Shamanism--The Beginnings
Apr. 26th, 2018 01:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stSo, around 11:00 AM yesterday, April 25, 2018, I had this weird feeling that the world had gone through some subtle awareness shift. Anyone who spends a bit of time in the New Age circles of Wiccans or Pagans or soothsayers or Shamans will know that many of them are expecting "the Shift," in much the same way that many Christians expect "the Rapture." I have never counted myself among that number. And I'm not completely sure I count myself in it now, despite finally having some "Shift" feelings, myself. I could have just had a bad tuna sandwich or something. ;->
And this led me to think about how I became a Shaman when I am essentially a scientifically-minded person.
I like proofs and theories. I like to see the science behind conclusions. "How did you come up with that ridiculous notion?" I often ask others. LOL
So, let me explain why I am a Shaman. It is a little complicated, I suppose. First, I believe it was because of Sheba, our cat. My parents were not mature people and didn't know how to care for a child properly. They were neglectful and self-involved, mentally ill and alcoholic. I learned at a very early age to ask "How did you come up with THAT ridiculous notion?" of them.
Sheba was a cat, but also a responsible adult. She loved me, in that no nonsense way that responsible adults love children. She tried to teach me all the things I might need to know. When I wandered into the woods, she trotted after me. She showed me stuff, like mice and beetles and how to hunt rabbits. She brought me live baby birds and rabbits to eat (I did not eat them, I saved them from her). She tucked me in at night and comforted me when I had bad dreams or felt scared. She was calm and sure of herself. So, I naturally respected her.
Sheba encouraged me, from a very early age, to pay attention to the natural world and to respect other life forms, beings radically different from myself.
Second, there was my curious nature at school. When a teacher told me something, I would ask them more about the ideas. "How did you come up with this?" I would ask. And I wondered what other conclusions we might extrapolate from information we had. Too many teachers told me that what they taught was just "common knowledge" or I "didn't need to know the reasons, just remember the facts." But I would think, "Here's another person who doesn't know." And off I would go to the library to find out.
Sometimes, like with the Theory of Relativity, even the library would fail me. It took years to get to the answers I wanted, mostly because it was only recently that scientists found some proof and context for the theory.
So, one day, in about third grade, I learned that everything I saw was made of atoms. And sub-atomically there was a lot of space and energy in solid things like tables and trees. This made me think about God being everywhere. They had told me this in Church, but hadn't really been able to explain "What makes you believe THAT?"
Shamanism teaches that God is everywhere, in all things. That's the heart of "animism." Everything has a spirit or soul. And, of course, science teaches that everything is made up of energy and matter, attraction and repelling. Things. Spirits. Positive. Negative. And all of it is connected, via Quantum Physics.
"How exactly do you feel God did these things?" I would ask religious leaders. "How does it actually all work?" And they would say..."It was a miracle." Which was generally the same thing as saying "Just accept that these facts are true." That's faith.
And there is a bit of faith in Shamanism as well. I have faith that the connections in all things, the subatomic energy, is aware of the universe. That all of existence is not some great coincidence. One New Age guru suggested that it all happened at once, like the Big Bang. The universe and a greater awareness of it can into being at the same time.
I don't know though, because it would take a series of astronomically absurd coincidences to create a universe, with a consciousness and people like ourselves who are aware of it. If it is all just random...why would we THEN invent a God figure? Because the atheists are right about one thing...without the God figure many of our issues could be solved as humans.
If this is all that there is and we have evolved to this point by chance...it is in our best interest, as a survival-oriented species, to take care of our health, our world, one another and to really treasure the short span of our lives. We would enjoy our lives a lot more by accepting reality as it is, but more than that, I am not sure we would imagine a different reality COULD exist.
So very many of us are maladapted...angry about being here...in separation. We cry out for connections that, by all rights, we could easily cultivate. Why would we randomly evolve such a feature of discontent? What possible use was it to so many of us to believe in God directing us or wanting us to be different? Think of the people who have sacrificed their lives in service to the unseen God or gods. That goes directly against all survival instincts, which are clearly evolved.
Maybe we believe, simply because there is something to believe in. Maybe we COME from a place of connection and wholeness. Connection is a subatomic reality in the universe. Part of us knows THIS HUMAN state of separation, of being distinct entities, of personal awareness is unnatural. But that would mean...there is a greater awareness in the universe that we are part of and so we have to come up with an explanation for our feeling separate from it. Why are we even here?
It certainly feels like punishment...unnatural...corrupt. But maybe it is because we can only be individuals here...in this illusion of separate things...like tables and trees. Here we can be us. Here we can be separate beings, dreaming of God.
Tags:Show tag navigation shamanism
And this led me to think about how I became a Shaman when I am essentially a scientifically-minded person.
I like proofs and theories. I like to see the science behind conclusions. "How did you come up with that ridiculous notion?" I often ask others. LOL
So, let me explain why I am a Shaman. It is a little complicated, I suppose. First, I believe it was because of Sheba, our cat. My parents were not mature people and didn't know how to care for a child properly. They were neglectful and self-involved, mentally ill and alcoholic. I learned at a very early age to ask "How did you come up with THAT ridiculous notion?" of them.
Sheba was a cat, but also a responsible adult. She loved me, in that no nonsense way that responsible adults love children. She tried to teach me all the things I might need to know. When I wandered into the woods, she trotted after me. She showed me stuff, like mice and beetles and how to hunt rabbits. She brought me live baby birds and rabbits to eat (I did not eat them, I saved them from her). She tucked me in at night and comforted me when I had bad dreams or felt scared. She was calm and sure of herself. So, I naturally respected her.
Sheba encouraged me, from a very early age, to pay attention to the natural world and to respect other life forms, beings radically different from myself.
Second, there was my curious nature at school. When a teacher told me something, I would ask them more about the ideas. "How did you come up with this?" I would ask. And I wondered what other conclusions we might extrapolate from information we had. Too many teachers told me that what they taught was just "common knowledge" or I "didn't need to know the reasons, just remember the facts." But I would think, "Here's another person who doesn't know." And off I would go to the library to find out.
Sometimes, like with the Theory of Relativity, even the library would fail me. It took years to get to the answers I wanted, mostly because it was only recently that scientists found some proof and context for the theory.
So, one day, in about third grade, I learned that everything I saw was made of atoms. And sub-atomically there was a lot of space and energy in solid things like tables and trees. This made me think about God being everywhere. They had told me this in Church, but hadn't really been able to explain "What makes you believe THAT?"
Shamanism teaches that God is everywhere, in all things. That's the heart of "animism." Everything has a spirit or soul. And, of course, science teaches that everything is made up of energy and matter, attraction and repelling. Things. Spirits. Positive. Negative. And all of it is connected, via Quantum Physics.
"How exactly do you feel God did these things?" I would ask religious leaders. "How does it actually all work?" And they would say..."It was a miracle." Which was generally the same thing as saying "Just accept that these facts are true." That's faith.
And there is a bit of faith in Shamanism as well. I have faith that the connections in all things, the subatomic energy, is aware of the universe. That all of existence is not some great coincidence. One New Age guru suggested that it all happened at once, like the Big Bang. The universe and a greater awareness of it can into being at the same time.
I don't know though, because it would take a series of astronomically absurd coincidences to create a universe, with a consciousness and people like ourselves who are aware of it. If it is all just random...why would we THEN invent a God figure? Because the atheists are right about one thing...without the God figure many of our issues could be solved as humans.
If this is all that there is and we have evolved to this point by chance...it is in our best interest, as a survival-oriented species, to take care of our health, our world, one another and to really treasure the short span of our lives. We would enjoy our lives a lot more by accepting reality as it is, but more than that, I am not sure we would imagine a different reality COULD exist.
So very many of us are maladapted...angry about being here...in separation. We cry out for connections that, by all rights, we could easily cultivate. Why would we randomly evolve such a feature of discontent? What possible use was it to so many of us to believe in God directing us or wanting us to be different? Think of the people who have sacrificed their lives in service to the unseen God or gods. That goes directly against all survival instincts, which are clearly evolved.
Maybe we believe, simply because there is something to believe in. Maybe we COME from a place of connection and wholeness. Connection is a subatomic reality in the universe. Part of us knows THIS HUMAN state of separation, of being distinct entities, of personal awareness is unnatural. But that would mean...there is a greater awareness in the universe that we are part of and so we have to come up with an explanation for our feeling separate from it. Why are we even here?
It certainly feels like punishment...unnatural...corrupt. But maybe it is because we can only be individuals here...in this illusion of separate things...like tables and trees. Here we can be us. Here we can be separate beings, dreaming of God.
Tags:Show tag navigation shamanism