What You Need to Know about Shamanism – Part 4

Ed. Note: This article is part of our "Various Views of Jesus"

[Extracted from the authors’ book, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs
(Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1995)]

Reader advisory: Some themes and descriptions in this article may be difficult to read.
Approach with caution. 

Psychopathology

The obvious reason for the debate over the shaman’s psychological health (see Part 3), is that shamanism usually involves the practitioner in psychotic and schizophrenic-like episodes.^[1] But because shamanism is now often interpreted as a form of “higher” spirituality by many psychologists, its accompanying mental states are also being reinterpreted in a benign fashion.

In other words, what was once considered a psychological state of depraved insanity is today considered a spiritual state of higher consciousness!^[2] What was once dangerous and feared is now preferred as a method of spiritual empowerment and enlightenment.^[3] As Jeanne Achterberg writes, “Newer theories of personality development... all include the notion that ‘normal’ [consciousness] is by no means the most evolved possibility.”^[4] The East has indeed come West: temporary insanity as a potentially higher or elevated state of consciousness is a premise of Hindu and Buddhist thinking, more than many people realize.^[5]

Of course, not all agree that states of insanity are spiritually desirable. “Among those most frequently cited are Devereux, who steadfastly maintains there is no excuse for not regarding the shamans as neurotic or even psychotic, and Silverman who likens the SSC [Shamanic State of Consciousness] to acute schizophrenia.”^[6]

One of the biggest problems that surrounds ethnopsychiatry, or “transcultural” psychiatry, is the confusion of normal and abnormal states of consciousness. Because states of mental illness are considered “normal” in shamanistic and other subcultures, and because modern secular psychiatry and anthropology have no absolute standards by which to judge such things, many scholars are concluding that even occult-induced mental illness can be simply part of a continuum along the “normal” range of transpersonal consciousness.

The implications of this are anything but minor. Consider Michael Harner’s first experience with shaman initiation—an experience that resulted in his becoming a shaman. He employed the sacred drug made from the ayahuasca plant or “soul vine”:

“I could make out large numbers of people with the heads of blue jays and the bodies of humans, not unlike the bird-headed gods of ancient Egyptian tomb paintings. At the same time, some energy-essence began to float from my chest... Although I believed myself to be an atheist, I was completely certain that I was dying and that the bird-headed people had come to take my soul away....

“Starting with my arms and legs, my body slowly began to feel like it was turning to solid concrete. I could not move or speak. Gradually, as the numbness closed in on my chest, toward my heart, I tried to get my mouth to ask for help, to ask the Indians for an antidote. Try as I might, however, I could not marshal my abilities sufficiently to make a word. Simultaneously, my abdomen seemed to be turning to stone, and I had to make a tremendous effort to keep my heart beating.... I was virtually certain that I was about to die.... I was dying and therefore, [it was] ‘safe’ [for me] to receive [new] revelations. These were the secrets reserved for the dying and the dead, I was informed. I could only very dimly perceive the givers of these thoughts: giant reptilian creatures.... I could only vaguely see them in what seemed to be gloomy, dark depth.

“Then they projected a visual scene in front of me. First they showed me the planet earth as it was aeons ago.... [They said] they had come to planet earth to escape their enemy.

“The creatures then showed me how they had created life on the planet in order to hide within the multitudinous forms and thus disguise their presence.... They were the true masters of humanity and the entire planet, they told me. We humans were but the receptacles and servants of these creatures....

“I knew I had only a moment more to live. Strangely, I had no fear of the bird-headed people; they were welcome to have my soul if they could keep it....

“[Later] I began to struggle against returning to the ancient ones, who were beginning to feel increasingly alien and possibly evil....

“I frantically tried to conjure up a power being to protect me against the alien reptilian creatures.

“One appeared before me; and at that moment the Indians forced my mouth open and poured the antidote into me.”^[7]

When native or naive Americans seek out such encounters, on what basis does anyone logically conclude there will never be casualties? Harner himself admits people may go insane, “become seriously ill or even die” from shamanistic experiences.^[8] The number of people who might never come back from such experiences is unknown, but the risks are certainly not less than those encountered in mind-expanding drugs such as LSD.

It is true that the mental states of what may be termed “shamanic consciousness” and those of schizophrenia and psychosis are not entirely identical. The shaman often has more volition and control during his altered state of consciousness, and it is a “voluntarily” induced insanity similar to that found in the spiritistic Eastern guru traditions.^[9] Nevertheless, while this state is controlled to some degree by the shaman, it seems to be controlled to a much larger degree by his spirit guides, and certainly it is manipulated by the spirits for their own purposes, whatever these might be. Regardless, the very fact of a debate among ethnopsychiatrists proves that the “state” of insanity and that of shamanistic consciousness are similar enough that they are not easily distinguished. Shamans themselves admit, “There is a fine line between the shaman and the psychotic.”^[10]

The unfortunate result for those who seek shamanistic states of consciousness is only that they will encounter their own demonically manipulated consciousness—and despite the claims of promoters, this is anything but “healthy” or spiritually “evolved.” Because shamanism requires spirit possession and because one cannot become a true shaman-healer without it, demon possession is also required. How many shamanistically fascinated Americans realize that?

Endnotes

1. See Naomi Steinfeld, “Surviving the Chaos of Something Extraordinary,” Shaman’s Drum, Spring 1986, pp. 22-27.↑
2. Ibid., pp. 23,27.↑
3. Natasha Frazier, “A Model of Contemporary Shamanism,” Shaman’s Drum, Fall 1985, pp. 40-41.↑
4. Jack Schwarz, Human Energy Systems: A Way of Good Health Using Our Auric Fields (NY: E.P. Dutton, 1980)., p. 31.↑
5. John Weldon, “Eastern Gurus in a Western Milieu: A Critique from the Perspective of Biblical Revelation,” Ph.D. Dissertation, Pacific College of Graduate Studies, Melbourne, Australia, 1988.↑
6. Jeanne Achterberg, Imagery in Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine (Boston, MA: New Science Library/Shambhala, 1985), p. 30. Silverman is the author of “Shamanism and Acute Schizophrenia,” American Anthropologist, Volume 69, 1967, pp. 21-31, and Devereux is the author of Basic Problems of Ethnopsychiatry, University of Chicago Press, 1980.↑
7. Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing (NY: Bantam, 1986), pp. 4-6.↑
8. Ibid., pp. 2,19,125.↑
9. Weldon, “Eastern Gurus in a Western Milieu,” PhD dissertation.↑
10. Natasha Frazier, “Shamanic Survival Skills,” Shaman’s Drum, Summer 1985, p. 37.↑