Essay Sample on Shamanism

Many cultures across the world have spiritual leaders. Some leaders claim to talk directly to their God and deliver messages to their followers and others, like shaman, act as intermediaries, working with spirits and the followers to negotiate for the benefit of the person or the community. Shamans are not religiously affiliated and are typically found in tribal societies. They are mediators not mediums. They serve as healers for both the physical and spiritual dimensions of a person, as well as the community. To perform their services, shaman enter into an altered state of consciousness (ASC) and go into the spirit world to communicate on equal grounds. The goals of shaman are to heal or cure illness, protect against evil spirits, locate game animals and restore balance and harmony. 

Not everyone can be a shaman. It is physically and emotionally draining and requires long and rigorous training. The person has to have specific traits to be considered. One is that they must be part of a marginal group, having a physical disability such as epilepsy or blindness or they may have a personality that makes it difficult for them to function cohesively as a part of society. They also must be able to enter an ASC at will since they will be part time practitioners. It would be impractical to wait for an ASC to occur on its own if someone was in immediate need of help. The most important requirement is that the spirits determine who will be a shaman, not the individual. Since shamanism is demanding, many people do not respond to the first call of the spirits. If the person does not respond, the spirits will continue to afflict the person until they agree to serve. This implies that spirits need the living in order to help them communicate. Once it has been determined that an individual is capable of becoming a shaman, they train under the instruction of an older shaman. During this time the shaman acquires knowledge of illness, symptoms, and their treatments.

Training combines western medicine and spiritual healing. These cultures believe illness is caused by intrusion of a disease-causing spirit, object in the body or temporary loss of the soul. In order to treat people, shaman use imagery and symbolism in conjunction with practical and medicinal knowledge. One example of treatment discussed in lecture is a shaman using sleight of hand to place an object, such as a thread or crystal, in their mouth before they suck a disease-causing object out of the patient. By physically presenting the patient with the object causing their pain and showing them that it is now gone, the shaman is able to utilize the placebo effect. While the placebo effect has scientific backing in western medicine this practice calls attention to the skill and dexterity shaman must employ in order to effectively use imagery. Furthermore, this can be seen as a critique of western medicine. As mentioned in lecture, shaman treat the entirety of the patient whereas western medicine neglects the patients sense of balance, harmony, and integration. Physically seeing the pain causing object can reassure the patient there was a reason they were in pain whereas western medicine may just prescribe medication without helping the patient rationalize their experience. 

Additionally, shaman practice the ASC. This is achieved through using one or a combination of: hallucinogenic drugs, tobacco, fasting, sleep deprivation, breathing exercises, or rhythmic music and movements. According to the icon reading Shamanism, once in an altered state the shaman can travel between the spiritual and physical worlds through the axis mundi or world tree. By entering into the spirit world, the shaman is able to interact with spirits on equal footing. 

Shaman are essential to their communities because they help maintain balance between the spirit world and the physical world. Though spirits can freely enter into the physical world people can only enter into the spiritual world when they die or if they have been called upon to be a shaman. In societies where shamanism is practiced, it is believed that spirits are responsible for negative events and illnesses occurring in the physical world. These are seen as signs that the spirits are unhappy, and that balance needs to be restored. Shamanism remains relevant, as noted in the icon reading by Beech, in Thailand it is thought that coronavirus is a reflection of the spirits anger. In the past few years, time, energy, and worship have been directed away from spirituality and towards technology. Many in Bangkok are hopeful that this will inspire the younger generation to once again shift focus to the spiritual realm. This is just one of the many ways that shamanism has evolved with the societies in which it exists.