Shamanism is in no small part defined by the use of altered states of consciousness to penetrate beyond the normal barriers of our reality, and gain access to a wider range of information by this means. Over time, this inner exploration became replaced with institutionalized dogma. With the arising of such institutions, altering consciousness and inner exploration had to become an enemy. You had to rely on the dogma given to you by the institution. You don't get to have access to a broader range of the content of your consciousness. You simply have a belief system. And thus it has been for thousands of years. Our original source of spiritual connection, altered consciousness, has been demonized. Personal spiritual, ecstatic experience has been replaced by belief. Our society is in many ways progressing. We're not dominated by religious institutions to the degree that we used to be. Yet the government has carried that torch in many regards. The war on drugs exemplifies this. Our original spiritual tools, consciousness-altering and visionary plants, are illegal, as a continued remnant of the dogmatic institutionalism which humanity is slowly crawling its way out of. Shamanism was once the universal religion. And shamanism is not about shared dogma, but rather a system of personal spiritual experience, and methods to induce them. Even if plants were not used, other methods were used in an effort to alter consciousness. That our society shuns altering consciousness is an affront to our innate spirituality. The day will come when it will be seen as an embarrassment that we once jailed people for altering consciousness, letalone those which easily lend themselves towards spirituality. No different from the other various embarrassments of our past which also stem from the dogmatic institutionalism which we are shaking off. Sexism, racism, witch-hunting, and the like. I hope more of the forward thinkers in our society can come to see the truth of this issue, and its importance.
Well said. Regardless if you believe any of that, what gives the government of a free society the right to decide we can't explore it for ourselves? That's not freedom.
Very true. First there is just the idea of, why we should be in any way restricted beyond harming others? This always ends up being arbitrary. Then there is the idea, how can we be said to be free if we aren't even free with our consciousness?
There are a surprising amount of practicing shaman out there. Luckily the woman I'm working with is one...can't wait to do some exploration with her...
Couldn't agree more. Perhaps the biggest point to be made in detail is the distinction between Shamanism and organized religion as we know it. As you mentioned, it is NOT about dogma but a system of personal spiritual experience. It's not about being indoctrinated from age zero but rather seeing and feeling for yourself. I have no clue how deep the rabbit hole goes, or if it ends, but I am very clear on which methods/mentalities/substances in life showed me there is a rabbit hole to be explored in the first place. Just as I am very clear on who the people are trying to keep the rabbit hole hidden or replace it with a pie in the sky or the boogey man. Shamanism is not impervious to charlatanism, but if real shamans (shamen? shawomen? Buehler....?) were widely accessible, society might just get a very positive nudge towards utopia.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I've gained more from the self evaluation and moments of clarity induced by altered States of consciousness than I ever did from the rules and expectations pushed upon me during my extreme Christian childhood.
Do you think there is a connection between shamanism and new age beliefs? If that's the case, wouldn't that mean that part of shamanism is coming back?
To me dogma is an unquestioned belief and to practice shamanism is to practice the art of exploring different kinds of mental states and sharing what you learn from exploring different kinds of mental states. ------
I've been using shamanism in my spiritual practice for a while now. It's a pity that most 'religious' people never actually experience the personal, enlightened connection with whoever or whatever they worship, because everything is so caught up in dogma and ritual that no longer has meaning or serves a purpose.