What is Shamanism and how effective is it in healing people?

What is Shamanism and how effective is it in healing people? Vince Eade This essay explores the phenomena of the shaman both in traditional and contemporary societies, and across several cultures. The essay investigates what is, and how one becomes, a shaman. Efficacy of shamanic healing and the methods of its delivery are also considered by using examples from traditional cultures in comparison with two western contemporary models, clown doctors in New York hospitals, and the development of psychoneuroimmunology, which is based on the precepts of shamanism. The essay demonstrates that far from being a relic of archaic societies to be studied only for its academic value by social and cultural anthropologists and medical historians, contemporary shamanism, and at least one of its iterations, the circus clown, has a useful place alongside, and complimentary to, the currently dominant bio medical model in the milieu of the holistic healing process. According to Jakobsen (1999), shamanism first appeared in Siberia and central Asia as a religious phenomenon, in existence as long as there have been human beings with Eliade (2004), describing the etymology of ‘shaman’ as coming from the Russian Siberian, Tungusic language, sâman. Eliade (2004) points out that the existence of shamanism in a particular geographical area or culture does not exclude other forms of magicoreligious life, indicating that they co-exist. Eliade (2004) also provides a useful, if simplistic definition for the complexity of the shamanic phenomena by suggesting that ‘shamanism = technique of ecstasy’ (Eliade, 2004, p. 4). It may be useful at this point to differentiate the shaman from other practitioners of magic, including primitive medicine men, all of which are suggested by Eliade (2004), to be found globally. Shamanism, is according to Eliade (2004), a particular form of magic which exhibits ‘mastery over fire’ and ‘magical flight’ (Eliade, 2004, p. 5) amongst its repertoire of specialities. Eliade (2004) therefore makes an important distinction between 1 magicians, medicine men and shamans by suggesting that although shamanism includes magic, not every magician can be termed a shaman and that although every medicine man is a healer, the shamans method of healing is unique to shamanism. What sets the shamans technique of healing apart from other practitioners is found in the shamans unique use of a trance like state which is often entered into with the help of hallucinogenic herbs and rhythmic drumming (Eliade, 2004). During the trance the shamans soul leaves his body and ascends either to the sky, or descends to the underworld to commune with spirits (Eliade, 2004). The purpose of this spirit communion is, according to Jakobsen (1999), to create a unified cultural cosmology out of what would ordinarily be unordered chaos. Spirit encounters therefore, allow various crises in their albeit less technologically advanced society, such as illness, lack of game or problems with fertility and difficulties in childbirth, to be addressed (Jakobsen, 1999). The relationship between the sprits and the shaman is considered by Eliade (2004) to be fundamental in helping to understand the role of the shaman. Unlike sprit possession of a person in which the sometimes malevolent sprit controls the individual, often directing them on a path of destruction, shamans exercise control over their helpful, constructive spirits, and therefore, unlike the possessed, do not merely become the instruments of the sprits. This may seem primitive looking through a technically advanced western lens, but as E.E Evans- Prichard suggests: However foolish primitive beliefs and rites may appear to the rationalist mind, they help rude [traditional] peoples to cope with their problems and misfortunes and so they eradicate despair which inhibits action and make (sic) for confidence conducive to the individual’s welfare giving him a renewed sense of the value of life and of all the activities which promote it (Evans-Pritchard, 1965, p. 48). As will be explored later in this essay, although, according to EvansPritchard’s account, shamanism is considered primarily of use to ‘primitive’ societies, the precepts of shamanism are playing an important part in the modern holistic approach to healing. 2 Given therefore that shamans play an integral and fundamental part in the functional organisation of their society, with what Eliade (2004, p. 7) describes as them being the ‘elect’, whereby shamans have access to sacred regions inaccessible to the general population, mediating between the sacred and the profane (Jakobsen, 1999), how are individuals selected and trained to carry out shamanistic practices? Eliade (2004) indicates that the most common form of shamanic recruitment is via heredity, usually, although not exclusively, passed patrilinealy from grandfather to grandson in the case of the Siberian Tungus; as the son has the responsibility for looking after his father in this culture, he cannot therefore become a shaman (Eliade, 2004). Shamanism can also be passed matrilinealy from grandmother to granddaughter. Other cultures pass the shamanic traditions down from father to son or from mother to daughter (Eliade, 2004). Responding to a vocational calling from God or the sprits, much as that claimed to be experienced by some western clerics, is another way Eliade (2004) describes of recruitment. Finally election by clan members can result in recruitment, although as Eliade (2004) suggests, shamans recruited in this way are much less powerful in comparison to those hereditary shamans, or to those who have responded to the call of the god’s and sprits. However the shaman is recruited though, Eliade (2004) suggests all neophytes have to receive teaching in the ecstatic, dreams and trances, and in the names and functions of the various sprit helpers they will use in their future consultations, as well as other shamanic techniques. It is through these other shamanic techniques that the shaman exhibits his prowess as a magician using the sleight of hand, or mouth contemporary western audiences will be familiar with. Levi- Strauss (1963, cited in Neu (1975) describes the training of Quesalid, Canadian first nation Kwakwaka'wakw a member of the indigenous tribe. Quesalid, who although unbelieving in shamanistic power, undertook shamanic training in order to discredit its efficacy, he was amazed that a technique he learned of holding a piece of bloodied fur in his mouth, and then removing it, by sucking out 3 the alleged ‘pathogen’, in the form of a bloody worm from the body of a patient, worked. This paradoxically lead him to become a convert and a most famous and effective shamanic healer (Neu, 1975). Kirby (1974, cited in Blerkom (1995) suggests sleight of hand is fundamental to a shamanic performance, indicating that in shamanic procedures body parts are cut off and seemingly re attached, or that the shaman imitates the sound and appearance of various spirits and effecting Houdini like escapes from seemingly impossible bonds. The sucking shaman as described earlier when describing Quesalid, Levi- Strauss (1963, cited in Neu, (1975), is according to Kirby, (1974 cited in Blerkom (1995) extremely common. If therefore, shamanism relies heavily on a performance of magic tricks, how does it appear to work, even in the face of the kind of scepticism displayed by Quesalid? Hendry (2008) suggests shamanism works through the belief system of the individuals involved. Hendry (2008) expands on this theory and proposes that the trance and associated sprit séance performed by the shamans of the Akawaio people of British Guyana, provides an outlet for the release of pent up underlying tensions that have been built up over a period of time in a largely self contained situation, and that the individuals belief in the efficacy of the trance is a key to its success. Put simply, it works because the individuals involved believe it works (Lévi-Strauss, 1968). Lévi-Strauss (1968) suggests shamanic healing has a parallel with psychoanalysis with both therapies either creating a believable myth from the individuals past experience, as in the case of psychoanalysis, or by the generation of a social myth through the medium of the trance like state combined with the symbology of helping spirits marshalled together by the shaman. Lévi-Strauss (1968), considers therefore, that the efficacy of shamanic healing lies at the boundary between the bio medical model, and the psychological therapy of psychoanalysis. Lévi-Strauss (1968) suggests that the trance like state induced in a pregnant woman, along with the powerful symbology of the myth created 4 by sprit helpers, conducted by and through the shaman, is instrumental in the successful delivery of a baby, in what could otherwise have been a difficult childbirth. This illustrates the powerful effects psychological manipulations of the mind, can exercise over a biological event such as childbirth. The successful outcome of shamanism, witnessed by other members of the society, then serves to reinforce its efficacy as an effective model of healing, along with the resulting increase of status afforded to the shaman, within the norms and values of that society (Blerkom, 1995). Illustrating how powerful psychological techniques can be when applied alongside the biomedical model of treatment in contemporary western societies, Blerkom (1995), studied the positive psychological effects that thirty five ‘clown doctors’ have had on child patients’ clinical outcomes spread across seven paediatric cardiology units in New York hospitals. The clowns’ appearance mirrors that of the shamans, in that both therapies involve the use of highly stylised, colourful clothes which both violate the normally expected cultural norm and are worn alongside noisy accessories such as drums, whistles and kazoo’s (Blerkom, 1995; Eliade, 2004). Blerkom (1995) suggests a review of the literature reveals many instances of shamans and clowns sharing techniques in their respective disciplines, for example the clowns use of puppets and other soft toys is analogous to the shamans use of helper spirits. Blerkom (1995) indicates that the use of puppets is not an exclusive province of the clowns by suggesting the shaman sometimes also uses puppets in lieu, or to be representative of, helper spirits. Blerkom (1995) suggests ventriloquism is also a shared clown/shaman technique and goes as far to suggest that all performing arts have a common heritage in shamanism. Blerkom (1995) postulates that both clowns and shamans mediate between order and chaos, the sacred and the profane, the real and the unreal and that by inverting the normally understood rules, for example the clown doctor having a stuffed animal toy in the hospital room and being told off by a strict nurse that animals are not allowed in the hospital (Blerkom, 1995), induces a humorous, emotional response in the patient. According to 5 Blerkom (1995), the hospital clowns also employ the shamans sleight of hand technique by removing the pain, rather than a bloody worm from the patient by after asking where it hurts, performing a ‘squeakectomy’ (Blerkom, 1995, p. 467). The technique of removing something from the body thought to be at the root of the illness is employed by both shamans and hospital clowns and is a powerful and effective tool in their healing repertoire, with Blerkom (1995), suggesting that the various clowning techniques coalesce, leading to the associated psychological healing, therefore lending credibility to the well known saying that laughter is the best medicine. Shamanism, as a complimentary healing therapy, has also been identified by Money (2001), who postulates that: Any healing process-whether recovery from infection, physical trauma or psychological distress - must entail the stimulation and direction of the body’s own restorative functions (Money, 2001, p. 126) Money (2001) suggests that it is the body’s own immune system which is stimulated during shamanic healing. This stimulation leads to an increase in the patient’s natural resistance to the cause of the physiological or psychological event. Money (2001) suggests the understanding of this linkage has informed the development of a therapy known as psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). Money (2001) indicates that PNI targets the boundaries between the patient’s immune system and their spiritual, psychosocial and physical habitus which can cumulatively effect the action of the individual’s immune system. Money (2001) suggests this therapy has evolved out of the increasing legitimisation, by the orthodox medical establishment, of what were considered traditional, or even primitive healing techniques. Money (2001) further edifies the value of shamanism as an effective healing medium by stating: What has been striking is the extent to which shamanic healing has been progressively revealed as increasingly understandable and legitimate within the context of contemporary discoveries in the fields of health and illness (Money, 2001, p. 127). 6 Money (2001) suggests that the shamanic trance and séance, reduces depressive symptoms, much as has already been discussed by Jakobsen (1999) and Evans-Pritchard (1965) earlier in this essay, and as a result of the reduction in depression, it benefits immune system function, which in turn has direct benefits in the health of the individual. In justifying shamanic healing as a worthy addition to the panoply of contemporary medical techniques, Money (2001) indicates that although shamanic healing practices are not the only ones which work, and are perhaps not the most efficacious in all instances, they do allow a bigger, open minded, picture to be built up of the general model of healing, and the part they play in that model. The valuable impact shamanism has had on the development of PNI cannot be overemphasised with Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (2002, p. 15) suggesting that PNI may have ‘broad implications for the basic biological sciences and medicine’ In conclusion, this essay has investigated the Siberian roots and an individual’s recruitment into shamanism and has also analysed the magical and supernatural training and methods that shamans employ in their healing trances and séances. The essay has suggested that shamanism is not confined to a small geographical area but is in fact a necessary and implicit part of human life and is consequently, a global phenomenon. Evidence presented in the essay shows clear similarities with the shamans’ performance and that of the hospital circus clowns. The foundation of both performances being centred in their caricatured and culturally nonconforming antics, and in combination with the use of props, culminates in effective healing for the shaman, and in the case of the hospital clowns, laughter. Evidence suggests this appears to encourage positive clinical outcomes (Blerkom, 1995; Lévi-Strauss, 1968). The parallel between shamanistic healing and modern psychoanalysis has also been identified in this essay; this has had major implications in the continuing development of contemporary holistic complimentary therapies such as PNI. So, far from being just a legacy held over from more 7 traditional, less technologically advanced societies and cultures, this essay has illustrated that the precepts of shamanism as an effective model in healing people, continue to influence and inform cutting edge medical practice. 8 Reference list Blerkom, L. M. V. (1995). Clown Doctors: Shaman Healers of Western Medicine. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 9(4), 462-475. doi: 10.2307/648831 Eliade, M. (2004). Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (Bollingen Series (General)): Princeton: Princeton University Press. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1965). Theories of primitive religion. New York: Clarendon Press Oxford. Hendry, J. (2008). An introduction to social anthropology: sharing our worlds (second edition ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Jakobsen, M. D. (1999). Shamanism: traditional and contemporary approaches to the mastery of spirits and healing. U.S.A: Berghahn Books. Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., McGuire, L., Robles, T. F., & Glaser, R. (2002). Psychoneuroimmunology and psychosomatic medicine: back to the future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64(1), 15-28. Lévi-Strauss, C. (1968). Structural Anthropology: Translated from the French by Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf. London: Allen Lane, the Penguin Press. Money, M. (2001). Shamanism as a healing paradigm for complementary therapy. Complementary therapies in nursing & midwifery, 7(3), 126131. Neu, J. (1975). Levi-Strauss on Shamanism. Man, 10(2), 285-292. 9