Shamanic Death

[Philosophia]

I found this information and was wondering if this is correct?

What is a Shaman’s death, and who’s likely to have one? The death itself is a suspension between worlds. States of consciousness. The individual today, who is likely to have a "Shamanic Death" is chasing extinction itself. Through that process the person is readying him/herself to stand on a bridge between space and time.

Native American Tradition, from my limited knowledge of it, describes a ritual of preparation. The beginning of the ritual involved the initiator burning away the world into which they were born. Removing any trace of familiar surroundings and belongings. The ritual continued in complete isolation to the tribe. The isolation took place in caves, and even in a grave excavated by the apprentice him/herself. It was left to the initiator to know precisely when the time was right to escape the isolation and take his or her new role in the tribe. The ritual could take years to complete.

From here (http://realmagick.com/articles/08/1508.html)

[Coinin]

It might be, I do actually see no reason for it not to be. Without having any further knowledge on what I've just read.

[Vigdisdotter]

I found this information and was wondering if this is correct?

Yes...but!

The biggest problem with Shamanism is that it's very difficult to put it into words. Now myself, most of my study has been of the European variety, so I can't speak about NA traditions. However, when my death came, there was no preparation. I wasn't even aware of Shamnism at the time.

I would certainly agree about it suspending one between the worlds and it certainly opened my eyes (and then some!) but it's really not nearly as exotic as the many stories make it sound. Anyone who had observed my "death" would say that I had a mental break down followed by much soul searching and an epiphany that resulted is a functional world view. And they'd be right. Yet they'd be blissfully unaware of the shamanic aspect of it all.

I'm not even sure I can explain what makes it shamanic expect that all Shamanic Deaths seem to share one thing in common: The destruction and the recreation of the individual. In my case it was my entire sense of self that went kablooie and then spent months remaking.

So...um....yeah :P

[Juniper138]

Here are a few links that might prove helpful:

http://realmagick.com/articles/08/1508.html

http://www.positivearticles.com/Article/Death-as-an-Ally---The-Shaman-s-Perception-of-Death/21973

http://druidsutterance.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81&Itemid=265

[Shawn Blackwolf]

I have had three different " Shamanic Deaths" in my life...

Once , when I was 18 , which lasted for six months , similar to what
Vigdisdotter described...

A second one , around 40 , though , with this one I had bodily paralysis ,
sleep deprivation , and inability to communicate to others , for a period of
months , off and on...

The third , six months after that stopped...Was intense , and totally different...

A 120 mile a hr storm , ripped through my area , and almost killed me , and
my wolves...power out for a week...

After that week , during which time , I was giving thanks to the Land Spirets ,
I threw up my hands one day , declared my ability , and readiness , and asked
for whatever Mother , Father , The Ancestors , and all the Spirets , would give
me for the greatest good for all...

That night , began 19 days , of 107 fever , where I was torn apart , on what felt
like a sub - atomic level , and scattered to the winds...slowly , I came out of the
cauldron...

But during this time , when I ate only a few meals , and slept maybe twenty hours ,
not by choice...

I was downloaded , with a continual stream of " Data Code " , strands of information
and symbols , numbers , and geometric constructs...

I could feel the malleable , gelatineous nature of " reality "...literally...

I could see layered fields of energy everywhere...

After this 19 days , I walked down my country road , to call my Lakota friend...
The medicine man who had gifted me with my wolves...whose lineage was
from the guardian wolf of the tribe...

And saw three ravens fly in front of the sun...One turned 90 degrees , in front
of the sun , spread it's wings , and froze...And turned white...The sun , turned black...

And I lost time...when I " came to " , I was on my knees , tears pouring down , a
small puddle of my tears on the ground ...

When I looked up , raven turned 90 degrees again , turned back to black , the sun
white / yellow , and when things became " normal " , the sun was much lower than it had been , when the experience began...

I got up , walked to town in a daze...and called my friend...Who said...

" Very good...now go put your back to a tree ..." ....LOL....:)

[Simply Puzzled]

This is 100% wrong, look at the first three words of the second paragraph. It begins "Native American Tradition." There is no Native American Tradition. Period. There is a highly diverse body of traditions created by the diverse and varied societies created by humans in the Americas, before the colonization by Europeans.

The shamanic death is a very important fixture in some, but not all, of what we normally refer to as shamanism. There are two basic kinds, and I'll briefly describe them:

The first is an involuntary process. This is normally, but again not always, takes the form of an illness in which the shaman-to-be becomes so sick that they begin to have out-of-body experiences, cross into the other-world, enter a trance where they can commune with spirits, or have another sort of mystical experience. A common description is being torn apart and put back together with a piece missing that normally acts as a barrier between the self and the spirit world. Somewhere I have a post on some of the ramifications of that, which we could discuss if you are interested. After the sickness heals, the person usually has little choice in whether or not to be a shaman. To resist would bring madness and ultimately death upon the person.

It is interesting to note that in these sorts of illnesses, among cultures in which they are recognized, a shaman or three is brought in at the time of the illness to determine whether or not it is a shamanic illness or regular. While it is in vogue among psychologists and others mental health professionals to think that these are merely signs of a mental illness such as schizophrenia, the shamans are often able to diagnose it as such and not as a valid shamanic death/rebirth. Someone who displays all the signs of having a shamanic sickness can be diagnosed by a shaman as merely ill.

The second are voluntary, under taken for the express purpose of becoming a shaman. However, I am aware of no culture, except perhaps our own, in which becoming a shaman is a given. Performing the rites increases your odds, but it is not a guarantee. One of the most common methods is through drugs. Dr. Harner provides an excellent description of his own initiation through drugs in the book The Way of the Shaman. As 60's drug users frequently noted "we could achieve in a half an hour what took Buddhist monks 25 years of meditation." In Dr. Harner's book, though, he notes some of the extreme dangers of working with these drugs, and I strongly discourage readers from this path. Other methods involve some of the means of trance common in Western occultism: fasting, meditation, and pain.

Whatever the means, most fulfill two requirements: they set the person apart from the rest of the community, which explains the inclusion of body modification in some of them, and provides the would-be-shaman with his first taste of the shamanic experience. Creating the experience through these extreme means allows the person to then utilize much easier means to go back. The first contact is usually the hardest.

This is the trouble with talking about "shamanism." It's a lot of conditionals: usually, sometimes, occasionally, in some cultures, most, frequently, etc. Anytime you read something about shamanism, unless they are referring to a very specific group of people, you should look for these. Someone saying "In the Native American Tradition" should immediately set off red flags, and bells and whistles in your head. Absolutes among shamanism makes about as much sense as saying "All Asians."

[Shanti]

This is 100% wrong, look at the first three words of the second paragraph. It begins "Native American Tradition." There is no Native American Tradition. Period. There is a highly diverse body of traditions created by the diverse and varied societies created by humans in the Americas, before the colonization by Europeans.

The shamanic death is a very important fixture in some, but not all, of what we normally refer to as shamanism. There are two basic kinds, and I'll briefly describe them:

The first is an involuntary process. This is normally, but again not always, takes the form of an illness in which the shaman-to-be becomes so sick that they begin to have out-of-body experiences, cross into the other-world, enter a trance where they can commune with spirits, or have another sort of mystical experience. A common description is being torn apart and put back together with a piece missing that normally acts as a barrier between the self and the spirit world. Somewhere I have a post on some of the ramifications of that, which we could discuss if you are interested. After the sickness heals, the person usually has little choice in whether or not to be a shaman. To resist would bring madness and ultimately death upon the person.

It is interesting to note that in these sorts of illnesses, among cultures in which they are recognized, a shaman or three is brought in at the time of the illness to determine whether or not it is a shamanic illness or regular. While it is in vogue among psychologists and others mental health professionals to think that these are merely signs of a mental illness such as schizophrenia, the shamans are often able to diagnose it as such and not as a valid shamanic death/rebirth. Someone who displays all the signs of having a shamanic sickness can be diagnosed by a shaman as merely ill.

The second are voluntary, under taken for the express purpose of becoming a shaman. However, I am aware of no culture, except perhaps our own, in which becoming a shaman is a given. Performing the rites increases your odds, but it is not a guarantee. One of the most common methods is through drugs. Dr. Harner provides an excellent description of his own initiation through drugs in the book The Way of the Shaman. As 60's drug users frequently noted "we could achieve in a half an hour what took Buddhist monks 25 years of meditation." In Dr. Harner's book, though, he notes some of the extreme dangers of working with these drugs, and I strongly discourage readers from this path. Other methods involve some of the means of trance common in Western occultism: fasting, meditation, and pain.

Whatever the means, most fulfill two requirements: they set the person apart from the rest of the community, which explains the inclusion of body modification in some of them, and provides the would-be-shaman with his first taste of the shamanic experience. Creating the experience through these extreme means allows the person to then utilize much easier means to go back. The first contact is usually the hardest.

This is the trouble with talking about "shamanism." It's a lot of conditionals: usually, sometimes, occasionally, in some cultures, most, frequently, etc. Anytime you read something about shamanism, unless they are referring to a very specific group of people, you should look for these. Someone saying "In the Native American Tradition" should immediately set off red flags, and bells and whistles in your head. Absolutes among shamanism makes about as much sense as saying "All Asians.":fpraise:
Yup!

[Simply Puzzled]

:fpraise:
Yup!

Thanks. Sometimes I worry I ramble. I guess in the absence of term-papers I use mysticwicks to get writing out of my system.

Btw, I love your icon. I stole it a while ago to use on my facebook profile. Everyone loves it :-).