“The Sages of Old instruct that the occult knowledge of Trees and Herbs, as well as the sacred arts of healing, divination, and enchantments, was given mankind in remote times by the gods. According to the teachings of some religious traditions, these were the so called Fallen-Angels...
Within the ascendance of monotheistic cults, a great many of these plant luminaries were assimilated to a false lexicon of demons, and the Art Magical, once the pursuit of sages, was made heresy. Eventually Nature herself came to be viewed as an evil spirit, representative of powers to be bound, exploited, and civilized.” (Pendell, p.241)
There is a conversation we did have in class. We were discussing something that provoked an 'Aha!' experience in my person; I realized an understanding of the living nature of reality in which I am intimately engaged. This is what has become of greatest interest to me during my studies of holistic psychology. This is a highly shamanic view for one to take. It requires that one release the idea of separateness entirely and continually offer up themselves to the flow of their experience. There is a direct understanding that arises from this sort of engagement with reality – the understanding that we share a responsibility to one another, a responsibility to act freely and genuinely in response to the actual experience we are having, (as opposed to a response to a future or past experience). And so questions arise: “How does one integrate this experiential wisdom into a practice of holistic psychology? Where can the shamanic world-view and way of being be (re-)incorporated into current healing practices? Why were the shamans of the past, the community healers, harmonizers, problem solvers, and therapists? What is it about the shamanic way of being in the world that lends it to certain roles or engagements with the world and fellow human beings?” I will be looking at these questions and reflect upon them in light of the material we discussed throughout this class, adding to the reflection with my own experiences.
As a sort of litmus test, I will begin by looking for the shamanic view in the already established psychological theories and methods. I believe it is also possible to adjust the established theories to harmonize and support the shamanic view. In order to calibrate this conversation, let us begin with a definition of 'the shaman entity' as offered by Terence McKenna, a great philosopher, anti-hero, and story teller of our more recent history:
“While shamanism occurs in virtually every culture on the planet, manifesting itself in religious traditions both ancient and modern, both 'primitive' and sophisticated, the shaman remains eminently individualistic, idiosyncratic, and enigmatic, standing ever apart from organized ecclesiastical institutions while still performing important functions for the psychic and religious life of the culture. Comparable, but not identical, with such similar idiosyncratic practitioners as medicine men and sorcerers [and even acupuncturists], the shaman is the possessor of techniques of proven efficacy and of powers bordering on the paranormal, the complete understanding of which still eludes modern psychology.” (McKenna & McKenna, p.9)
At this point, a question arises with regards to the material chosen for our curriculum road-map, the Personality and Personal Development textbook. The question I pose is, “Why is shamanic practice not included in the study of a 'holistic psychology' and if it is not included, is it appropriate to question whether modern psychology has developed to the point of being capable of integrating the methods and world-views of the shaman?” I cannot assume to know why the authors of P&PD avoided discussing shamanic techniques in psychology; most likely it was simply a matter or preference but it could also be a matter or familiarity. Perhaps the psychologists/teachers/therapists that arranged the text unconsciously and/or consciously avoided shamanism because psychology has yet to fully embrace its own shamanic origins and techniques? In Terence McKenna's opinion, modern psychology has yet to take hold of its shamanic identity. I have to disagree with Terence to some degree.
In my experience, therapists, healers, and psychologists of today are most definitely developing a shamanic literacy. These psychonauts are slowly arriving to an ontological skill-set, custom-fit to their own self-driven, animated engagement with their experience that gives access to the hyper-intelligence of reality. This is the source of shamanic know-how and efficacy, the interplay with the endless and eternally accessible intelligence of the whole of reality. With an attraction to the experience of 'healing', these individuals find themselves discovering new ways to harmonize emotional, bodily, and environmental energies. And the reason I triumphantly disagree with Terence is because these modern-day shamans are also considered to be modern-psychologists by their family, their associates, and their larger communities. They are literally bridging the modern world with the 'ancient' world.
For me, the shamanic view is a living experience, a dynamic exchange that self-corrects and continuously finds new harmony and balanced relationship throughout the entirety. It understands that 'time' is an element, a variable in the larger equations of nature, and so the 'shaman' can learn to manipulate it as such. Also arising from the shamanic understanding of time is the realization that this living wisdom is beyond time or rather, outside of time. Wisdom is rooted in the directness, the aliveness of experience. In understanding that the entirety is unified and harmonized outside of any one 'time' or rigid sequence, one may move from their centralized point of awareness, adjusting and re-framing patterns within and beyond the limited oculus of self to engage directly with the endless, timeless ALL THAT IS – the 'larger self'.
Now to bring 'modern psychology' into this unified view, I will offer an interpretation of psychology that might reveal its underlying movement towards the unified understanding offered by shamanism. I see psychology as having become the modern skill-set for navigating the pathways of the thinking and feeling of our experience. It is the language, the topology of the inner mental-emotional experience. By cutting itself off from an entire expanse of the Natural world, Western thought opted for the 'long road home' and has only recently begun to rediscover the world beyond itself. I see the history of modern psychology as one of remembering – literally re-membering, re-forming the living body of reality by becoming aware of the unified quality of Nature and the Self. Meanwhile, shamanism has continued to thrive around the world and has begun to inform and reciprocally reform the Western, Modern mind-view.
Psychology ideally aims to appropriately arrange psychic energy just as the shaman attempts to harmoniously arrange energies, psychic and otherwise. In this way, the Shaman is the orchestrator and technician of the technology of pattern/rhythm in harmony. Psychology is considered a 'therapy' because it too works to reform thought patterns, develop emotional integration, and awaken self-knowledge/power, all of which is the restructuring of energies within and beyond an entity/person.
In recycling this conversation, I offer some answers to my previously stated questions: “How does one integrate this experiential wisdom into a practice of holistic psychology/acupuncture? Where can the shamanic wisdom be (re-)incorporated into the current healing practices?”
As a fresh student of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I have become aware of the seeming irony of the process in which the student pushes themselves through. In order to become a healer, one must experience a sort of trial that seems to kill the student but ultimately results in their maturation into a prepared and effective healer. This mirrors the path of the shaman, where in many cultures, has to go through similar trials in order to arrive at their role of shaman/healer. It is common for the initiate/student to become extremely ill and in their process of healing, they are awakened to their own capacity to heal. I point this parallel out because I believe this story reveals a place to activate the shamanic-style engagement with experience. By observing directly the way in which energy moves and how to actively manipulate it, one learns to become an effective practitioner, one engaged directly in the realignment of their own energy through a cyclical process of illness and health/ disharmony and harmony. This process leads to other revelations and rearrangements of interaction with reality.
As one moves through the cycle of illness/health, they may begin to realize that it is simply that, a cycle. By understanding the nature of the experience, one can renegotiate their way through it and in this case, choose another path of resolution. Perhaps it is possible to appreciate wellness and relative health without the occasional illness? The shaman navigates through his experience, responding in such a way as to achieve a dynamic harmony. For the shaman, harmony is a dance, a creative engagement, a practice. I feel that engagement with any experience as a creative act, whether it be cleaning dishes, taking a walk, or assisting a person in healing, is a key application of the shamanic world-view, especially in the context of current healing practices. Engaging with the living world as an open and creative presence brings about the natural reaction to and resolution of certain energetic cycles, allowing for the continued and harmonious flow of experience/energy. Being becomes art and it is always beautiful.
Shamanism is the 'art of being'. Healing is the 'art of being' inside the experience of bringing harmony into synchronous alignment with the NOW and the self. Ultimately, I see psychology in a process of becoming a new shamanism in a new context and I also see shamanic techniques/technology like divination, sound, and altered states being integrated into the modern medical practices. I look forward to incorporating these and other technologies into my own practice and participating in this (re)creation of the shamanic arts. Luckily we have only been out of the Garden for a short while. It feels good to return home.
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