A shaman is a man or woman with a special calling to live in two realities at once— the ordinary world we all know well and a deeper, higher reality, both transcendent and profoundly interior, where everything has a spiritual meaning. The shaman sometimes carries a ladder to symbolize the comings and goings between these worlds, and the drum, one of the tools of his trade, may have markings that show the two worlds within a single circle. With his visionary ability to see the spiritual nature of an illness and perceive deep stories hidden within events, a shaman heals and advises his people.
A shaman is schooled in entering strange in-between worlds of imagination. He is a healer and a teacher, a guide of souls. He speaks as though this ordinary world has a richer, hidden dimension. Through music, trance, and prayer he finds his way into areas of inner space that most people are never aware of. He may call this deep interiority the otherworld or the land of the ancestors. He could call it the kingdom of heaven.
The shaman speaks in poetic language, the only way to describe what he sees on the other plane. He may use metaphor, parable, image, story, song, dance, masks, costumes, and props. He leads rituals, heals spiritually, and serves as the messenger to his community from the otherworld. — Thomas Moore, Writing in the Sand
When it comes to understanding the psyche it’s often helpful to use many different models. Below are posts that deal with the distressed psyche from a shamanic interpretation or similar.
The biggest problem in our society now for those who get diagnosed with any sort of “psychosis,” is that they are most often met by professionals that do not even believe that healing can occur, let alone deep transformative growth. Deep transformative growth, could be the norm, if those claiming to be healers actually knew what was involved in the individuation journey. Meeting the dark underbelly of the psyche as those of us who have been labeled psychotic at one time or another is a calling and an act of heroism. One that is rarely encouraged in society. I might add that it’s to the detriment of all society that we are shut down and often tortured rather than supported. Many of us are healers trying to be born, just like Malidoma Somé says here: What a Shaman Sees in A Mental Hospital
For a multitude of ideas about how to create a life filled with safe alternatives to psychiatric drugs visit the drop-down menus at the top of this page.
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