Shamanism as an anthropological study

I have writen about shamanism at my blog a couple of times, what it is, why is it done and how, but today i want to write about it as a anthropological study, more turned to those who are a bit sceptical about it, or need science to prove the existance of such a work as entering the world of the spirits, which is perfecly natural, if science can explain the natural world and the behaviour of us humans in the past towards it, the better we may understand our paths and the way the universe works.

Shamanism, summarizing it, is the ability to leave this world and travel to the realms of the spirits, or the otherworld, it has always been a part of our human condition since the dawn of times, since we humans exist and work in such ways. Anthropology has been evolving and improving, becoming increasingly a discipline which can be learned by meeting the traditional communities still alive in our world, be those of South America, Africa, Australia and of course Siberia. Anthropology tried to explain shamanism in a shallow way, telling us about the items, tools and clothing people wore and how they arranged their ceremonies, no one mentioned the actual journeys the shamans made into the otherworld, the only explanation for that was the "logical" conclusion that shamans probably were clinically deranged, and all sorts of new and different illnesses were invented. Anthropologists had never head of the otherworld or the realm of the spirits before, and of course never had experienced it, so this was understandable, the way they behave towards such phenomenon. But time passes and we evolve, and we are always eager to learn, so anthropologists decided to take their studies into a different level and began to follow these shamans in their practices in this world and the otherworld. To the surprise of the anthropologists, they had similar experiences to those described by the shamans, and this opened a new field of research.

The studies went on and it was established that the shamans go into trance in order to facilitate their entry into the otherworld. This was tested in laboratories during the 1960's and 70's, and the experimentations showed that certain hallucinogenic drugs could induce into similar trance states, or altered states of conciousness, also field research found that some shamans use natural forms of these same drugs to assist in their journeys to the otherworld. All of a sudden everything began to make sence in the world of sciences, because after these experiences, anthropologists ignored the trance and that could only make them understand part of the shamanic world those people lived in, because the existance of the otherworld and the spirits, was exactly the reason that lead people in these communities to make everything they do. This was also an huge step to Archaeology, which showed that if these people live their lifes around trance experiences, so did the peoples of the past. Anthropologists by this time had already shown that they could enter trance and journey to the otherworld as easily as traditional people, and that all humans have the same ability to do so or to experience similar altered states of conciousness.All such trance is facilitated by a stimulus, even archaeologists looked into the records of the past and they found a lot of drugs that were already in use for such practices, from opium, to burnt seeds and even mushrooms.

Drugs aren't the only means of inducing trance, also listening to repetitive drumming at a certain beat and frequency is also very effective, which explains why Neolothic people designed the forecourts around burial tombs to resonate drum beats just this frequency, it was also found burnt stones, which were used in saunas, and we also know that shamans in Siberia also induce their trance by inhaling steam in a sauna.

Many people see geometric shapes after entering in trance, but these are formed entirely within the eye itself with no outside stimulus. Scientists call them phosphenes. This fact allowed archaeologists to recognise them in the past, since the first forms of art anywhere in the world, all of a sudden these shapes of trance were everywhere in every archaeological digging, even on 70.000 year-old stones from South Africa.

Studies showed that moving deeper into trance, these shapes coalesce into a tunnel and if one follows it till the end, a new landscape reveals itself which of course shamanic people identify as the otherworld. The concept of a long tunnerl leading into another place may have induced palaeolithic people to follow passages into the earth and thus the myths and stories of caves, tombs, holes in the ground and later wells and such things were entrances into the otherworld.

The more people delve deeper into trance, the more they can identify whatever symbols and images that were painted or carved on the walls of caves and tombs in ages past by our ancestors. Animals are often seen in these altered states of conciousness, but not just animals we are use to see, but also creatured of similar shapes and forms but somehow different, also the otherworld is inhabited by the spirits of the dead, which explains many of the rituals and traditions surrounding burial activities and a strong reason why people went to these practices again and again and again. Neolithic people build huge tombs with long passages leaning to an enormous chamber, to symbolize the experiences they had while in trance, an idea that it seems that people believed the dead also took such a journey to arrive into the otherworld.

Both Anthropology and Arcaeology recognize that there is more to shamanism than just the physical characteristis of the rituals done by shamans or shamanic practitioners, this is an huge step, we can now delve into our deep thoughts and journey out of this world, take similar experiences and know more about the way ancient people live their lifes and how their mind worked, we can understand these things by living the same experiences. Archaeology and Anthropology helps us to prove that these experiences are not made up or a figment of a deluded mind and our past is real and very much alive, something natural and attached to every human brain.

To our ancestors these experiences were their day by day life, and it was easier for them to believe in the existance of the world of spirits and such things, they lived it, they depended on it, and from there came the inspiration for the creation of art, tools, music, jewelery, clothing, architecture and so on. Today for us it is hard to believe, we underwent through a series of events in our human history, the creation of lots of religions, the disbelief of the same, the coming of sciences trying to explain everything, even if there isn't a good explanation for the natural world itself, we are poisoned by the amount of television programs, religious and political propaganda, a mixture of events that drives us crazy and the most welcoming thing to stop all that madness is scepticism and everything that turns away from that path, seems too fantastical, unreal, impossible, but we must go through this veil and see things as they were and still are.

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Origins of Shamanism

Note: The drawing was made by me.


When and Where

Origins and Distribution of Shamanism

Origins

Shamanism is one of humankind's most ancient traditions, spanning perhaps tens of thousands of years. The American anthropologist Michael Brown points out that "anthropologists are fond of reminding their students that shamanism, not prostituion, is the world's oldest profession. Not only is it the oldest profession but also one of the most widespread, found today in areas as scattered as Siberia and South America.
The striking similarities among shamans raise the obvious question of how these similarities emerged. Perhaps they developed spontaneously in different locations, evoked by innate human tendencies or recurrent social needs. Another possibility is that they resulted from migration from common ancestors.
Migration alone seems unlikely. Shamanism occurs among tribes with so many diferent languages that diffusion from a common ancestor must have begun at least 20,000 years ago. But would shamanic practices remain so remarkably stable in so many cultures, while language and social practices changed so drastically? Migration alone can hardly account for shamanism's far-flung distribution.
It follows that some recurring combination of social forces and innate abilities led to the repeated discovery of shamanic practices and states of consciousness in diverse times and cultures. Certainly humans seem to have an innate tendency to enter altered states, and some of those states are very specific. For example, for 2,500 years Buddhists have accessed eight highly specific states of extreme concentration called jhanas, while yogis have accessed similar concentrative samadhis. Clearly the human mind tends to settle into certain specific states of consciousness if given the right conditions or practices, and this suggests an underlying neural basis.
Similarly for shamanic states. These can be induced by diverse conditions, and most people can experience them to some degree - all of which suggests that the mind has an inherent tendacy to adopt them. Since common experiences such as isolation, fatigue, hunger, or rythmic sound induce them, they would likely be discovered by many cultures and generations. Given that shamanic states can be meaningful and healing, the methods for inducing them would likely be transmited across generations, supportive beliefs would develop, and shamanism would be born again.

Distribution

Since Shamanism has endured so long and spread so widely, an obvious question is why does it accur in some cultures and not in others? Cross-cultural research suggests some answers. The anthropologist Michael Winkelman compared magico-religious practices in forty-seven societies spanning almost 4,000 years from 1750 B.C. ( the babylonians ) to the present. Remarkably, prior to Western influences, all of these cultures used altered states of consciousness for religious and healing practices.
But although shamanic practices extend to most regions of the world, they accur primarily in particular types of societies: nomadic and hunting and gathering tribes. These people have little agriculture and almost no social classes or political organization. Within these tribes the shaman plays many roles: healer, ritualist, mythologist, medium, and master of spirits. With their many roles and power vacuum offered by a classless society, shamans exert a major influence on their people.
However, as societies evolve and become more complex, the situation changes dramatically. As societies become fixed rather then nomadic, agricultural rather then foraging, and socially and politically stratified rather then classless, then shamanism, as such, dwindles. In is place appear a variety of specialists who focus on one of the shaman's many roles. Instead of shamans we now find healers, priests, mediums, and sorcerers/witches. These specialize respectively in medical, ritual, spirit possession and malevolent magic practices. A contemporary parallel is the waning of the medical general practitioner or G.P., together with the multiplication of medical specialists.
It is interesting to compare some of the ancient specialists with the shamanic G.P. who preceded them. Priests emerge as representatives of organized religion and are often moral and even political leaders. They lead social rituals and pray to the spiritual forces on behalf of theur society. Yet unlike theur shamanic ancestors, they usually have little direct experience of altered states.
Shamans are often ambivalent figures, revered for theur healing power yet sometimes also feared for their melevolent magic. Whereas priests inherit the shamans' benefical religious and magical roles, sorcerers and witches are viewed as the specialists in melevolent magic, and ,as such, they tend to be feared and persecuted. ( speaking of ancient times, not the new age religious beliefs ).
Mediums specialize in spirit possesion. While they do not undertake journeys, they do enter ASCs ( altered states of consciousness ) in which they experience themselves receiving messages from the spirit world. Recall that some researchers use a board definition of shamanism that includes anyone using altered states to serve their community. Such a definition fails to distinguish shamans and mediuns, both of whom use altered states, though of quite different types. Since shamans are usually found in foraging societies and mediums in more complex ones, this provides a further reason to distinguish them.
As cultures evolve, so too do their religious practicioners. Though shamans as such largely disappear from complex societies, most of  their roles and skills are retained by various specialists. However, there is one exception: journeying. None of the shaman's successors focus on journeying.
Why this practice should largely disappear is a mystery. It may be that of suppression of shamanic practices by organized religion, during the nineteeth century it was a criminal offense in parts of Europe to own a drum. Another factor may have been the discovery of techniques such as yoga and meditation. Howver, it is unclear whether these factors alone could account for the virtual absence in complex societies of a practice that war powerful enough to spread around the world, survive for thousands of years, and form the basis of humankind's most ancient and durable religious tradition.

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