As a rule, a person is free to choose his own profession. However, there is an occupation in the world that is not chosen. This profession itself appoints those who will be engaged in it, and such people have no way back. What does it mean to be a shaman - to receive a gift or a curse from fate?
Call of the ancestors
The representatives of the indigenous peoples of Siberia are well aware: if a young man, whose ancestors have shamans, has a "shamanic disease", it is useless to be cured of it. It is necessary either to accept the restructuring of the body and consciousness on the way to shamanic practices, or to prepare for madness or even death, because once having heard the "shamanic call" the soul will not be able to return half way and remain the same.
How does this serious illness manifest itself? Consciousness is the first to be hit. Obviously, the shamanic gift does not fall from the sky in the blink of an eye. In order to be able to communicate with spirits, heal people and conjure the elements of nature, you need to go through a spiritual transformation, which is accompanied by sudden bouts of sleepiness, nightmares, auditory and visual hallucinations. Psychologically, a person subject to the "shamanic disease" seems to be rejected from society, unconsciously severing all ties with it. Therefore, attempts to influence the disease with the help of psychiatry are not only not useful, but even harmful: the psychiatrist will try to return consciousness to normal, to attach a person back to society, depriving him of the opportunity to reveal his magical abilities.
In addition, the future shaman undergoes a complete restructuring of the body. The body reacts to these changes with very specific physical manifestations: pressure drops, stomach upsets, sharp pains in different parts of the body, fever and chills. Interestingly, these sudden "ailments" disappear and appear for no reason. It makes no sense to go to a doctor at such moments - traditional medicine will not help here: it simply will not find any diseases in the patient.
It is traditionally believed that the longer and more dangerous a future shaman suffers from a "professional ailment", the more powerful specialist he will eventually become. The essence of the disease is that the shaman, being reborn, gains access to the world of spirits and the opportunity to interact with them. And after the initiation and with the beginning of shamanic practice, the process of restructuring the body is completed and the disease stops, as a rule, forever.
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Rite of passage - "shaman opens"
Since the well-known proverb says that a beginner is “greeted by his clothes,” the main thing for a beginning shaman is to prepare ritual clothes and a tambourine. Since ancient times, ceremonial "overalls" have been obligatory for the shaman, it gave him a full opportunity to communicate with spirits and wander in other worlds. Most often, the shaman's costume imitates the image of an animal or bird, the most revered by the tribe. Among the Yakuts, for example, shamanic vestments resemble the plumage of birds: a cloak or caftan is trimmed with a fringe of leather straps, the sleeves are embroidered with iron plates, conventionally denoting flight feathers. With this outfit, the shaman can "fly" wherever he pleases.
An even more important piece of equipment for a shaman is his tambourine. This is not only a musical instrument necessary for conjuring spirits, but also a wonderful creature on which the shaman travels to other worlds, while the mallet is considered a whip or whip with which the tambourine can be controlled. To initiate a beginner, a tambourine must be made and "revived" by an experienced shaman. During the ceremony, he asks the spirits to recognize the convert and obey him in his spells, and then turns the tambourine into a powerful "horse" that can deliver the convert to any world and "tame" him, as a real animal is tamed.
After this comes the time of the "dissection" ritual: a sacrifice to the spirits of the old human body instead of a new one, with supernatural abilities and the ability to influence the forces of nature. At this time, the future shaman moves away from people to a forest dwelling, flows into
insensitive state and sees what is happening to him as a prolonged hallucination. According to the testimony of shamans, at this time he feels how the spirits are tearing him apart, his head is placed on a stake so that he can see what is happening. The beliefs of the peoples of Siberia say that the initiate must give a piece of his flesh to the spirits that bring various diseases, in order to become one with them and to be able to drive them away from the sick person. The "dissection" usually lasts several days, after which the time of the "professional dedication" itself comes. For this, an experienced shaman is called, who must be magically stronger than the initiate.
The ceremony is held either on the top of a mountain or in a large open space - a clearing or meadow. On the right hand of the initiate, nine innocent young men are placed, on the left - nine "pure" girls, the novice stands in front, and an experienced shaman stands behind him. He casts the necessary spells, which are repeated by the beginner and the youth "support group". The spells contain requests to the patron spirit to fulfill the requests of the new shaman, for which he will serve his spirit and make sacrifices to him. Also, spells affect the "medical aspect" of shamanic practice: during the ceremony, evil spirits are listed, diseases that they can bring and ways to negotiate with them in order to heal people. Then a domestic animal is sacrificed, some of its meat is presented to the spirits, the rest goes to a festive feast on the occasion of the ritual that was successfully performed.
The ghost worlds of the shaman
The shaman who has passed the initiation acquires the so-called guided imagination. His physical body dwells in ordinary conditions of the real world, while the soul freely moves along the entire "tree of being" - from the upper world of the gods through the middle world of people to the lower world of evil spirits and the afterlife kingdom, as well as to thousands of other, parallel worlds …
In order to enter into a trance and go on such a "journey", shamans use various means and techniques. Almost all of them use hallucinogens and other natural substances in their rituals, which, according to them, facilitate the transition of the spirit to other spaces. Unfortunately, it is because of the use of such substances that many shamans die of liver disease. Most often, dance is used to immerse oneself in the world of spirits, each movement in which is part of a conversation with various entities invisible to an ordinary person. The rhythmic beats of a tambourine and the ringing of shamanic bells play a role in ritual shaman dances. There are eight basic rhythms of the tambourine, each used for a specific purpose: for example, the rhythm of the snake is for the accumulation of internal forces, the rhythm of the bull is for protection, the rhythm of the tiger is for transmitting power to another person.
But the most powerful is the shaman, who enters into a trance with the power of thought alone, without using any "doping". Although the shaman resorts to additional means to enter the world of spirits or copes on his own, in the process of ritual ritual he loses almost all his strength. It even happens that he does not return from his magical journey at all and dies in the course of the ritual. Therefore, there is a prohibition to ask a shaman for services for minor reasons, in other words, the reason for contacting him must necessarily be serious, when no one else can help.
Help from otherworldly forces
The most serious reason for helping a shaman, of course, is illness. Any ailment in the shamanic practice of treatment is considered primarily as a disease of the spirit, a violation of its relationship with the energy of the Universe. Thus, before treating the disease itself, the shaman eliminates the patient's energy leakage, restores his interaction with the forces of nature. The second stage is to activate the person being healed, directing his body, mind and spirit to participate in the treatment. And only then the shaman can begin a journey into the world of spirits in order to find there the evil forces that sent the disease, and by force or reason convince them to leave the patient alone.
Modern medical scientists argue that treatment with the help of shamanic practices is at least a harmless process, and sometimes it is the only way to heal a patient. Neuropsychologist Roger Walsh in his article "Shamanic Techniques" writes: "Such aspects of shamanic healing as patient selection, placebo effect, the use of psychotherapeutic techniques and hypnosis, the harmlessness of shamanic interventions allow us to hope for positive results … Shamanic treatment, being primarily a spiritual procedure, - a soft and really safe process."
In addition to treatment, shamans also carry out other interactions with the spirit world. They are contacted when the weather needs to be changed to a more favorable one. When it is necessary to know the future, they also go to the shaman. Usually, this is not a simple forecast for a certain period of time, but a prediction of the most successful period for carrying out important affairs. The help of a shaman in communicating with the spirits of ancestors is indispensable, when you need to consult with them or show them respect and honor. If luck has turned away, nothing goes well, and there is an important event in life ahead, and luck is needed - the shaman will help in this. In a word, you just need to believe that from the journey into the world of spirits the shaman will deliver what is needed - and a miracle will happen.
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Ekaterina Kravtsova