Shamanism and the Shamanic Complex

Shamanic initiation and rites of passage serve as the lens through which to interpret the Biblical narrative of Jonah, and the apocryphal account of Christ’s descent into hell. Shamanic themes of dismemberment and encounter with one’s death amplify Jung’s individuation theory and Henderson’s work on the archetype of initiation. Archetypal themes of dismemberment and descent reveal a meaning-filled appreciation of suffering, and articulate a model of wholeness that includes shadow aspects and hidden dimensions of self.

American Ethnologist, 1980

There are numerous approaches to the study of shamanism.' Anthropologists, psychologists and religious historians have attributed to it a wide spectrum of cultural and psychological perspectives. In this paper, we concentrate upon the altered states of consciousness (ASC)' experienced by the shaman during ceremonial performances. In studying this phenomenon, certain experiential characteristics of the shaman's trance as they occur in 42 cultures (see Appendix) will be identified.' The experiential characteristics delineated are often referred to in the literature: magical flight, possession, and the control, memory and cultural orientation of trance.

… : The International Journal of Pagan Studies, 2011

Shamanic practices and practitioners in Western countries are often derided as "inauthentic" by both scholars and members of indigenous communities. The experience derived from such practices is therefore also implied to be contrived. This paper analyses shamanism in the United Kingdom as part of "Western shamanism" rather than "neo-shamanism." Western shamanism is understood to be a valid religious tradition found in Europe and America that is based on Western cultural and religious traditions. The concept of authenticity is critically examined as a cultural construct, and the validity of a religious experience is located subjectively.

Zygon®, 2004

My name is Aaron Christopher Michael Chengte (shan-tay) Waldron; we are a Shaman in journey. Our pronouns are they, their and them. We do not identify in the singular first-person pronoun (I), but instead, we identify as a collective third person pronoun (we). Throughout this hermeneutical Self inventory, we will use illeism to refer to our Self as me, us, ours and we. As we continue to cosmically transform into a living symbol, we begin to understand the intersectionality of Self. While we were reflecting upon New York Theological Seminary’s hermeneutical Self inventory we are reminded of our inner-terrestrial space: an intersectionality of thoughts and traumas that are unexplored within us. Now that we are traversing space beyond the boundaries of religion, our experiences are relatively new and God. God is not only in religion but is the life force of everything to include religion. How does a Shaman in journey experience sacredness beyond the limitations of religion? Perhaps we should start with what we mean when we say we are a Shaman.

Anthropology of Consciousness, 1996

bare recognition of some importantly different functional levels of language (i.e., there was historially no "public" or low-context level of speaking in aboriginal societies such that strangers customarily spoke to each other in the same language; meaning was to a high degree dependent on shared knowledge and relationships). Basing a notion of human language on today's kind of public language does a disservice to research on the origins of human language. This is an important book which should be on the shelf of anyone interested in origins or evolution; it combines the best of modern research with a post-modern, Continental Philosophy perspective much needed in our overly analytic age.

Hts Teologiese Studies-theological Studies, 2008

considers shamanism in many of its facets. He explores shamanism's social and symbolic content, and the implications of its neurological underpinnings both for shamanic practitioners and for their clients. Winkelman asserts that shamanism played a fundamental role in both cultural and personal human evolution, especially in cognitive integration, healing practice, and self-transformation. In particular, the 'hardwired' basis of hallucinatory experiences and their perceptual constants provides an iconographic system extended metaphorically in rock art representations (p. 5). To Winkelman, rock painting represents neuropsychologically-based metaphors for visionary experience (e.g., death/rebirth, descent/ascent, light, flight, sex, drowning). At the core of shamanic practice is the belief in a cosmos populated by spirit entities that affect all aspects of nature and human life in particular (p. 58). This worldview is said to be based on the operation of neurognostic structures. Following Laughlin et al. (1992), Winkelman uses the term 'neurognostic structures', i.e., 'innate knowledge modules of consciousness' (p. 27), that also can be thought of as reflecting what Jung called 'archetypes' (p. 28). Shamans are described as 'technicians of consciousness' who utilize these 'neurognostic' potentials for individual and community healing and for personal and social

Journal of Religion, 2005