THE MAKING OF A SHAMAN: CALLING,

TRAINING, AND CULMINATION

ROGER WALSH is a professor of psychiatry, phi-

losophy, and anthropology at the University of
California at Irvine. His publications include The
Spirit of Shamanism, Meditation: Classic and
Contemporary Perspectives, and Paths Beyond
Ego: The Transpersonal Vision.

Summary
Shamanism and especially the psychological health of shamans
remain topics of considerable confusion. This article, therefore,
examines the shamanic training process from a specifically psycho-
logical perspective. Much in this ancient tradition that formerly
appeared arcane, nonsensical, or pathological is found to be under-
standable in psychological terms. The initial shamanic crisis is seen
to be a culture-specific form of developmental crisis rather than
being evidence of severe psychopathology. Commonalities are noted
between certain shamanic training experiences and those of other
religious traditions and various psychotherapies. Psychologically
effective shamanic techniques are distinguished from merely super-
stitious practices and several shamanic techniques are seen to
foreshadow ones now found in contemporary psychotherapies.

Shamanism may be humankind's earliest and longest-lasting heal-

ing, psychotherapeutic, and religious tradition. Archaeological evi-
dence suggests a history extending over tens of thousands ofyears,
and textbooks of both psychiatry and comparative religion regu-

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The author would like to thank the many people who provided
assistance with the preparation of this article, Bonnie L'Allier for her excellent
administrative and secretarial assistance, and Jeremy Tarcher for permission to
use portions of my book The Spirit ofShamanism as a basis for parts of an updated
and academic discussion of shamanic training.

Journal of Humanistic Psychowgy, Vol. 34 No. 3, Summer 1994 7-30

© 1994 Sage Publications, Inc.
7
8 Shamanic Experiences

larly begin with discussions of it. Within recent years, shamanism

has suddenly become a topic of increased professional and popular
interest. This new interest does not mean that shamanism is well
understood. Indeed there is enormous confusion about the topic
and considerable debate about what shamans are and how to
define them.
Indeed, shamans have been regarded as everything from se-
verely psychologically disturbed to virtual saints. Probably the
prevailing mainstream academic view is that shamans are psycho-
logically disturbed or, at best, individuals who have recovered from
a significant disturbance. Among other things, the shaman has
been called "mentally deranged" and "an outright psychotic"
(Devereux, 1961), a "veritable idiot" (Wissler, 1931), and a charla-
tan. Perhaps the most common formal diagnoses have been epi-
lepsy, hysteria, and schizophrenia.
On the other hand, an equally extreme but opposite view has
appeared in the popular literature. Here shamanic practitioners
and the states of mind they induce are being identified with those
of advanced practitioners of Buddhism, yoga, or Christian mysti-
cism (Doore, 1988; Kalweit, 1988).
Unfortunately, these comparisons appear to be based on gross
similarities. When careful comparisons are made, it becomes ap-
parent that shamanic experiences differ significantly from those of
traditional categories of mental illness or from those of practitio-
ners of traditions such as Buddhism or yoga (Noll, 1983; Walsh,
1990).
One of the reasons for the considerable confusion over the
psychological status of shamans is that most research has been
conducted by anthropologists with little psychological or psychiat-
ric training. There is a significant need for more examination of
shamanism by mental health professionals. This article aims to
contribute to this examination by exploring the shamanic selection
and training processes and attempting to n1ake sense of them in
psychological terms.
In doing so, it aims to distinguish between psychologically
effective and merely superstitious techniques. It also contrasts
shamanic techniques and experiences with those of other tradi-
tions such as meditative and yogic traditions.
At the same time, it also points to similarities with other
traditions. Joseph Campbell (1968), among others, has pointed to
similarities in the life stages of a diverse variety ofhealers, heroes,
 Roger Walsh 9

and religious practitioners. This common pattern he has referred

to as "the hero's journey" and the stages of shamans' training (their
selection, discipline, and culminating experiences) are analogous
to those of Campbell's archetypal hero (Campbell, 1968; Walsh,
1990; Wilber, 1983). In any event, this division into selection,
discipline, and culminating experiences will provide a useful se-
quence and framework for considering shamanism. However, first
we need to define it.

Definition
Although no one definition satisfies all researchers, there do
seem to be several key features that distinguish shamanism. For
the purposes of this article, I will define shamanism as a family of
traditions whose practitioners focus on voluntarily entering al-
tered states of consciousness in which they experience themselves
or their spirit(s) traveling to other realms at will and interacting with
other entities to serve their community (Walsh, 1989, 1990).
This definition points to several key features of this tradition
that differentiate it from other religious and healing traditions and
from various psychopathologies with which it has been confused.
The first of these features is the shaman's voluntary induction of
altered states of consciousness, specifically trance states, that are
phenomenologically distinguishable from those of both psychopa-
thology and of other religious practices (Noll, 1983; Walsh, 1990).
The second key feature is that in these states shamans experi-
ence themselves as souls or spirits that leave their bodies and
journey to other worlds or realms. Hence the various names that
have been given to this shamanic technique include soul flight,
spirit journey, and cosmic traveling. This experience bears obvious
similarities to contemporary reports of some out-of-body experi-
ences that can occur either spontaneously, by deliberate induction,
or in lucid dreams and near-death experiences (Irwin, 1985;
LaBerge, 1985; Monroe, 1971; Moody, 1975, 1988; Ring, 1980, 1984,
1993). Shamans use these journeys in order to acquire knowledge
or power and to help people in their community.
Shamans also experience themselves interacting with and con-
trolling "spirits." Whereas many of their fellow tribespeople may
feel they are victims of spirits, only shamans claim to be able to
command, commune, and intercede with them for the benefit ofthe
tribe. The use of the term "spirits" here is not meant to necessarily
10 Shamanic Experiences

imply that there exist separate entities that control or communi-

cate with people. Rather the term is simply being used to describe
the shamans' interpretation of their experience.
The term family of traditions acknowledges that there is some
variability among shamanic practitioners (Siikala, 1985). How-
ever, the definition clearly distinguishes this tradition from other
traditions and practices and from various psychopathologies with
which it has been confused. For example, medicine men may heal
and priests may conduct ceremonies, but they rarely enter altered
states of consciousness (Winkelman, 1989). Mediums usually enter
altered states (Bourguignon, 1973), but often do not journey; some
Taoists, Muslims, and Tibetan Buddhists may journey, but this is not
a major focus of their practice (Baldrian, 1987; Evans-Wentz, 1958;
Siegel & Hirschman, 1984); those who suffer mental illness may
enter altered states and meet "spirits," but they do so involuntarily
as helpless victims rather than voluntary creators oftheir experience.

SELECTION: THE INITIAL CALL AND INITIATION CRISIS

The Initial Call

The hero's journey in general and the shamanic vocation in
particular usually begin with some sort of omen that Campbell
(1968) describes as the "call to adventure," a call that may take
many forms. In shamanism this call occurs most often in adoles-
cence or early adulthood.
These omens may include some striking feature or experience
such as an unusual physical appearance, an illness such as epi-
lepsy, or an unexpected recovery from severe illness. Alternately,
the shaman-to-be may have unusual subjective experiences such
as curious symptoms, feelings, and behaviors that may be so
dramatic that they have been called the shamanic initiation crisis,
which will be discussed shortly.
The call may also come during a dream or vision quest. A vision
quest is a period spent in solitude and fasting devoted to receiving
a guiding vision for one's life. Dreams about spirits may constitute
a shamanic call in the Inuit Eskimo tribes, while in California
tribes it may be dreams about deceased relatives (Krippner, 1987).
The significance of these dreams may require confirmation by
mature shamans who were probably the world's first professional
 Roger Walsh 11

dream interpreters. This selection by dreams occurs in a number

of religious traditions and the Old Testament, for example, pro-
claims "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord
make myselfknown to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream"
(Numbers 12:6).
The call to shamanism may be received with considerable am-
bivalence, and those who receive it may be regarded as "doomed to
inspiration" (Bogoras, 1909). Many of the elect attempt to decline
the invitation at first. However the symptoms, dreams or spirits
may be distressingly persistent and eventually win out. Indeed,
many shamanic traditions, like many hero traditions, hold that
refusal of the call can result in sickness, insanity, or death. One of
the earliest shamanic researchers, Bogoras, claimed that the "re-
jection of the 'spirits' is much more dangerous even than the
acceptance of their call. A young man thwarted in his call to
inspiration will either sicken and shortly die, or else the 'spirits'
will induce him to renounce his home and go far away, where he
may follow his vocation without hindrance" (Bogoras, 1909, p. 419).
Of course, there are some who do reject the call or accept it
reluctantly and then practice their art very little.
In a few tribes, individuals may also select themselves. However,
such people are often regarded as less potent masters than those
whose selection is ordained by outside forces. One notable excep-
tion is the Jivaro tribe of South America. Here, would-be shamans
select themselves, and established practitioners sell them their
knowledge, a practice enthusiastically followed by today's Western
shamans in their weekend workshops.
The Jivaro payment is neither cheap nor benign. It usually
consists of such spiritual necessities as one or two shotguns to-
gether with gunpowder, a blowgun, and a machete (Hamer, 1984).
Elsewhere, shamans may be chosen at birth to carry on a family
tradition. When selection occurs at birth, it may place an enormous
responsibility on the future shaman, the family, and indeed, on the
whole community. The appropriate rituals and taboos must be
followed in minute detail and can be painfully restrictive as, for
example, in the case of an Eskimo shaman whose mother
was put on very strict diet, and had to observe difficult rules oftaboo.
If she had eaten part of a walrus, for instance, then that walrus was
taboo to all others; the same with seal and caribou. She had to have
special pots, from which no one else was allowed to eat. No woman
was allowed to visit her, but men might do so. My clothes were made
12 Shamanic Experiences

after a particular fashion; the hair of the skins must never lie
pointing upwards or down, but fall athwart the body. Thus I lived in
the birth-hut, unconscious of all the care that was being taken with
me. (Rasmussen, 1929, p. 116)
For tribal peoples, these taboos are as essential to life as eating.
1b flout them means offending the spirits and thereby risking
death and disaster. Thus the taboos may be kept for generations
even though, as Rasmussen found, "Everyone knew precisely what
had to be done in any given situation, but whenever I put in my
query: Why?, they could give no answer" (Rasmussen, 1929, p. 54).
One point about the nature of superstitions is important. Al-
though tribal peoples in general and shamans in particular may
start from different assumptions and even employ different cogni-
tive styles, this does not necessarily imply a lack of logic or
rationality (Bock, 1988; Levi-Strauss, 1966). Superstitions may be
inaccurate beliefs about casual relationships that result in unnec-
essary, ineffective behavior. However, these beliefs may be quite
logical from the cultural perspective and worldview. Therefore,
contrary to some claims, apparently superstitious (to our Western
worldview) shamanic beliefs and practices do not necessarily imply
either pathology or irrationality. If one believes in malevolent
spirits, then shamanic rituals designed to appease them may make
perfect sense. It may also seem perfectly logical to assume that an
adolescent who seems bothered by the spirits may have special
connections with them and may, therefore, make an effective
shaman. When this bothering is severe, it erupts into the most
dramatic and mysterious form ofthe shamanic calling: the shamanic
initiation crisis.

The Initiation Crisis

While the call to adventure in dreams and omens can sometimes
be ignored and suppressed, the shamanic initiation crisis certainly
cannot. It explodes through the shaman-elect with life-shattering
force, disintegrating the old equilibrium and identity and demand-
ing birth of the new.
It usually announces itself shortly after adolescence with an
onslaught of unusual psychological experiences. These are said to
sometimes include talents such as heightened sensitivity and
perception. More often the shaman-to-be starts to exhibit unusual,
in fact, even bizarre, dangerous, and life-threatening behavior. The
 Roger Walsh 13

result may be a period of weeks, months, or even years of unpre-

dictable chaos that disrupts the lives of the shaman, the family,
and the tribe.
The onset may be abrupt or gradual. Eliade (1964) notes that
there are
"sicknesses," attacks, dreams, and hallucinations that determine a
shaman's career in a very short time. [On the other hand,] some-
times there is not exactly an illness but rather a progressive change
in behavior. The candidate becomes meditative, seeks solitude,
sleeps a great deal, seems absent-minded, has prophetic dreams and
sometimes seizures. All these symptoms are only the prelude to the
new life that awaits the unwitting candidate. His behavior, we may
add, suggests the first signs of a mystical vocation, which are the
same in all religions and too well known to dwell upon. (p. 35)
In the West such behavior would traditionally be regarded as
evidence of severe psychopathology and treated accordingly, per-
haps even with enforced hospitalization and medication. However,
in shamanic cultures this crisis is interpreted as proof that the
victim is destined to be a shaman and is to be treated accordingly.
Is there some way on integrating these apparently polar per-
spectives: the traditional Western pathologizing interpretation
that has led so many researchers to regard shamans as walking
psychopathologies and the tribal interpretation that sees novices
as b~ing called to a highly skilled, socially valued role as a source
of help and healing? The answer is yes, because the initiation crisis
may be a culturally specific developmental crisis which starts with
a period of psychological distress but ideally ends with a new highly
functioning leader and healer. The logic for this evaluation follows .
Despite many years of attempts to diagnose, label, and dismiss
them, shamans simply do not fit neatly into traditional psychiatric
diagnostic categories (Noll, 1983; Walsh, 1990). In fact, shamans
often end up as some of the most highly functional members of the
community and according to Eliade "show proof of a more than
normal nervous constitution" (Eliade, 1964). They are said to
commonly display remarkable energy and stamina, unusual levels
of concentration, control of altered states of consciousness, high
intelligence, leadership skills, and a grasp of complex data, myths,
and rituals. So the symptoms and behavior of the shamanic initia-
tion crises are unusual and even bizarre by both Western and tribal
standards. Yet shamans not only recover but may function excep-
tionally well as leaders and healers of their people (Eliade, 1964;
14 Shamanic Experiences

Reichel-Dolmataoff, 1987; Rogers, 1982). In short, the shaman "is

not only a sick man," said Eliade, "he is a sick man who has been
cured, who has succeeded in curing himself' (Eliade, 1964, p. 27).
From this perspective, "shamanism is not a disease but being
healed from disease" (Ackerknecht, 1943, p. 46).
1b set the shamanic initiation crisis in a larger context, it is
important to note that shamans are certainly not the only people
observed to be better off after a psychological disturbance than
before it. In ancient Greece, Socrates declared that "our greatest
blessings come to us by way of madness, provided the madness is
given us by divine gift" (Lukoff, 1985, p. 155). The psychiatrist
Menninger observed that "some patients have a mental illness and
then they get weller! I mean they get better than they ever
were . . . . This is an extraordinary and little realized truth"
(Lukoff, 1985, p. 157).
These crises have been given many names each of which illumi-
nates a different aspect of the process. For example, disturbances
with positive growth outcomes have been described as a positive
disintegration, regenerative process, renewal, and creative illness
(Dabrowski, 1964; Ellenberger, 1970; Flach, 1988; Pelleteir &
Garfield, 1976; Perry, 1986).
Some crises are specifically associated with mystical or trans-
personal experiences. These have been described as "mystical
experiences with psychotic features," "divine illness," "spiritual
emergencies," "spiritual emergences," and "transpersonal crises"
(Grof & Grof, 1986, 1989, 1990; Laing, 1972; Lukoff, 1985: Walsh &
Vaughan, 1993).
These transpersonal crises have recently received growing at-
tention from mental health professionals (Assagioli, 1986; Bragdon,
1988; Perry, 1986; Lukoff, 1985; Grof & Grof, 1986, 1989, 1990;
Wilber, Engler, & Brown, 1986). They appear to arise either spon-
taneously as in shamans or as the result of contemplative prac-
tices. Various symptomatic patterns or syndromes of this crisis
have been described, and one of these resembles classic shamanic
experiences so closely that it has been specifically described as the
shamanic type (Grof & Grof, 1986, 1989). The fact that similar
crises can erupt among contemporary Westerners surrounded by
cars and computers and among tribal shamans in tents and tepees
suggests that some archetypal process may be involved. Transper-
sonal crises may, therefore, be newly recognized forms of perennial
developmental crises of which one of the earliest may have been
 Roger Walsh 15

the shamanic initiation crisis. This developmental perspective

acknowledges both the pain and the potential development inher-
ent in these crises and thereby offers an alternative, less patholo-
gizing, more hopeful, and hopefully more accurate interpretation
ofthe shamanic crisis than has the traditional purely pathologizing
interpretation.

TRAINING AND DISCIPLINE

The greatest of all wonders is not the conqueror of the world

butthesubduerofhilnself.
-Will Durant (1938, p. 360)
When the initial call has been answered, then the period of
training and discipline begins. This is a period in which the mind
is trained, the body toughened, cravings are reduced, fears faced,
and strengths, such as endurance and concentration, are culti-
vated. This is usually a slow and lengthy process where success
may be measured in months and years, and patience is not only a
virtue but a necessity. The process was pithily summarized by the
Taoist sage Chuang Tzu:
First gain control of the body
and all its organs. Then
control the mind. Attain
one-pointedness. Then
the harmony of heaven
will come down and dwell in you.
You will be radiant with Life.
You will rest in Tao.
-Merton, (1969, p. 121)
The shaman's instruction comes from both inner and outer
worlds. In the outer world, it consists of apprenticeship to a master
shaman. From the teacher, the apprentice learns both theory and
practice: the myths and cosmology, rituals, and techniques of the
shamanic culture. These provide the means by which the appren-
tice shaman's experiences are cultivated, interpreted, and made
meaningful within the tribal and shamanic traditions.
In the inner world, the apprentice learns to cultivate and inter-
pret dreams, fantasies, visions, and spirits. Ideally, both inner and
outer worlds align to mold the novice into a mature shaman who
16 Shamanic Experiences

can mediate effectively between these worlds, between the sacred

and profane, the spiritual and mundane.
The length of apprenticeship may vary from as little as a few
days to as long as months or years. Much must be learned. On the
theoretical side, the apprentice must become a mythologist and
cosmologist. 1b become an effective "cosmic traveler" and journey
to other "worlds," the shaman must learn the terrain of this
multilayered, interconnected universe in which he or she will quest
for power and knowledge. The shaman must also become familiar
with its spiritual inhabitants-their names, habitats, powers, likes
and dislikes, how they can be called, and how they can be con-
trolled. It is these spirits whom the shaman will battle or befriend,
who will help or hinder the shaman's work. It is they who represent
and embody the power at work in the cosmos, and it is the shaman's
relationship with them that will determine her or his success. So
the ontology and cosmology the would-be shaman learns is no dry
mapping of inanimate worlds but a guide to a living, conscious
universe (Walsh, 1991). In philosophical terms, this worldview
corresponds to the doctrines ofhylozoism and animism.

Myths
Much of this cosmic terrain and the guidelines for relating to it
are contained in the culture's myth. Indeed, throughout most of
human history myths have provided the major cultural guidelines
for the conduct of life. It is only in our own time that major cultures
have lacked a common, coherent myth-a grand, unifying picture,
story, and explanation of the cosmos. Indeed as Carl Jung (1961),
Edward Edinger (1984), and Joseph Campbell (1986) among others
have pointed out, this lack of a common myth may be a major factor
in the fragmentation and alienation that haunts so much of the
contemporary world and much may depend on our ability to create
a new myth appropriate to our time and needs.
Joseph Campbell (1986) suggests that myths serve four major
functions: developmental, social, cosmological, and religious. Their
developmental function is to provide guidelines for individuals as
they mature through life's stages. Their social function is to sup-
port the social structure and provide a shared understanding of life
and relationship. Their cosmological and religious roles are to
provide an image and understanding of the cosmos and of human-
kind's role and responsibility in it.
 Roger Walsh 17

Myths serve the shaman in all four ways. This is not surprising
because many myths may have originated in shamanic journeys
and reflect the terrain discovered there (Eliade, 1964). They guide
the shaman's development, provide a place in society and cosmos,
and indicate how he or she is to relate to them. In addition, myths
provide the belief system that the shaman and his or her patients
will share. This may be crucial since contemporary research sug-
gests that a shared belief system, what Jerome Frank calls a
healing myth, may be a vital part of an effective therapeutic
relationship (Frank, 1985).
In addition to learning myths, the would-be shaman must learn
diagnostic and healing practices, master the arts of entering al-
tered states, and of journeying and acquiring helping spirits.

Inner Teachers
These helping spirits constitute the shaman's inner teachers.
They may appear in dreams, daydreams, images, journeys, or
visions. Consequently, much of the training concerns learning how
to cultivate the circumstances and states of consciousness that will
coax them to reveal themselves and their messages (Eliade, 1964;
Walsh, 1990).
Similar encounters with inner guides occur in other religious
traditions and in a variety of psychotherapies. Religious examples
include the Hindu's "ishtadeva," the Quaker's "still small voice
within," the N askapi Indian's "great man," and the Tibetan Bud-
dhist's deity figure. In Western psychotherapies, such inner guides
may be encountered as animal imagery (Gallegos, 1987), the higher
self of psychosynthesis (Ferruci, 1982), the inner self helper of
multiple personality patients (Richards, 1990), the sage figure of
Jungian active imagination, or the spirit guides that can appear
spontaneously in psychedelic therapy and which, according to Grof
(1988, p. 121), can be "most valuable and rewarding phenomena."

Asceticism
Perhaps the most dramatic practices are those of asceticism and
isolation. Traditionally, ascetic practices are said to strengthen and
purify. They may strengthen warrior qualities such as will, cour-
age, and endurance, remove both physical and mental impurities,
18 Shamanic Experiences

and foster clarity and concentration of mind (Blacker, 1986). The

sum total of these benefits is power. This is power of body, mind,
and spirit. It is power to control one's faculties and responses,
power to overcome temptations and obstacles, power to serve and
benefit others, and for shamans, power over spirits.
Like any discipline asceticism has its traps. Feelings of right-
eousness are possible as is puritanical denial of the beauty and joy
of life (Vaughan, 1986). Another trap is extremism because asceti-
cism can be carried to dubious and dangerous extremes, even to
the point of self-torture, mutilation, and death. But assuming that
ascetic practices can also confer benefits, the logical question is
how do they do this?
Several possible mechanisms exist. Those who succeed in meet-
ing challenges have been found to enhance their sense of self-
esteem and effectiveness (Bandura, 1986). Thus the ascetic who
masters extreme challenges might well be expected to develop an
exceptional sense of personal power.
Holding fast to their goals despite the pull of conflicting desires
and fears means that ascetics give little reinforcement to these
motives. Unreinforced motives tend to diminish and even extin-
guish, and this weakening of conflicting drives, which is a goal of
many religious practices, is traditionally called purification. In
contemporary psychological terms, this might be regarded as
movement up Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Walsh & Shapiro,
1983). Some traditions (yoga, Vedanta and Buddhism) claim that
in the higher reaches of spiritual mastery, competing desires can
become so stilled that the mind rests in peace free of all conflict.
This claim has recently received support from studies of advanced
Buddhist meditators whose unique and remarkable Rorschach test
patterns showed "no evidence of sexual or aggressive drive con-
flicts" (Brown & Engler, 1986, p. 214). While there is little evidence
that shamans strive for this remarkable effect, they may certainly
confront and overcome diverse fears and desires, thus attaining
unusual degrees of concentration and power.
Assuaging guilt may also play a role in the effectiveness of
asceticism. If practitioners believe they are sinful and must pay for
their sins, then asceticism may seem a logical way to do so.
Ascetic practices occur in varying degrees in different parts of
the world. Almost absent in some places, they reach extreme forms
in parts of India and Japan. For centuries Japanese ascetics have
 Roger Walsh 19

undertaken practices of almost incomprehensible life-threatening

proportions, and some practices persist even today. The three
major types include dietary restriction, cold, and solitude (Blacker,
1986).
In its mildest form, dietary restriction involves simply avoiding
things such as meat, salt, or cooked foods that are believed to
inhibit the acquisition of power. In its most extreme form, it
involves rigid fasting, sometimes almost to the point of death. Such
a practice was obviously not for the faint of heart.
A second major austerity is exposure to cold. Common in both
Arctic areas and Japan, this technique is considered very effective
in developing power. Once again, the severity of the practices can
reach almost incomprehensible extremes.
"'lb stand under a waterfall, preferably between the hours of two
and three in the morning and preferably during the period of the
great cold in midwinter, is believed to be an infallible method of
gaining power" (Blacker, 1986, p. 91). Indeed, one female ascetic
reported that such a practice "no longer felt in the least cold to her.
It rather promoted an unrivalled concentration of mind .. . which
formed the very basis of her ascetic power" (Blacker, 1986, p. 92).

Solitude
The third major ascetic practice, periods of solitary withdrawal
from society, is common to diverse religious traditions. Such peri-
ods mark the lives of many great saints and religious founders.
Witness Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, Buddha's
solitary meditation, and Mohammed's isolation in a cave. Such
practices have been a part of the training of Eskimo shamans, the
Christian Desert Fathers, Hindu yogis, and Tibetan monks who
may be walled away in caves for up to 13 years.
The reason for seeking solitude is essentially to allow attention
to be redirected inward away from the distractions of the world.
Concentration is said to be cultivated, sensitivity to one's inner
world deepened, the mind quietened, and the clamor of competing
desires stilled.
"Know thyself" is the motto of these practices. However, the
demands and distractions of society usually hinder profound inner
searching and self-knowledge. Consequently, periodic withdrawal
20 Shamanic Experiences

and solitude may be essential, as Wordsworth (1807) explained so

poetically:
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Shamans were the first to appreciate the far-reaching benefits

of solitude for psychological and contemplative development. They
were the first to learn from direct experience that, to use their own
words, "the power of solitude is great and beyond understanding"
(Rasmussen, 1929, p. 114).
The numerous trials faced by those willing to confront isolation
and themselves in this way have been the subject of countless
biographies. The Eskimo shaman Aua, whose parents' rituals and
taboos were outlined earlier, described his period of solitude as
follows:
Then I sought solitude, and here I soon became very melancholy. I
would sometimes fall to weeping, and feel unhappy without knowing
why. Then, for no reason, all would suddenly be changed, and I felt
a great, inexplicable joy, a joy so powerful that I could not restrain
it, but had to break into song, a mighty song, with only room for the
one word: joy, joy! And I had to use the full strength of my voice. And
then in the midst of such a fit of mysterious and overwhelming
delight I became a shaman, not knowing myself how it came about.
But I was a shaman. I could see and hear in a totally different way.
(Rasmussen, 1929, p. 118-119)

Note the extreme emotional !ability and lack of control. These

are common initial reactions to solitude and can be surprisingly
powerful (Goldstein, 1983; Kornfield, 1979). After my own first
retreat, I wrote of experiencing "sudden apparently unprecipitated
wide mood swings to completely polar emotions. Shorn of all my
props and distractions there was just no way to pretend that I had
more than the faintest inkling of self-control over either thoughts
or feelings" (Walsh, 1977, p . 161; Shapiro & Walsh, 1984).
Those who face themselves in solitude soon come to appreciate
just how restless and out of control the untrained mind is. They
soon come to understand claims such as Sigmund Freud's that
"man is not even master in his own house . . . in his own mind"
(Freud, 1917, p. 252) and why "all scriptures without any exception
proclaim that for attaining salvation mind should be subdued"
(Ramana Maharshi, 1955).
 Roger Walsh 21

Solitude and fasting are traditional ways of subduing the mind,

and shamans may have been the first humans to use them to
enhance access to the inner world and its images, visions, dreams,
and spirits. For the successful candidate, these climax in certain
culmination experiences that indicate that a degree of shamanic
mastery has been attained. 'l\vo of the most frequent shamanic
culmination experiences are those of being immersed in light and
of death-rebirth.

THE CULMINATION OF THE

QUEST: LIGHT, DEATH AND REBIRTH

Some experiences are unique to certain paths while others occur

widely across different traditions. 'l\vo such widely occurring expe-
riences are those of light and of death-rebirth. These are often
regarded as major milestones, and in shamanism may be regarded
as signs that the quest is complete.

Light
It is no accident that one of the terms most oft.e n used to describe
the goal of the spiritual quest is enlightenment. The word has both
literal and metaphorical meanings. Metaphorically it refers to a
dramatic sense of insight and understanding; literally it refers to
an experience of being filled, illuminated, or suffused with light.
In the West the best known example is probably St. Paul, who was
said to be blinded by the brilliance of his vision. Likewise, the
church father St. Augustine "beheld with the mysterious eye of my
soul the Light that never changes" (Underhill, 1974, p. 250). The
famous mystic shoemaker Jacob Boehme, while wrestling with his
"corrupted nature," discovered that "a wonderful light arose within
my soul. It was a light entirely foreign to my unruly nature, but in
it I recognized the true nature of God and man" (Metzner, 1986,
p. 83). Indeed, as Eliade noted, "Clearly, the 'inner light' that
suddenly bursts forth after long efforts of concentration and medi-
tation is well known in all religious traditions" (Eliade, 1964, p.
420).
Such experiences can also occur spontaneously. One survey
suggests that as many as 5% of the American population may have
22 Shamanic Experiences

had them, and these people scored exceptionally well on the Affect
Balance Scale of psychological health (Greeley, 1988).
Of course this is not to say that inner light experiences are all
the same. They are not. Nor is it to say that all religious traditions
evaluate them in the same way. They do not. Some traditions
regard them as indications of progress; others, as seductive side-
tracks to be noted and carefully passed by (Goldstein, 1983). Yet
for still others, such as the Iglulik Eskimo shamans, they are
regarded as essential and ecstatic.
For example, the lglulik Eskimo Aua, whose career we have
been following, finally experiences his quamenEq (shamanic en-
lightenment) alone in the wilderness. He had first trained in the
company of his teachers, but his quest remained incomplete. He,
therefore, set out into the Arctic wilds to seek in solitude what had
eluded him in society. There he was seized by wild mood swings,
experiencing unprecedented fits of melancholy and joy.
And then in the midst of such a fit of mysterious and overwhelming
delight I became a shaman, not knowing myself how it came about.
But I was a shaman. I could see and hear in a totally different way.
I had gained my quamenEq, my enlightenment, the shaman-light
of brain and body, and this in such a manner that it was not only I
who could see through the darkness of life, but the same light also
shone out from me, imperceptible to human beings, but visible to all
the spirits of earth and sky and sea, and these now came to me and
became my helping spirits. (Rasmussen, 1929, p. 119)
Thus Aua finally experienced the inner light and vision that
signified the end of his quest. This is the so-called spirit vision
(Eliade, 1964) that would enable him to "see" the cause and cure
of his people's ills. For these people believed, quite literally, that
"without vision the people perish," and shamans were the ones who
took upon themselves the task of providing this vision.

Death and Rebirth

"It is only in the face of death that man's self is born," claimed
St. Augustine (Yalom, 1980, p. 30). The extraordinary transforma-
tive power of a confrontation with death has been noted by both
ancient religions and modern psychologies. "A confrontation with
one's personal death .. . has the power to provide a massive shift
in the way one lives in the world .... Death acts as a catalyst that
 Roger Walsh 23

can move one from one stage of being to a higher one (Yalom, 1980,
p . 30).
In many cultures and religions, members must be willing to
confront not only physical death but also ego death. This is the
death of an old identity no longer appropriate to one's current
stage of development. The old self sense must die, and out of its
ashes must arise a new identity appropriate to one's developmental
goal.
This experience of death and rebirth is a motif that echoes
through the world's religions, cultures, and myths (Metzner, 1986).
In diverse aboriginal cultures, the so-called rites of passage are
death-rebirth rituals acted out at times of important life transi-
tions. For example, in puberty rites the childhood identities "die,"
and boys and girls are reborn and recognized as adults. The
Christian who undergoes a deep conversion may have a sense of
dying to the old bodily self and being "born again" in the spirit or
in Christ. "Unless ye be born again . .." is a common warning in
religious traditions.
Shamans have heeded these warnings, and death-rebirth expe-
riences are widely regarded as essential for shamanic mastery.
These experiences may occur either spontaneously or as a result
of willed imagination and may be interpreted metaphorically or
literally. Shamans may interpret their death-rebirth experiences
quite literally as actual physical events in which their bodies are
first dismembered by the spirits and then constructed anew. Thus
shamans may believe that they are cut up by demons or by their
ancestral spirits:
Their bones are cleaned, the flesh scraped off, the body fluids thrown
away, and their eyes tom from their sockets.. .. His bones are then
covered with new flesh and in some cases he is also given new blood.
(Eliade, 1964, pp. 36-37)
The belief is that the practitioner has now been given a new
stronger body fit for the rigors of shamanic work.
This dismemberment experience is similar to that of the Tibetan
tantric practice ofgChod. Here practitioners cultivate detachment
and compassion by visualizing their bodies being dismembered and
offered to wrathful deities and hungry demons to eat (Evans-
Wentz, 1958). However, a major difference is that for the tantric
these experiences are recognized as voluntary visualizations, for
the shaman they are experienced as involuntary trials.
24 Shamanic Experiences

Similar experiences of dismemberment and reconstruction,

death and rebirth, have also been observed among contemporary
Westerners undergoing intensive psychotherapy or meditation
practice. They occur most dramatically in either holotropic or LSD
assisted therapy sessions. The term holotropic means moving
toward's wholeness or aiming for totality. Holotropic therapy is a
technique devised by Stanislav and Christina Grofwhich combines
hyperventilation, music, and bodywork. This combination may be
one of the most powerful nondrug means of inducing altered states
of consciousness (Grof, 1988; Tamas, 1989).
Studies of holotropic and LSD sessions have provided the most
dramatic, detailed, and precise accounts we have of these fascinat-
ing and mysterious death-rebirth experiences (Grof, 1980, 1988).
It will, therefore, be valuable to examine these accounts in some
detail to fill out and understand the information available to us
from shamanic traditions.
The LSD or holotropically intensified death-rebirth is an expe-
rience of remarkable intensity that shakes those who experience
it to their psychological and spiritual core (Tamas, 1989). Grof
(1980) describes it as follows:
Physical and emotional agony culminates in a feeling of utter and
total annihilation on all imaginable levels. It involves an abysmal
sense of physical destruction, emotional catastrophe, intellectual
defeat, ultimate moral failure, and absolute damnation of transcen-
dental proportions. This experience is usually described as "ego
death"; it seems to entail instantaneous and merciless destruction
of all the previous reference points in the life of the individual.
After the subject has experienced the limits of total annihilation
and "hit the cosmic bottom," he or she is struck by visions ofblinding
white or golden light. The claustrophobic and compressed world ...
suddenly opens up and expands into infinity. The general atmos-
phere is one of liberation, salvation, redemption, love, and forgive-
ness. The subject feels unburdened, cleansed and purged, and talks
about having disposed of an incredible amount of personal "gar-
bage," guilt, aggression, and anxiety. This is typically associated
with brotherly feelings for all fellowmen and appreciation of warm
human relationships, friendship and love. (p. 85)
The process of death and rebirth has been repeated numberless
times throughout human history, but its interpretations have
varied dramatically. A contemporary LSD subject might view it as
the disintegration and reconstitution of the self-image or self-
concept. Contemplatives might view it as a spiritual death and
resurrection. Shamans, however, have traditionally taken it to be
 Roger Walsh 25

a literal destruction and reconstitution of their physical bodies. For

them, the images of bodily dismemberment are interpreted quite
literally.
What are we to make of this recurrent experience of agonizing
death, dismemberment, and destruction followed by a healing
process of relief, reconstitution, and rebirth? Clearly, this is a
powerful, perennial experience that has been sought by many and
has burst unsought on others. It appears to represent some deep,
perhaps archetypal process of the human psyche-a process with
considerable healing potential. The following hypothesis is an
attempt to understand this process in psychological terms.
The experience of death and rebirth, dismemberment and recon-
stitution, appears to be a psychological transformative process
most likely to occur at times of overwhelming emotional arousal
and stress. This arousal activates psychological tensions and con-
flicts to unsustainable levels. The result is a crisis in which old
patterning forces are no longer able to maintain the former psy-
chological balance. The old psychodynamic forces, conflicts, habits,
conditioning, organization, beliefs, and identity are overwhelmed
and the psyche's organization temporarily collapses. The key result
of this collapse, says Grof, is that "what is destroyed in this process
is the old, limiting concept of oneself and the corresponding re-
stricting view of existence and of the universe" (Grof, 1980, p. 170).
This destabilizing process is projected, pictured, and experi-
enced in the form of images. These are so-called autosymbolic
images-images which symbolize one's own psychological state.
Thus this initial phase of unbearable psychological tension and
breakdown may be experienced symbolically by both shamans and
patients as visions of physical torture, bodily dismemberment,
death, and decay or as scenes of war and destruction (Grof, 1980,
1988).
Reorganization and reconstruction occur out of this newly de-
structured chaos. This reorganization can occur in a mind now
partly freed of old limiting and distorting habits. Reorganization
may be guided by the drive toward wholeness (holotropism) that
some psychologists, contemplatives, and philosophers have de-
scribed as an inherent part of the psyche (Wilber, 1980). The result
may be a reconstructed psyche, identity, and consciousness which
are less conflicted, less symptomatic, less bound to the past and
more healthy, integrated, and whole. The old identity has died and
a new one has been born. This reconstruction, reintegration, and
26 Shamanic Experiences

wholeness is also reflected in the accompanying imagery. Thus the

shaman may see the spirits reconstructing the body, the therapy
patient may witness images of birth, or the contemplative may
experience himself as being "reborn in the spirit."
Such a process involving major destruction of old conditioned
patterns and self-images and reconstitution at a more effective,
integrated level might account for the dramatic benefits that can
sometimes follow death-rebirth experiences. These benefits may
include resolution of the disabling initiation illness in shamans,
relief of chronic psychopathology in patients, and reduced egoism
and attachments in spiritual practitioners. Just how dramatic
these benefits can be is evident from both ancient and contempo-
rary accounts. Grof concludes that:
Powerful experiential sequences of dying and being born can result
in dramatic alleviation ofa variety ofemotional, psychosomatic, and
interpersonal problems that have previously resisted all psycho-
therapeutic work." (Grof, 1988, p. 234)
Some 2,000 years ago, the potential ofthis process was described
in a metaphor that has echoed across centuries: "A grain of wheat
remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies;
but if it dies, it brings a rich harvest" (John. 12:23-24). The
experience of death-rebirth can evidently bring a rich harvest and,
as with a number of other psychological processes, it seems that
shamans were the first to recognize and harvest it.

CONCLUSION

Clearly, much in shamanism that formerly seemed arcane and

nonsensical can now be understood in psychological terms. Sha-
manism appears to represent a distinct medical, psychotherapeu-
tic, and religious tradition that employs, along with considerable
superstition, a variety of psychologically effective strategies. Con-
trary to decades of opinion, shamans do not necessarily suffer from
significant psychopathology. Rather they can now be recognized as
individuals who have faced and usually triumphed over psycho-
logical challenges and developmental crises, some ofwhich are now
being recognized and researched in the West. While there may well
be some charlatans and psychologically disturbed individuals
among them, others appear to function at exceptionally high levels.
 Roger Walsh 27

Some ofthe techniques they have discovered and instituted appear

to be forerunners of later contemplative and psychotherapeutic
techniques. For millennia shamans have stood as symbols of hope
and healing for their people, and much may remain to be learned
from sympathetic psychological research of this, our most ancient
religious, healing and psychotherapeutic tradition.

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Reprint requests: Roger Walsh, Department of Psychiatry, University of California,

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