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Find yourself, establish a connection with higher powers, develop and realize your abilities – for this, some of us are ready to get acquainted with the practice of shamans. In addition to the psychological side, “shamanic tourism” also has ethnic and ecological dimensions. A word to the dedicated.
“The six of us sat silently around the fire. Since the exit at 5 o’clock in the morning no one spoke. And yet we felt connected to each other, to earth and sky. This was the sixth group visionary trip I organized, and upon returning, each participant said that they received answers to their questions. Louise, 41, is a school teacher and has been hiking for 20 years. After reading Brandt Morgan’s “The Way of the Visionary”1 she felt the need to give her outings a spiritual meaning. “It’s a redesigned version of the Indian visionary trek where people go for four days without food or drink,” she explains, “but the point is the same: get back in touch with nature so you can get messages from it.”
There are more and more people in the Western world who, like Louise, join shamanism. In France, there is a rapidly growing number of books and training courses in all areas of “the most ancient human spirituality.” This spirituality, born in prehistoric times, is spread all over the globe, including Europe. The word “shaman” has Siberian roots, and anthropologists borrowed it to refer to healers, sorcerers, wizards and clairvoyants. What unites them is that they enter a trance state (with the help of hallucinogenic plants, beats of a tambourine, or deprivation of food and water), thus entering the spirit world in order to counsel or heal members of their community. It is to their heirs that more and more people in the West go to South and North America and Asia for advice. There has already been talk about the “prosperity of shamanic tourism”, especially in the Amazon: many lovers of strong “parishes” are attracted there by the opportunity to take the “liana of spirits” of ayahuasca. However, it would be wrong to reduce all the charm of shamanism to extreme sensations or folklore customs. Even despite the fact that clever scammers or real lunatics thrive under the guise of “shamanism”.
Read more:
- Shamanism: first experiences
“I heard the trees say!”
The success of this spiritual direction in the last three or four years is explained by the orientation towards personal development and ecology. It reflects the need for self-realization and the militant desire to change the world. Lecturer and coach, behavioral psychologist Arnaud Riou2 talks about “shamanism 2.0”. Modern people tend not so much to consult as to “join” practices in order to be able to use their tools. Psychiatrist Olivier Chambon says that “in childhood we are all partly shamans, but over time, under the influence of society, this potential of ours is lost, while it should have been developed. We vaguely feel that we live apart from what is good for us, cut off from nature and our deepest resources; hence the interest in shamanism“. To reconnect with nature, to get out of the control of the mind, to find your feelings … All this is so attractive because it offers the opportunity to radically break with the urban lifestyle – exhausting and causing stress.
This is what prompted 32-year-old Frederica to take a full-time course in Canada two years ago. “The sacred fire, the sweat hut, the shamanic journey—all these great rituals I have experienced,” she says. “But what struck me the most was that I came into contact with the spirit of the forest. My hearing, touch, vision became sharper than ever, as if a third dimension appeared in everything. I can say that I heard the trees speak! When I told about all this on my return, they looked at me with a mixture of irritation and sympathy. I don’t care, I still keep that experience in me: I no longer know what the feeling of loneliness is, I mentally connect with the spirits of the trees and receive energy and strength from them. Not everyone has such a mystical experience. For some, walking barefoot, making a fire, listening to the silence, and watching the play of light in the foliage turn out to be simple magical moments that cause an expansion of consciousness. Maria, 38, was impressed by an outdoor full moon four years ago. “I felt the earth under my body, I was connected to it, and for the first eight months since the divorce, I felt a great calm come over me,” she says. “All the participants in that night meeting said they experienced something very clear and powerful.”
Book on the topic
Mircea Eliade
“Shamanism. Archaic techniques of ecstasy”
Reprint of one of the most authoritative studies of shamanism. You will not find recipes for raising the dead here. Because this book was written by a scientist, historian of religion and philosophy.
“I cried and gained personal strength”
Phillip, 44, a director of a small business, took an initiation course last year to free himself from mounting stress. He says: “I went there mainly for a weekend in nature, but I came back a different person. On the first evening, after a long walk in silence, we gathered around the fire to exchange impressions, and the next day we set off on a “journey to the sound of a tambourine.” I didn’t see it, but I felt that my spirit animal was a bee. I perceived her calmness, her humility, she called me to imitate her every day. Something deep opened up in me, I cried. Vulnerability has been replaced by personal strength, I have found the strength of calmness.
Personal power, which can be called “inner power”, is a key concept of shamanism. This is the basis of our personality, and it is connected with other forces: the power of the Earth and everything that inhabits it. It is also synonymous with balance. If something goes wrong in our lives, it means that our personal power is weakened or extinguished. Any symptom of trouble is a sign that we have forgotten something, that the order has been violated and this lost part is trying to reunite with us. Shamanic practices that call for altered states of consciousness make it possible to meet this essential part. When she is reunited with us, we can talk about healing.” From this point of view, a prosperous person is a person who is in unity. With his body, his heart, his soul and with all living things that surround him.
Read more:
- “Explore your limitless abilities”
“I found a connection with my humble peasant personality”
Connecting with others and with the world, sharing values with them is the ideal, and this is precisely the goal of this practice. “Practitioners of shamanism are looking for awareness and realization of themselves,” notes Arnaud Riou, “but that’s not all. They, especially young people aged 20-25, feel that humanity is at a critical stage, and they want to take some other place in the world, to bring to life other values. Shamanism responds to this double need.” There are more and more who notice that the cult of consumerism and individualism make us unhappy and devastate the planet. They are looking for other ways to give meaning to their lives and simply live better, meeting the main thing within themselves and in the outside world.
37-year-old Leon has lived in Paris for thirty years. Shamanism became a way for him to reconnect with his personality as a “humble peasant who grew up in the Pyrenees” and give spiritual content to his concern for the environment. “In addition to shamanic journeys,” he says, “I grow a garden and eat organic products, I am an adept at honest exchange and volunteering … These practices, which allow me to touch another world, give me the opportunity to live in harmony with my values.” And the psychotherapist Maud Séjournant, who joined the shamanism of the American Indians,3 believes that “the creativity of each will become a factor in the transformation of the whole world. To do this, you need to acquire the missing strength. And that power is called engagement. Involvement in returning to yourself, to your creative power, which is given to everyone. This, she believes, is the main goal of the coming years.
Is shamanism utopian? May be. But humanism cannot be taken away from him.
Beware of shaman charlatans
Are you tempted to try? Be careful: there are many self-proclaimed shamans, but real manipulators. When going on a trip to the sound of a tambourine, it is worth:
- inquire about the reputation of the presenter using the “word of mouth” method.
- give yourself time discuss with him his life path, his methods.
- Don’t get involved with those who position themselves as a “healer” (especially if he advertises his power or his “miracles”).
- Don’t get involved with those who suggest the use of narcotic substances (ayahuasca, mushrooms, etc.): it is illegal and dangerous.
- To avoid pseudo-shamans demanding to stop medical treatment or work with a psychologist or psychotherapist. His work should be complementary.
- Stop workingif he diagnoses, makes predictions or persuades you to come to him several times to solve your problem.
Do not forget that a good practitioner of shamanism is a guide. He offers tools and always leaves free will to the initiate. He does not interfere with your decisions, does not impose his revelations on you, and never tells you what to do.
1 B. Morgan «Vision Walk: Asking Questions, Getting Answers, Shifting Consciousness» (St. Lynn’s Press, 2006).
2 Author of the book “Awaken the Shaman” (Réveillez le chaman qui est en vous “, Solar, 2014).
3 Leading seminars and trainings, author of the book “Circle of Life. Shamanic initiation of the psychotherapist (“Cercle de Vie, initiation chamanique d’une psychothérapeute”, Albin Michel, 2001).