Do you consider yourself a Shaman?

[Runewolf1973]

If you consider yourself a shaman, at what point did you acquire or take on this title? What makes a shaman a shaman? Can any practitioner of shamanism be considered a shaman? Is there some special "rite of passage" to becoming a shaman? Is there something that sets the real shamans apart from the wannabe shamans? Perhaps it is just one of those things...you either have it, or you don't.

 

[Quintessence]

I stay away from that label for a couple of reasons.

First, because it is probably one of the most controversial labels you can stick on yourself. It's asking for trouble, and I'd rather not deal with that trouble.

Second, because I feel that title should not be used unless you are in a service role or are a religious authority. Shamans are like being a priest: yes, you can self-identify as one. However, unless you're providing services (i.e., counseling, officiating rites of passage, leading rituals) to a religious community, that title doesn't carry any real meaning and you have no authority.

I realize some people are less picky about the use of this word than I am; they don't use it to designate a service role conveyed by a community. And in some of those cases, a lot of what I do in my path could be labeled "Shamanic." It could also be labeled as "Druidic" or "Witchy." I kind of gave up looking for a concise label for my path quite some time ago.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I would love to be one.

 

[Runewolf1973]

I stay away from that label for a couple of reasons.

First, because it is probably one of the most controversial labels you can stick on yourself. It's asking for trouble, and I'd rather not deal with that trouble.

Second, because I feel that title should not be used unless you are in a service role or are a religious authority. Shamans are like being a priest: yes, you can self-identify as one. However, unless you're providing services (i.e., counseling, officiating rites of passage, leading rituals) to a religious community, that title doesn't carry any real meaning and you have no authority.

I realize some people are less picky about the use of this word than I am; they don't use it to designate a service role conveyed by a community. And in some of those cases, a lot of what I do in my path could be labeled "Shamanic." It could also be labeled as "Druidic" or "Witchy." I kind of gave up looking for a concise label for my path quite some time ago.

You know, I completely agree with you.

 

[Runewolf1973]

I would love to be one.

Perhaps you already are one, you just don't "think" you are one.

 

[Runewolf1973]

I personally don't call myself a Shaman, but I do practice shamanic techniques and I have healed/helped people using those techniques.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Perhaps you already are one, you just don't "think" you are one.

My spiritual life is kinda stuck right now, due to circumstances. For one, I would love to delve deeper into animistic practices like worshiping the Spirits of the land but I don't feel that I can do that right now because I feel so disconnected from my environment. I hate Ohio. I miss the ocean. When I get back to Northern California, I'll probably feel more connected to the environment there, with the ocean and the forests.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

I always considered the shaman's key trait as having pulled themselves out of a spiritual sickness by their bootstraps.

Debilitating and depressing maladies with no obvious cause were recognized as the shaman's sickness in the old hunter-gatherer societies. If the sufferer could rebuild his identity, or spirits, and hence his bodily heath, with or without help from other shamans, then he could become a shaman himself.

Peter J. Carroll - Philosophy and Practice of Magick.pdf - Peter J.Carroll (ILLUMINATI OF THANATEROS) - Svyraam - http://chomikuj.pl

This might just be my limited understanding of it.

 

[DreadFish]

When I talk about shamans, im talking from the Siberian perspective that I've read about because that's where the term comes from and is most accurate.

From what i've read, I dont think it's proper to just declare yourself a shaman, you're a shaman if you are identified as someone possessing those qualities by someone who possesses and has trained and practiced those qualities.

A shaman basically has to shamanize or they will get ill, mentally or physically or otherwise face hardships in their lives. I've read it described that a shaman is a person with a certain kind of energy that they have to use or they will have a very hard time. You either are disposed to being a shaman, or you aren't and shamanizing is a way to "exorcise" your condition. Also, there have been many people who tried to avoid being a shaman, even to the point of dying of debilitating illness because being a shaman is a big responsibility.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

If you consider yourself a shaman, at what point did you acquire or take on this title? What makes a shaman a shaman? Can any practitioner of shamanism be considered a shaman? Is there some special "rite of passage" to becoming a shaman? Is there something that sets the real shamans apart from the wannabe shamans? Perhaps it is just one of those things...you either have it, or you don't.

I don't consider myself a shaman; in my animistic belief structure, shamans are picked out the by spirits and set on the path of being a shaman. It is both curse and blessing, and to a shaman, both are the same...its living in both the mundane and spirit worlds.
You're a shaman if the spirits have treated you as one, and the people of your community treat you as one, and you act as one. In my opinion.
How the spirits pick you is up to them, but it's a common story that one has a bad illness or injury, comes close to death and/or insanity, and learns how to work in the spirit world on behalf of the community--often through apprenticeship to another shaman. I had such an encounter when I was about 19, but I couldn't go down that path, so I'm not a shaman; but I believe as a shaman, which means as an animist.
I've met some people who have called themselves shamans, but as far as I can tell, they aren't animists, so I'm doubtful...but that's just my opinion.
Shaman is as shaman does?:yes:

 

[Runewolf1973]

I was told by the spirits that in a past life of mine (I'm talking like sometime in the 1600's here) I was a very small child of about 6 years of age. I suffered through a rather nasty illness, but I am not sure if I survived or not. Lol, come to think of it...I guess if I'm here today telling you this, some part of me must have survived that illness. I believe that everything we go through, every challenge in life makes us stronger. A shaman is one who faces those challenges like a champ and helps others to deal with theirs. We are all shamans in a way, because we all help each other, but we are too modest to give ourselves such a title. We know that title must be earned. That modesty in itself is the mark of a true shaman.

 

[Straw Dog]

A shaman basically has to shamanize or they will get ill, mentally or physically or otherwise face hardships in their lives. I've read it described that a shaman is a person with a certain kind of energy that they have to use or they will have a very hard time. You either are disposed to being a shaman, or you aren't and shamanizing is a way to "exorcise" your condition. Also, there have been many people who tried to avoid being a shaman, even to the point of dying of debilitating illness because being a shaman is a big responsibility.

Interesting insight. Why do you think that would be the case?

 

[DreadFish]

Interesting insight. Why do you think that would be the case?

A lot of indigenous cultures explain it that the spirits choose a person before birth to be a shaman. To ignore the calling is to invite their disapproval. It depends on the culture but, in some cultures, the initial illness is to get the attention of the local shaman so he can recognize you and train you. To accept the calling and begin training usually makes the illness go away. The spirits in some of the Siberian traditions tend to be pretty harsh to people who don't heed their ways. Though there is a lot of variation among the different Siberian peoples. I read of one guy explaining how he still gets sick if he doesn't shamanize.

Along the lines of the energy thing, I guess it's just an energy that needs to move so that it's not destructive; it needs to be expressed. Shamans are artists, after all. Regular artists are similar to shamans in certain ways.

I think that, since shamans channel basically cosmic energy, maybe they need to move it so that it doesn't wear the body down.

 

[Kai'a]

Spirit-worker, yes. Shaman, I try to stay away from it. It's useful in cases I need to introduce the concept to someone who doesn't have quite the same background, or share line of work. But I prefer to not use that term for cultural reasons and respect to cultures for whom that label is native, with quite a lot of history, and who are in all the respects my elders.

It's a question of not being appropriative and honoring & respecting my mentors, even if far in time and space, for me. The works we all may be doing are rather similar, yet the backgrounds differ, and I don't think I'd be doing anyone a service in disrespecting that difference and outright erasing it.

 

[Banjankri]

For me, shaman is somebody, or something, that comes from "inside" (from the depths of ones being) and becomes you. You are not possessed, you simply are a different being for awhile. The difference in you, before and after, is obvious. Wisdom is deep, ability to solve problems profound. The perception of reality is different. There is no "magic", since every solution comes through understanding. It's a state that could be easily called omniscience.

I am not a shaman currently, but I've been one few times. I was able to heal myself physically, and others mentally, to some extend.
Unfortunately, I don't know all the conditions that are necessary for it to appear. Not yet. What I know for sure, it that "it" is interested mostly in daily life, present moment, ones surrounding and social relations. "It" wont tell you how to become a milliner, but "it" is able to solve all your emotional problems.

It is real.

 

[Storm]

I stay away from that label for a couple of reasons.

First, because it is probably one of the most controversial labels you can stick on yourself. It's asking for trouble, and I'd rather not deal with that trouble.

Second, because I feel that title should not be used unless you are in a service role or are a religious authority. Shamans are like being a priest: yes, you can self-identify as one. However, unless you're providing services (i.e., counseling, officiating rites of passage, leading rituals) to a religious community, that title doesn't carry any real meaning and you have no authority.

I realize some people are less picky about the use of this word than I am; they don't use it to designate a service role conveyed by a community. And in some of those cases, a lot of what I do in my path could be labeled "Shamanic." It could also be labeled as "Druidic" or "Witchy." I kind of gave up looking for a concise label for my path quite some time ago.

What he said.

I'm all for syncretism and traditions learning from each other and even adopting what they find beautiful... but the history of this term is deeply disturbing to me, and not something I wish to further.

 

[sojourner]

I try to stay away from that term; it’s problematic. I prefer the term “earth medicine healer.” The problem with specific terminology is that it tends to be “owned” by the authority structure of the given belief system. “Shamanism” is a loose term that can mean different things, either vague or specific. It can be misappropriated to become something maybe disingenuous. So I don’t tend to use it.

 

[ChieftheCef]

I have my Shamanic qualities and journeyings. But if I am a Shaman I am a Shaman to myself.