Religion:History of shamanism

Shamanism is a religious belief centered around shamans, who can achieve various powers, and is believed to be one of the oldest and earliest religions in the world. It is a religion often associated with indigenous tribes around the world where they are believed to have the power to heal the sick, communicate with spirits and escort souls of the dead to the underworld. Shamans are often regarded as people who can connect with nature and spirits and can often also heal spiritual sicknesses. Although shamanism practices have differed slightly around the world the fundamental principles and believes remain the same the variation occurring in rituals and worship of ancestors. Shamans are often highly respected in there community due to the multiple roles they play in the community. Shamans have practiced the religion of Shamanism for centuries in Siberia.

Definition

Shamanism is a religion that used to be widely practiced in Europe, Asia, Tibet, North and South America and Africa with the belief in supernatural phenomenon such as the world of gods, demons and ancestral spirits only responsive to a shaman. The word “shamanism” derives from the Manchu-Tungus (Northern Asia) word šaman, meaning one who knows. Shamanism have also been defined as shamans having entered into another state of altered consciousness which can enable one to connect with spiritual beings not of the mainstream world. They have been associated as healers, teachers, scholars and a spiritual guide in the early times of human civilization.

Historians such as Hans Findeisen described it as a religion because it contains a set of beliefs, tales, and ritual practices that form a well-organized net of interrelationships. On the other hand, there are also those such as Timothy Insoll who consider the religious label misleading because of the notion that shamanism represented a configuration within a broader religious pattern instead of religion for its followers even in Siberia, which is the so-called homeland of shamanism. This conception, according to an account, fits what Harvey Whitehouse described as "imagistic mode of religiosity".

Historical timeline

Origins

Shamanism practice varies across the globe where it is a prehistoric tradition from the Paleolithic era with cave arts some 30,000 years old showing evidence of shamanic practices. The term's origin is unknown and this is primarily attributed to the way it comes from an oral tradition. Anthropologists, however, propose that it originated in northern Asia, particularly from the Evenki word saman, which is derived from the Tunguso-Manchurian verb sa (to know) and also related to the same word used by the Mongols and the kan and xam of the Turkish.

There is a theory that the origin of shamanism has a physiological basis on account of the capacity of all mammalian nervous system for trance and altered perception. This drew support from the claim made by Jean Clottes and David Lewis-Williams that prehistoric humans experienced hallucinations and performed repetitive ritual activities that affected the consciousness, to explain the emergence of shamans.

Shamanic practices have often been regarded as one of the oldest spiritual practices which have slowly become incorporated into other religions replicated through mystic and symbolic practices and rituals of other religion. Shamanism practices have been found all over the world however little traces of it remain as it has gradually declined in practice and as a religion.

It is an Illustration of a Shaman in Siberia in the 17th century by Nicolaes Witsen

History

Shamanism varies from region to region, country to country as a result of differing cultures and beliefs. As shamanism has been around for so long the exact date of when shamanism actually occurred leaves much to be debated by anthropologists, due to issues with historical preservation and historical accuracy of records. Shamanism is believed to have been around as early as the Paleolithic era or more commonly known as the Stone Age.In Europe and Africa cave artworks from the Paleolithic era dated some 20,000 years ago indicate that shamanic practices were prominent even during that time. Due to shamanism practices varying across each continent and country there is also a discrepancy in its history however as not enough history was preserved to explain in great detail due to the decline of shamanism as well as various other historical events.

Although there is evidence suggesting that shamanism has been around for 30,000 years and maybe even longer there is however no solid evidence which provides conclusive evidence as to the exact time period on when shamanism has come about. There is however concrete evidence that shamanism has existed for at least 10,000 years ago due to excavations Shamans often play an important role in each tribal society and are often regarded as the healer and also the medium that can communicate with spirits and the dead where they are often responsible for sacrificial rituals where ceremonies are carried out by them and throughout history they were a vital part of each tribe. However, Shamanism has slowly started to decline as time progressed and new religions such as Christianity came in and eventually only a few remote tribes still retained the practices of shamanism and one such tribe is the Inuit Tribe in the Canadian Arctic. Traditional shamanism often involved the Shamans being chosen by the tribe or inherited however as the tradition of Shamanism declined and now replaced with a modern version of Shamanism people can now choose to take up shamanism training.

Even though it has declined, Shamanism has managed to survive the prosecution of various regimes through time such as other organised religion and Marxist regimes with key principles of Shamanism still present today albeit limited in many areas. One of the last practices of Shamanism in the 21st Century can be found in nomadic Tuvan tribe with only an estimated 3000 people surviving from this tribe. Tuva is one of the most isolated tribes in Russia where the art of shamansim been preserved until today due to its isolated existence. The Khakas is another tribe isolated from the world where living in the Steppes of Southern Siberia where there history dates back to the Copper age with cave art as proof with shamanism still being prominent in the present age.

Modern shamanism

Shamanism has long declined and this is because larger religions have emerged and replacing it. Shamanism has declined mainly due to larger religions coming in and replacing it where shamanism is now often considered as a primitive and superstitious religion which is untrue. Shamanism is a religion that has changed over time and modern shamanism in the Western context is now regarded as Neoshamanism. Neoshamanism emerged in the 20th century which involves the integration of traditional indigenous shamanic techniques combined with psychotherapeutic techniques of the urbanised Western world where its main inspiration is derived mainly from the indigenous shamanic practices of Amazonian, Mesoamerican, and North American indigenous people. Michael Harner introduced the concept of "core shamanism" in his work "The Way of the Shaman" which forms the basis of Neoshamanism. In the 20th century people began to see Shamanism as a form of psychotherapy suggesting that shamanic practices is comparable to that of psychoanalysis. Today shamanism is considered a universal religion something that transcends geographical and cultural boundaries with emphasis on the importance in reconnecting with our spiritual roots.

With the rise of the counterculture movement where people started to seek to understand more on ones consciousness, spiritual connection and healing, people began to look into the historical roots of shamanism and a growing interest in plant-based hallucinogenic drugs. This gave rise to Neoshamanism in that time period where it started to gain a greater prominence and interest globally. The counterculture movement was a time during the 1960s where youth rejected the socials norms of that era with a rise in women rights, LGBT movement and experiments with psychedelic music and drugs. This led to a rise in Neoshamanism due to what it embodies about spiritual consciousness and psychotherapy. In Neoshamanism it often dismisses the evil and fear that has been associated with traditional shamanism where fear and evil was a core part of shamanic rituals in some spiritual connections.

Today shamanism practices have been increasingly studied by medical specialists and psychologists who utilizes its core principles to better complement the treatments given. Psychologists have also done numerous research on the core principles of shamanism and applying it to spiritual and mental wellbeing.

See also

• Shamanism
• Religion in the Mongol Empire