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Anyone here have direct experience with a "shaman?"

W

washingtonbound

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Aug 19, 2013
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I'm just curious if any of you psychonauts out there have had experience with a shaman. I know there are charlatans out there but I imagine some of them are legitimate. What are your thoughts on people supposedly having direct influence in the spirit world? Have you ever been with someone who has facilitated a life changing experience?
 
Yes I've had direct experience with someone I consider a shaman and she did facilitate a life changing experience, but it was drug free.I didnt really need drugs to experience spiritual things, although the combo of psyches and spirituality can be interesting, you could probably create the experience without a facilitator. Spirits and healers are real in my world, but I can't possibly expect others to recognize anything they haven't directly experienced and I have to respect atheists and agnostics, although I think there are things we can't see and this place is a "hologram" of sorts.
 
I've met 4, all from mainland Europe but having spent long apprenticeships in South American countries (e.g. Ecuador). All were very knowledgeable, experienced and compassionate. The context was Ayahuasca and other associated substances (e.g. mescaline cactus, tobacco).

So they are out there; but also there are less able/reputable shamans. Not an easy choice often but there are networks out there who can direct you to good guys if you keep your ears to the ground :-)
 
Sure. Shamanism is practiced in many forms in many parts of the world. It was and is the proto-religion for a reason. You can journey yourself with the right environment and a drumming track. It is called the path of direct revelation for a reason. Find out if the spirit world(s) are real yourself.
 
Shamanism is the oldest form of spiritual practice in humans, the archetype if you will. But, like with anything, there are people who are in it for the right reasons and those who are not. There is an industry being built that caters to white western people paying money to receive "shamanic help" and I think there are plenty of people who are looking to take advantage of you. That said, there are also plenty who are genuine and wish to help others. A shaman is basically supposed to be a guide into an experience, someone who knows how to produce altered states and facilitate learning and growth. This is the role they serve in their culture, that and medicine usually (which is all related). I think the paying of a person not at all a part of their culture would have some weird energies around it, or it certainly could. If I were to attend a shamanic session, I would want it to be natural, like maybe I became good friends with a native American guy, and he invited me to his tribe's peyote ceremony, where I would be welcomed and would get to really see the reality of what goes on, when it's not someone trying to make a buck off tourists, basically.
 
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EntheoDjinn said:
I've met 4, all from mainland Europe but having spent long apprenticeships in South American countries (e.g. Ecuador). All were very knowledgeable, experienced and compassionate. The context was Ayahuasca and other associated substances (e.g. mescaline cactus, tobacco).

So they are out there; but also there are less able/reputable shamans. Not an easy choice often but there are networks out there who can direct you to good guys if you keep your ears to the ground :-)
Click to expand...

So you met 4 hippys who love auhascha lol... What besides there own ego makes them genuinely shaman, or a real medicine man. Anyone can say "yeah dude I studied with shamans he tought me all this stuff so now I am one''
I'm not saying you full of shit I'm just saying what makes you a real medicine man?
If you are not indiginous to South America or Africa how can you truly call ones self a expert? Arnt most shaman born into the job or don't they start at a really young age learning the apprenticeship?
☮️
 
Insightful post. I would agree that the practice of shamanism has been commercialized and exploited to a certain degree. What I think would be difficult is distinguishing between the genuine ones and charlatans. In my opinion, the only way to do it the right way is to go to the most remote area possible and see where things go. I have heard places like Iquitos are filled with imposters.
 
Bigazznugz said:
So you met 4 hippys who love auhascha lol... What besides there own ego makes them genuinely shaman, or a real medicine man. Anyone can say "yeah dude I studied with shamans he tought me all this stuff so now I am one''
I'm not saying you full of shit I'm just saying what makes you a real medicine man?
If you are not indiginous to South America or Africa how can you truly call ones self a expert? Arnt most shaman born into the job or don't they start at a really young age learning the apprenticeship?
☮️
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with you that the sorts of Western folks who go have one or two aya experiences in the jungle and come out proclaiming themselves a shaman so they can set up a business in their home country (see: Alberto José Varela and Ayahuasca International) should not truly be referred to as shamans. However, saying you have to be a member of an indigenous South American or African tribe to qualify as an expert or be a "real medicine man" smacks of cultural appropriation and religious exclusivity. Modern-day shamans are ordinary folks first, healers second; they're no different than our Western doctors except that they practice what we would consider an alternative form of medicine. (Note that I am not arguing the efficacy of their methods or influence over an ayahuasca experience here, merely against placing them on a pedestal.) They're afforded respect in their native cultures, but not worshiped (insofar as South American shamanism is concerned; I have no knowledge regarding the African tribes). Shamanism is learned; in that sense, why can a foreigner not undertake the same training and practice and be legitimately considered a shaman? It's like saying only true descendants of the Romans can be Catholic priests or Middle Easterners an Islamic mullah.

As to the OP, my personal opinion--openly admitting I have never had an aya experience of my own, yet--is that a trained shaman might be worthwhile for the cultural experience but is not necessary to get the healing effects of the "medicine;" plenty of folks have enjoyed a spiritual renaissance in the comforts of their own home, and in fact there's much to be said for the potential benefits of a home setting to that of the jungle or a group retreat (even a vetted one).

There are several threads on the Nexus discussing this topic; these two in particular do a good job, I think, of presenting arguments for both sides.
 
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