romanian historian and author Mircea Eliade (1907 – 1986), and is considered to be one of the first proper attempts to approach shamanism systematically and scholarly. From costumes and drums to spirit animals and dreams, Eliade elucidates one of the most misunderstood practices/traditions in the world. The great thing about the book is that it talks about shamanism as it is applicable in different regions of the world, from Siberia and India, to South America and Oceania, attempting to draw parallels between them and talking about their general concepts, including similarities in initiation processes.
The book starts with the definition of shamanism, differentiating the shaman from the medicine man and the magician: “the shaman specialises in a trance during which his soul is believed to leave his body and ascend to the sky or descend to the underworld” [1951/1964: 5]; “the shaman is the great specialist in the human soul; he alone “sees” it; for he knows its “form” and its destiny” [1951/1964: 8]. The book then talks about how shamanic powers are usually bestowed, such as through initiation rituals. A person usually has to undergo a ritual “death” through some kind of (symbolic) suffering and reach “resurrection”: “Like other religious vocation, the shamanic vocation is manifested by a crisis, a temporary derangement of the future” [1951/1964: xii]; “the shaman begins his new, his true life by a “separation”…by a spiritual crisis” [1951/1964: 13]. The author focuses on symbolism, dreams and visions to explain how shamanic powers could be gained: “…pathological sickness, dreams, and ecstasies, [there] are….so many means of reaching the condition of shaman….[and they] in themselves constitute an initiation…they transform the profane, pre- “choice” individual into a technician of the sacred.” [1951/1964: 33]. In particular, shamans can seek their instructions in dreams where “the historical time is abolished and the mythical time is [restored]” – this allows the future shaman to witness the beginning of world [103].
Eliade then goes on to explain the beliefs, traditions and practices of shamanism thoroughly across different cultures and regions. For example, “the shaman’s costume itself constitutes a religious hierophany and cosmography”; “it discloses not only a sacred presence but also cosmic symbols” [90]. Eliade also points out that the shamanic drum helps the shaman to journey to “the centre of the world”, the seat of the cosmic tree, and, by drumming, the shaman flies away to the cosmic tree. The language of shamans derives from animal cries [1951/1964: 98], and is “equivalent to the ability to communicate with the beyond and the heavens”. Spirit animals of shamans can be their alter egos, and the author often notes that “the ecstasy is only the concrete experience of ritual death…of transcending the profane human condition” [1951/1964: 95]. The author talks about the link between shamanism and nervous disorders; compares shamanism to rituals of secret societies, and illuminates the primary role of shamans in a community.
“The shamans have played an essential role in the defence of the psychic integrity of the community….they combat not only demons and disease, but also the black magicians….shamanism defends life, health, fertility, the world of light, against death, diseases, sterility, disaster, and the world of “darkness” [1951/1964: 509].
Chapters 8 and 13 are probably the most fascinating in the book. In Chapter 8, Eliade talks about shamanism and cosmology, saying that “the pre-eminently shamanic technique is the passage from one cosmic region to another – from earth to the sky or from earth to the underworld” [1951/1964: 259]. The author is a strong believer in the mystical experience, and, naturally, thinks that the soul of the shaman in ecstasy can fly up or down in the course of his celestial or infernal journeys. Chapter 13 is all about parallel myths, symbols and rites, and Eliade talks about the “dog and horse” symbolism, for example “the horse” “enables the shaman to fly through the air, to reach the heavens, and it is also associated with the ecstatic dance” [1951/1964: 468], “psychopomp and funerary animal, the horse facilitated trance, the ecstatic flight of the soul to forbidden regions” [470]. The symbolism of a shamanic flight, as well as the relationship between shamans and smiths are also talked about.
“It is consoling and comforting to know that a member of the community is able to see what is hidden and invisible to the rest and to bring back direct and reliable information from the supernatural world”;…he can contribute to the knowledge of death…little by little, the world of dead becomes knowable, and death itself is evaluated primarily as a rite of passage to a spiritual mode of being” [1951/1964: 347].
At certain times it is a little difficult to take this book seriously – but, one of the great things about the book is that it always uses concrete examples from different cultures, such as from Siberian shamans and their practices. As a result, the book becomes a sufficiently objective, thorough and lucid account. One of its main theses is that shamanism represents the abolition of human condition and the recovery of the situation of the pre-fall of Adam and Eve – this includes friendship with animals and knowledge of their language – so that there is a re-establishment of the “paradisal” situation [1951/1964: 99].
"It is extraordinary...that the same Nation should have spread themselves over all the isles in this Vast Ocean...which is almSea People [2019] - ★★★★
"It is extraordinary...that the same Nation should have spread themselves over all the isles in this Vast Ocean...which is almost a fourth part of the circumference of the Globe" [Captain James Cook quoted by Thompson, 2019: 103].
This interesting book traces the origin of first Polynesian settlers and discusses many theories as who these people were and how they could have colonised some of the most inaccessible islands on the planet without using metal tools or compasses. The area in question is the Polynesian Triangle that stretches from Hawai'i to New Zealand, and then to Easter Island. It has long been inhabited by people with a single language and customs who have always presented an enigma to Europeans. From Magellan to Thor Heyerdahl, and from first impressions of Captain Cook to modern anthropologists' attempts to recreate the voyage of ancient people, Thompson tries to explore the many theories by discussing linguistic intricacies and oral traditions of these curious people who have always had "a different relationship to the ocean". Their original techniques of navigation have always puzzled many, and the author concludes by showing how advances in radiocarbon dating and modern excavation techniques shed light on the first Polynesian settlers and their origin. The final impression is that although the topic is absolutely fascinating, and Thompson summaries well/is a good, she also hardly says anything new on the topic and neither does she presents/analyses it from a fresh stance....more
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