The Analysis of the Shamanic Traditions - Essay Example

Q1. Although shamans themselves are known for their use of verbal art as an important tool of their trade, one form of narrative that is important inshamanic traditions is the relating of stories about shamans by other members of the community. These tales may be told by friends, enemies, neighbors or clients. They involve accounts of healings, spiritual journeys, special characteristics, foibles and shamanic careers. Narrative memories of exceptional shamanic practitioners may even outlive their subject and persist beyond the practice of shamanism in that particular community. These tales take on a legendary, epic nature. In communities that continue the shamanic traditions, narratives with shamanic protagonists serve to establish a communal code of conduct, providing a narrative model of idealized and stigmatized shamanic behaviors. They constitute a native discourse on the nature, efficacy, and dangers of shamanic practices. A practitioner's power can be described and also enhanced by such tales. Examples of such narratives can be found in Knud Ramussen's (1921) Eskimo Folk Tales. One typical story is that of Kuniseq who sets out on a spirit journey to the land of the dead with a spirit helper. The landscape is described as a slippery reef, changing into a field of heather, providing visual imagery for a better understanding of the nature of the spirit world. Kuniseq meets some children and his mother who tries to kiss him and offers him berries which he refuses, as one should never eat in the land of the dead if one intends to remain with the living. In general, the tale provides a comforting representation of the land of the dead and the supporting role of the spirit helper. When Kuniseq dies soon after this journey, it is to be happily reunited with his deceased kin. The tale illustrates the shaman's familiarity with the spirit world, emphasizing his competence and also provides information on the other world of interest to listeners. Not only does the tale provide valuable cosmological information, it also underscores the efficacy of the angakok to fulfill the task of supplyinf information on the cosmos that would otherwise be unavailable to ordinary members of the community and presents the shaman as a true Inuit hero. Q2. In the cultural encounters between shamanic traditions and other religions or systems the former have often been vilified and condemned. Shamans have been tortured and persecuted as was reported of U.S. Navy Commander Henry Glass in his dealings with the Tlingit people in the 1890s. But even more subtle methods of discrediting and suppressing shamanic worldviews exert pressure on practitioners over time. Intercultural and interfaith confrontations can lead to the marginalization of the shaman figure, which did not necessarily enjoy total acceptance in the first place, and was sometimes regarded as a source of misfortune and suspicion even in the shaman's own cultural context. As the community evolves toward more complex systems of organization and the religious tradition becomes more firmly institutionalized with a fixed doctrine, the marginalization of the shaman can increase. Religions undergo transformation reflecting the changes in norms and circumstances of their ambient societies. Combined with external pressure and systematic suppression, particularly from missionizing religious traditions with strong doctrinal components and the superiority of the aggressors, the cultural context of the shamanic community can change to such an extent that a shift occurs and the religious beliefs predominant in the community change. There may or may not be vestiges of the old traditions remaining in form of certain rephrased rituals, or mystical figures. The shaman is gradually superseded by or transformed into the priests elected and trained by established religious institutions. An internal decline in the belief in the importance of shamanic rituals can be the result of external influences and the encroachment of alternative worldviews. State- sponsored efforts as in Soviet Russia, or economic considerations can also be factors that lead to the "snapping point" where the majority of practitioners of shamanic religions give up the old religion for a new because it is no longer worth the effort to continue with the old. In the case of the Omaha, for example, it became apparent that people would no longer be gathering to grease the Sacred Pole and therefore this led to the tribe's decision to give up this powerful symbol of their culture. Q3. The Omaha Umon' hon' ti, or "the Real Omaha", was a sacred pole carved from a tree purported to have stood directly under the North Star. This totem pole was taken on the tribe's migration towards the Great Plains, along with other sacred objects. A young man had a vision meant to help keep the tribe together in a strange new environment. In accordance with his vision, ritual observances were established, including polishing the pole with buffalo fat to restore balance in the tribe and ensure hunting success. However, in 1881, when most of the tribe had converted to Christianity and most of the buffalo had died out, the custodian of the pole, Yellow Smoke, decided to donate it to the Peabody museum. The chief who allowed this to happen died two weeks later, inspiring in some the belief that his demise confirmed the sanctity of their father's religion. A tabu had been broken when the pole's narration was permitted to be taken out of its proper context. The accompanying sacred implements disappeared for a long time. A century later, tribal leaders sought the return of the pole in the hope of rekindling a sense of unity. However, by that time, no-one knew exactly how to reincorporate the Umon'hon'ti in the community and repatriation became a source of contention rather than unification. No-one knew how to interact with the pole, perform the rituals or treat it with the proper respect. Freak accidents started to occur, prominent members of the community grew ill and everything was blamed on the pole. While the divided fractions decide on the proper fate of the pole, which may be the establishment of a museum on tribal territory where it can reside, the Umon'hon'ti has been temporarily handed over to the University of Nebraska Museum for safekeeping. Similar problems with attempts to revitalize shamanic traditions came up for the Makaw people of Western Washington. Traditionally a whaling community, the Makaw people were forced to abandon whale hunting because of the threat of extinction for the Grey Whale. When leaders attempted to revive the hunt and re-establish a sacred tradition, there were widespread protests from ecological activists and heated debates illustrative of the risks involved in revitalization of lost shamanic traditions. Q4. Resilience is a key feature of many shamanic traditions. Because of the plurality of their world view, they are able to incorporate changes and adapt well. When two religious traditions interact, there are several possible outcomes. Their members may remain separate, respecting each other's existence. Or each may adopt and borrow certain aspects from the other. However, there are instances when a religion may borrow from another to such an extent that a new hybrid, or fusion of religious outlooks emerges. This process of fusion is known as syncresis. Just as the merging of shamanic tradition and Islam led to the emergence of Sufism, the Native American Church emerged as an attempt to preserve and retain elements of prior shamanic traditions while embracing a new religion: Christianity. The Native American Church appeared initially as the Indian Church in Oklahoma and spread to other Native American communities. It contains both Catholic and protestant elements and in 1918 received official recognition as a formal religion in the United States, and later in Canada. The Church rejects most aspects of polytheism found in the original Native American tradition and embraces the monotheistic doctrine propounded by Christianity. But the religion also emphasizes elements such as the use of sweat lodges, plains ritualism, sacred dances, entheogens and imagery of sacred directions. Ceremonies can be long and elaborate. The use of peyote as an entheogen in the Native American Church is officially allowed despite trends to prohibit its use as a hallucinogenic substance. Peyote is taken communally as a sacramental food instead of the Christian communion and is seen as a key to personal growth. Peyote is recognized officially as being a necessary component to preserve freedom of religion of Native American Church practitioners. By including old elements as they embrace the new, members of a community undergoing radical change or a shift of religious affiliation can positively affirm their heritage. Especially when the change was initiated by outsiders with missionary intentions, the preservation of aspects of their original tradition can help the community to cope with religious change in a positive way. Q5. In The Way of the Shaman, Michael Harner presents shamanism as a methodology that can be made available to a wide range of people irrespective of their backgrounds and religious views. The Way is eclectic and is comprised of techniques from different traditions synthesized for general use. This neo-shamanism is designed to attract modern readers and can be applicable for anyone without the ballast of religious conviction. Although supernatural issues and spirit travel are mentioned, these do not necessarily have to do with religious beliefs, but can even be interpreted as metaphors for aspects of personal growth. In contrast, the cosmology of traditional shamanism is based on a belief in the existence of different worlds and the role of the shaman is to act as interlocutor, the supernatural exists and spirit travel is as real as every other experience of reality. It is almost insulting, or trivializing to speak of such shamanic experiences and work as metaphors. Neo-shamanism also tends to be voluntary and individualistic, the chosen path of a seeker, whereas the traditional shaman may not always choose the path and may be called or even forced to serve in the interest of the spirits and the community. Hence traditional shamanism is always deeply interrelated to the community in which it is based, reflecting the circumstances and maintaining the culture of that community. Neo-shamanism on the other hand consists of practices found commonly in different shamanic traditions that are used outside of their cultural contexts. Harmer has invented a modern kind of Universal Shaman which would have been inconceivable in traditional shamanistic societies where shamans did not borrow from other traditions, but rather emerged in the context of their own community. In general, neo-shamanism is associated with a great deal more freedom of choice and individualism than traditional shamanism. Yet, both could be understood as occupying different positions on the same continuum instead of being diametrically opposed to each other. Neo-shamanism fits the globalized, Western system whereas traditional shamanism emerged in hunter-gatherer societies and was best adapted to suit the needs of people there. Q6. In Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner, the figure of the shaman serves many functions. On the one hand, the shaman Tungajuak is a villain, an incorporation of the evil in the community that attracted him in the first place, while the shaman Kumaglak is the leader of the community, a father and protector both literally and metaphorically. The elder Panikpak and her brother Qulitalik have shamanic abilities and help to guide the community and preserve the spirit of the murdered Kumaglak. Atanarjuat himself undergoes a healing spiritual journey much like the path of training that a shaman must take, assisted by Qulitalik who assumes the role of spiritual helper. The son of Atanarjuat and Atuat is the reincarnation of the shaman Kumaglak and one has a sense in the film that the shaman is omnipresent: keeper of the past and path to the future. The shamanic qualities of Qulitalik and Panikpak also serve to preserve and protect the community and its culture. The shaman figure is a wise guide with social impact. The shaman is also an embodiment of spirit, as demonstrated in the fight where Qulitalik is a walrus and defeats the evil shaman Tungajuak who takes the form of a seal. In the film Ofelas, Pathfinder, Nils Gaup renames the pathfinder, usually called a Nuati and merges the figure with the idea of a guide. The pathfinder Raste who offers Aigin refuge in his community is a wise leader, and protector of the interests of the community. The shaman figure preserves the culture and mythology of the Smi while attracting audiences and exposing them to the language and ancient traditions without confronting the present Lutheran Christian tradition. In the Bear Ceremony inscribing knowledge and lack of knowledge depicting the supernatural and the rational the circle is key, and eliminates the power of death. Thus the shaman is also a unifying figure with a central and productive role. The shaman acts to strengthen or recreate bonds and keep the community in touch with the past while forging a way to the future. In a sense, in both films the shaman is a hero who brings the experience of shamanic traditions closer to a wider audience and promotes more knowledge and acceptance of valuable cultural practices threatened by the decline of those traditions. Read More