Dogma, World Tribe and Western Shamanism (rev. 1)
Matt Burgess
There can be no serious discussion of shamanism as it presents itself in the Western world without discussing Core Shamanism. Core Shamanism is Michael Harner's anthropological and ethnographic description of a phenomenon which finds distinct and significant commonalities in isolated indigenous expressions of shamanism. It is a distillate in many ways. It is also the basis of a distinct pedagogic system. See The Way of the Shaman (Harner, 1990) for a clear expression of Core Shamanism.
The paradigm has many followers worldwide and there is no doubt that it offers some very important information which may help you as you study and experience shamanism. To my eye, Core Shamanism should only be used as a starting point to help you "launch" into a deeper experience of shamanism. I neither recommend nor disrecommend this system. Going to the source material is always best.
Dogma
Let me turn now to the general problem of dogma in the teaching of shamanic techniques, concepts, world views, cosmologies and transcultural commonalities. I'll discuss what seems to me a dogmatic approach to the descriptions of Upper and Lower Worlds in some popular Western conceptions of shamanism. I'll also discuss the puzzling practice of selectively reporting the data when it comes to describing shamanic topologies and their spirit inhabitants. Below is the working definition of dogma which I will use.
Dogma (Miriam-Webster): a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted
by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted.
As Jane Atkinson(1992) points out, it is perhaps best to think in terms of "shamanisms" instead of a grander shamanism. Speaking of shamanisms instead of a shamanism is a better approach to the engagement and study of shamanism generally, and less likely to engender dogmatic ideation as we learn about and explore this most remarkable subject.
Whose Three Worlds?
Some popular Western conceptions of Lower and Upper Worlds state that you will just never find any type of spirit entity who is not compassionate (in any of these two worlds). I'll give some homework here. Go to what is thought by many to be the seminal study of world shamanism, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (Eliade, 2004). The book is a treasure trove of information despite Eliade's inability, at times, to rise above his immediate cultural conditioning which I believe taints some of his conclusions.
From this book select at random three cited ethnologies. Now go the original source material. You may quickly find that the popular Western concept regarding the fundamental characteristics of the Three Worlds begins to tatter.
For instance, have you ever wondered just where, exactly, the ethnocentric Gods and Goddesses reside? Some of these are certainly beneficial but on the other hand some of them can be pretty nasty. Are such beings somehow completely banished from the Western purported experience of Upper and Lower Worlds? Do my homework assignment and you may find the answer.
Let me add that I think it may be more useful to think in terms of the three shamanic realms rather than "worlds." The use of world in the present context is problematic in the sense that it seems to imply a fixed destination, and more importantly it seems to lend itself to an oversimplification of complex shamanistic spiritual topographies. Furthermore I must wonder that if one were to look closely at the orthographies (linguistic conventions) of various indigenous tribes, just how accurately the Western term world, in this respect, suffices as an accurate description of these grand spiritual realities.
Goblins Need Not Apply
I have also been puzzled by the selective reporting of the data in some popular Western shamanic paradigms. To my point, take a look at the Indonesian shamanisms. Also look at any shamanism which brushes up against Hinduism. Here you will find Middle Worlds which are generously inhabited with various demons, goblins and other poorly intentioned non-human spirits. These troubling beings evidentially did not receive their "ticket" to our less spiritually complex Westernized Middle World.
As just one example let us turn to a shamanism which encounters Islam. Muhammad Humayun Sidky(1990) discusses Afghani shamanism and one kind of potentially hostile spirit class known as the Jinnd (specifically the black Jinnd). These spirits have the potential to do great harm in Middle World—human day-to-day Middle World. I doubt you will take a Western workshop which includes advice on how, precisely, to repel a black Jinnd if one were to pop up in your kitchen.
Though this last example is highly culturally specific, I believe it raises some very troubling issues regarding the general dissemination of shamanism in the Western world as well as the presentation of the various Western hybridized expressions of indigenous shamanisms as they are popularly taught.
This selective reporting of the data in some of the Western shamanic systems represents a kind of cherry picking. In practice it can become an effort in well meaning duplicity.
By not addressing the true range of spirits which undoubtedly inhabit the Three Worlds, we do shamanism as a spiritual practice a huge disservice. Why? It is simply because that there are indeed fully culturally bound and unique shamanic realities which can only be described and understood in the context of their specific cultural origins.
Yet many culturally bound shamanic traditions are taught in the Western world as if their specialized and sacred shamanic territories were just fruit for the picking. Do you really think that the "Los Angeles" Middle World is somehow insulated from those expressions of shamanism which don't fit the New Age positive spin so prevalent in the current and popular Western presentations? I invite you to seriously consider the greater ramifications of my question.
It is foolish and potentially dangerous to at any time teach that there is in any regard a "one size fits all" shamanism as it applies to even some of the fundamental characteristics of the Three Worlds. And if such a grand "unified theory" of shamanism in this respect were a workable reality, just what happened to the goblins, the dangerous tricksters, the vengeful Gods and Goddesses and the black Jinnd? Did these just not sign-up for the workshop?
A Little Axiomatic Advice
If you really want to learn about shamanism and perhaps practice some form of it, I'll offer you a little advice, if I may, as follows:
Do what you need to do to establish a few reliable, accurate, consistent and tested Spirit Helpers. Take some well chosen workshops if you wish(there will hardly be one without some benefit I imagine). Become proficient at journey work in a way which feels safe and beneficial. Once you have established the Spirit Helpers with the qualities I have expressed above, let them become an important source in evaluating your studies and your progress. Never journey in Middle World without being accompanied by a powerful and effective protector—a Helping Spirit which you have established to be a skilled protection specialist. And finally, research, research and research—in the literature, with journey work, through carefully chosen workshops and, if possible, through the direct teaching of a well experienced shaman(in a very small group or one-on-one).
World Tribe
I believe that there is always a deep human yearning for tribe. This need may even have a genetic component. Shamanism by its very nature implies a tribal connection. Unfortunately the Western need for tribe can become conflated with the simple experience(in itself) of practicing shamanism in a group. The problem is compounded by a troubled world which is desperately seeking a global remedy to its collective woes.
This sort of seeking operates at an extremely deep level of the human psyche and should always be considered when we endeavor to make spiritual practice in groups. A "global healing tribe" may be one of the possible unspoken goals of those who seek a group experience of shamanism. Intent here is key. That is to say, always consider what the initiates may actually be seeking in any group spiritual endeavor instead of assuming that after reading the workshop's summary (for example) that they are there for the reasons which you expect.
When it comes to Westernized paradigmatic teaching of shamanism there may be an assumption that a viable world tribe is being created as more and more individuals learn and practice shamanism globally. The trap here is that you cannot have a viable world shamanism without a fully functional and operating world tribe. We don't have one of those yet. Tying to create any codified world shamanism without a concordant and distinct tribe is, in my opinion, an act of high folly—putting the cart before the horse just doesn't work.
There are two options: create a small localized " tribe" which involves shamanism or create your own personal shamanism. We'll save the creation of a small bona fide localized shamanic tribe for another time. Now let us consider the idea of a personal shamanism.
A Personal Shamanism
Start your own research. Keep an eye towards creating a shamanism which is valid for your experience and intent: a personal shamanism. If you take a workshop and you feel the need to question the fundamentals as given, by all means do so! Be on the alert for the creeping influence of dogma. If you meet any resistance to your questioning of the fundamentals (as expressed in a particular workshop) dogma may have already begun its poisonings.
Finally, let me direct you to the excellent introduction Jay Bernstein has given in his book Spirits Captured in Stone: Shamanism & Traditional Medicine Among the Taman of Borneo(1996). If you would like a good overall perspective of shamanism for the Western mind, I think the is it (the introduction that is to say). Also I would suggest Sandra Ingerman's article The Power of Shamanism to Heal Emotional and Physical Illness as a good description of shamanism and its basic practices. It can easily be located on her website.
In closing if I have accomplished anything here, it is that I have given you a few "grains of salt" which you may take, if you wish, with your future explorations of this most wondrous spiritual endeavor: shamanism.
May your journeys bring you knowledge, healing and love.
References
Atkinson, Jane Monnig. "Shamanisms Today." Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 21 (1992): 307-330.
Bernstein, Jay H. 1997. Sprits Captured in Stone: Shamanism & Traditional Medicine Among the Taman of Borneo. Boulder, Colo: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Eliade, Mircea. 2004. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Bollingen Series, no. 76. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
Harner, Michael J. 1990. The Way of the Shaman. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Sidky, Muhammad Humayun. 1990. "Malang, Sufis, and Mystics: An Ethnographic and Historical Study of Shamanism in Afghanistan Asian." Folklore Studies, vol. 49, no. 2 (1990): 275-301.
Dogma, World Tribe and Shamanism
Matt Burgess
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