It is in the west of the Four Winds where we experience the blending of light into dark, the “I” merging with the “We.” It is here where we symbolically face death—the death of the old dualistic ruled self. The west is the territory of the heroic earth warrior and the shaman. “It has often been observed that nearly all religions have arisen out of the ‘supernatural’ traditions of Shamanism, a set of beliefs common to virtually all tribal peoples, and known to have been practiced since the dawn of human culture. The shaman is a magician, mystic, healer and poet….”
My knowledge of shamanism flows from my firsthand experience of it. I have not been an observer but an active participate, initiate and carrier of shamanic lineages ranging from my shamanic initiation in a sacred lagoon in the Andes after having walked the Inca Trail in 1988, validation of my power by Anselmo Perez, a Zinacantepec shaman from the mountainous city of Chamula (please see my page on Chicken, Candles and Posh), to my wife and I apprenticing with Mom and Vince Stogan, Coast-Salish Shamans, who passed on to us their shamanic lineage of bathing, burning, and healing. Our deeds of shamanic power have been witnessed and felt by others. My shamanic knowing is from firsthand physical-sensory experience. Thus, I approach this subject not from an archeological, scholarly, or “workshop” approach but from my direct experience of the subject matter. Vince once stated that I had the strongest hands (healing) that he had ever seen. Since there is always an imperfection to perfection, he also said I was impatient and too fast in healing. Patient is a trait I am continuously working on.
Traditionally, Shamanism has been identified as a journey of the soul conducted by the shaman known as a master of the spirits. A shaman is a person with the ability to connect the profane or earthly existence to the sacred, the otherworld and thus provide a link between the otherworld and earth. He or she is a visionary and what I call a ‘pathfinder to the soul.’ Shamans are dreamers, philosophers and non-dogmatic religious guides and teachers.
A shaman is also a ‘person of power’ who dream-voyages to the otherworld for knowledge and freedom. This is the freedom from our ego-self—the unhealthy ego. The shaman helps others, and themselves, escape from the imprisonment of anger, guilt, resentment and greed. This gives one freedom to love and to be loved.
There are indications of Óðinn and Þórr’s connection to shamanism. The accepted “text book” on shamanism is Mircea Eliade’s Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. “In Shamanism, Eliade cites Óðinn’s Hávamál ordeal, his eight-legged horse, his shape-shifting ability (as described in Ynglinga saga ch. 7) and that of other wizards who depart their bodies and perform actions in animal shapes, and the various descents to the underworld in Norse literature as all being typical of shamanic practices… Likewise, Þórr performs several types of activity characteristic of shamans in his travels to the otherworld.” For example, Þórr protects the community (humanity) from supernatural beings and brings back objects of power which are of use to the community. Even Frigg and Freyja have their shamanic feathered clothing—their falcon-dresses; a motif of flying to the Otherworld.
Additionally, people of power such as shamans may be termed “galdra smiðir, ‘smiths of incantations.’”[i] The traditional view of a smith is the blacksmith or swordsmith. What they both have in common is fire. Fire is a transformational agent that can turn raw iron into a sword. Water is also used by the smithy in the transformational process. Our bodies are mostly composed of water and, when combined with our inner heat and the power of our voice, magic happens.
One of the Old Norse words for “spell, incantation”[ii] is galdr, “derived from a word for singing incantations.”[iii] One of the most recognizable incantations is abracadabra. In Aramaic, the phrase is avra kehdabra. The chant is as follows: aaa-raaa-kaaa-daaa-raaa (a pronounced ah). It means “I create as I speak (resonate).” Galdr, singing incantation or song, is fundamental to rites of transformation and assessing power. In shamanic cultures, galdr is referred to as a “spirit song.” These are quested for and intrinsically unique to the individual shaman. However, there are set songs to accomplish such things as opening a stream or river for the rite of sacrificing self to self of bathing. In the Northwest Coast tradition, the quest is for four consecutive days. My wife and I both carry a spirit song. I assisted Vince Stogan once when a few people were questing for a song. None received a song. As I stated: “Fate: power, is consistent with one’s inner nature. It can be sought, but seeking does not guarantee that one will attain it.”
The most commonly recognized song of spirit or spell songs are Óðinn’s. His spell songs are recorded in Hávamál and begin with stanza 146: “I know those spells no noble wife knows or the son of any man. One is called ‘help,’ and it will help you against strife and sorrow and every grief.”[iv] The spells end with stanza 163: “I know an eighteenth, which I never tell a maid or any man’s wife: much better if only one is aware (the last it is of my chants), except only her my arms enfold, or perhaps my sister.”[v] Óðinn’s spells only tell us the purpose of the spell. The song that activates the spell is not revealed, as this knowledge of power would only be orally taught.
For many people, the most recognizable section of Hávamál is the one that precedes Óðinn’s spell songs—his sacrifice self to self on Yggdrasill and his discovery of runes. “I know that I hung in the wind-torn tree Nine whole nights, spear-pierced, Consecrated to Odin, myself to my Self above me in the tree, Whose root no one knows whence it sprang. None brought me bread, none served me drink; I searched the depths, spied runes of wisdom; Raised them with song, and fell once more thence.”[vi] Once again, we see the importance and the need for a song of spirit—galdr.
One concluding point concerning Óðinn’s sacrifice on Yggdrasill, it seems from the description that Óðinn is hanging upside down (“I searched the depths…”). This would indicate that a person seeking hidden knowledge would need to “inverse” their view of the world and reality as it is commonly viewed. Furthermore, in this head-down position the view is not of the sky but of the earth; the depths of the earth where the knowledge is hidden.
Shamans or physicians of the soul are known as ‘wounded healers ’ Their ability and power to heal and perform feats of magic and psychic/spiritual wonders is due to their own personal healing and ascetic training and sacrifice.
Having experienced their death and re-birth as well as the healing of their wounds through the earth, the shamans become the guardians and the protectors of the earth. The earth, the symbolic mother, is the teacher and the sacred source of vitality for the shaman as he/she develops a living, nurturing relationship to all of Mother Nature. The landscape of the Great Mother provides the shaman with the opportunities to face fears and to become a person of power.
Questing in caves and purifying in streams and the ocean, the shaman experiences the death of the old self and the re-birth of the new as a child, guardian of the earth and a person of love and power. To the shaman, the veil between this world and the Otherworld is at its thinnest near running water. Being fluid, mysterious, purifying, life-giving, as well as life-taking, living water is sacred and a source of spiritual power. This is the reason why one of the earliest forms of symbolic death and re-birth, full immersion bathing, was and still is performed in swiftly flowing streams and rivers. This is the original type of spiritual baptism, not bringing with it membership into an organization such as the Christian church, but rather purification through a symbolic birth from the ‘womb of the earth.’
As masters of the otherworld and earth, shamans are sensitive to the wood, the stone and all the elemental forces that surround them. They look to the stars at night and to the four winds during the day. They listen to the magic roar of the streams and moaning surge of the oceans to learn the truth of the great mysteries of life. The shape of the clouds reveals the secrets of life and death. And the cry of the owl reminds them of their ancestors and the dark knowledge and wisdom of the earth.
Unlike priests, they are not gatekeepers between you and the otherworld. They are messengers not gatekeepers. Shamans have a knowing about the mysteries of the unseen otherworld (world of spirit) and the earth whereas the institutionalized priest deals only with heaven and then only secondhand. The most commonly known process of the shaman to reach the otherworld is through an altered state of consciousness brought about through various means such as extremes of temperature such as bathing, repetitive movement and repetitive sound such as drumming and chanting.
More to the point, one of the key factors of a shaman’s proficiency is their level of sensitivity, to be open and aware of the intertwining forces of the otherworld and the earth and the ability to access both for knowledge and wisdom. At any time, a person with this level of ability may access the otherworld without outside stimulus. The reason why this is possible? The answer: Radical non-dualism is their reality as spirit and matter interpenetrate. In other words, there is no longer a need for a stimulus induced altered state of consciousness. An altered state all along meant a consciousness of radical non-duality but, and this is a large but, with the addition of a person’s own unhealthy ego issues, which to a person with a dualistic consciousness is an altered state from their normal dualistic state. When my wife and I conduct a “feeding the spirits” burning, we are not in an altered state of consciousness induced by outside stimulus but accessing our radical nondualistic consciousness as we “call in the spirits.” No beating of drums or drugs just the power of our consciousness.
Altered State Is – One of Radical Non-duality
Over the past few decades, the surge of New Agers and Neo-shamans has resulted in misinformation and ignorance to the underlying fundamental knowledge and belief of shamanism. The accepted ‘text book’ of shamanism is Mircea Eliade’s Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. It is a scholarly work. However, Mircea Eliade was an observer not an actual participant of what he observed to the level of an apprenticeship with the many cultures he observed. Subsequently, other scholars or professors who participated in a few altered states of reality ceremonies and then promoted theories and practices based on their few experiences; bring a disservice to an ancient paradigm of spiritual, religious and healing thought.
As I stated previously, altered states of consciousness occur through repetitive movement (dancing, running, walking, etc.), repetitive sounds (drumming, chanting, singing, etc.), hallucinogenic plants, breath control, fasting, isolation, and extremes of temperature (sweat lodge, cold water asceticism, etc.). But these are only tools to achieve a paradigm shift in one’s consciousness. This is to shift from a dualistic consciousness, where spirit and matter are separated to one of radical non-duality where the Otherworld of reality and this world of reality interpenetrate each other. A master shaman may then access the Otherworld at any time without any outside stimulus.
In other words, a great disservice has been conducted by leading people down a path (based on of one’s own lack of knowledge and power) where beating a drum and closing your eyes qualifies you to become a shaman or druid for that matter of fact. Of course, the true and narrow path to become a person of power whether that person is called shaman, druid or mystic is difficult and takes years to achieve. But do not equate the tools with the state of being. The only way to be a true person of power of mastery is to awaken to a radical non-dualistic consciousness.
For additional knowledge on this subject: Return of a Green Philosophy
[i] Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees, Runic Amulets and Magic Objects, 15.
[ii] Incantation also refers to chanting. Mantras are Buddhism’s chants. One of the best known is Mahayana Buddhism Heart Sutra. A lesser-known chant is the lesser spell of the Shingon Esoteric Buddhist deity Fudo-myoo. These chants have a singing quality to them and provide insight into galdr.
[iii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galdr.
[iv] Andy Orchard, The Elder Edda: A Book of Viking Lore, 37.
[v] Ibid., 39.
[vi] Elsa-Brita Titchenell, The Masks of Odin, 126.
Good words
Thank You