-Caveat Lector-
Hey guys, remember the fuss I caused re wicca, well try this one on for size
too..
Peter
http://www.newageinfo.com/bus/cymry/shamanism.html
Shamanic ecstasy is the real 'Old Time Religion,' of which modern churches
are but pallid evocations. Shamanic, visionary ecstasy, the mysterium
tremendum, the unio mystica, the eternally delightful experience of the
universe as energy, is a sine qua non of religion, it is what religion is
for! There is no need for faith, it is the ecstatic experience itself that
gives one faith in the intrinsic unity and integrity of the universe, in
ourselves as integral parts of the whole; that reveals to us the sublime
majesty of our universe, and the fluctuant, scintillant, alchemical miracle
that is quotidian consciousness. Any religion that requires faith and gives
none, that defends against religious experiences, that promulgates the
bizarre superstition that humankind is in some way separate, divorced from
the rest of creation, that heals not the gaping wound between Body and Soul,
but would tear them asunder... is no religion at all!"
Jonathan Ott
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Shamanism is one of the oldest spiritual paths on Earth. It offers a way for
people to wake up to their potential, and begin to explore their spiritual
relationship with the universe, with other forms of life, and with each
other. Shamanism is a way in which humanity has sought a connection to the
world of healing, maintaining balance and harmony in society and with the
individual and keeping our connection with Mother Earth and All Creation.
The work of Y Tylwyth Teg is to help people connect their inner and outer
worlds, to heal old wounds within, to become able to bring dreams from the
world of spirit into matter and thus enjoy a creative and fruitful life and
dance the dance of joy and to become a part of the solution instead of part
of the problem of human life on Earth.
A Shaman walks with one foot in this world and one foot in the spirit world.
Our outer world may be different, but our human inner landscape has the same
components as always. Our outer health and wholeness is an expression of our
inner health and holiness. We are here to bring spirit into matter and
matter to spirit.
Many prophecies have been made about this period as a time of great change
when the world as we know it will end and a new world will be born. We can
see the invitability of these changes in the state of things around us - the
pollution of the air, the water, toxic waste buried in the earth and sea,
nucler radition leaks, demolition of the rainforests, reduction of the
protective ozone layer, extreme weather patterns and so on.
At a deep level each one of us knows it cannot go on, yet we do not know how
to turn the tide. Now the teachings of Welsh/Celtic Shamans who for
thousands of years lived successfully in harmony and balance with the earth,
the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom, are available to help.
TRADITIONAL SHAMANISM
While a Shaman may exhibit magickal powers such as control over fire, wind
or magical flight or as a healer, more than anything else, Shamanism is a
technique of ecstasy. The distinguishing feature of Shamanism is its
emphasis on a ecstatic trance state in which the soul of the Shaman leaves
the body and ascends to the heavens or descends into the underworld. The
Shaman makes use of spirit helpers, with whom he or she communicates, while
retaining control over his or her own consciousness. Either women or men may
become Shamans.
Traditional Shamans have developed techniques for lucid dreaming and what
is today called the out-of-the-body experience. Along with these techniques,
the near-death-experience has played a significant role in Shamanic practice
and initiation for thousands of years.
This ability to consciously move beyond the physical body is the particular
specialty of the traditional Shaman. These journeys of Soul may take the
Shaman into the nether realms, higher levels of existence or to parallel
physical worlds or other regions of this world. Shamanic Flight, is in most
instances, an experience not of an inner imaginary landscape, but is
reported to be the Shamans flight beyond the limitations of the physical
body.
SHAMANIC ECSTASY
>From the Greek 'ekstasis', ecstasy literally means to be placed outside, or
to be placed. This is a state of exaltation in which a person stands outside
of his or herself. Ecstasy may range from the seizure of the body by a
spirit or the seizure of a person by the divine, to the magical
transformation or flight of consciousness.
There are three types of Ecstasy:
Shamanic Ecstasy
Prophetic Ecstasy
Mystical Ecstasy
Shamanic ecstasy is aroused by the rising of the soul of the Shaman into the
heavens or its sinking into the underworld. These states of ecstatic
exaltation usually occur after strenuous training and initiation, and often
under dangerous and distressing circumstances. The resulting contact by the
Shaman with the higher or lower regions and their inhabitants, and also with
nature spirits, enables him or her to accomplish such tasks as accompanying
the soul of a deceased into its proper place in the next world, affecting
the well-being of the sick and conveying the story of their inner travels
upon their return to mundane awareness.
The statements of the Shaman are in contrast with those who claim prophetic
and mystical ecstasy. The prophet literally speaks for God, while the mystic
reports an overwhelming divine presence. In mysticism, the direct knowledge
or experience of the divine reality, is discernible in two ways: emotional
and intuitive. It is not unusual for more than one form of ecstasy to be
present in an individual's experience. However, there are three perceptive
levels of ecstasy.
The physical level, in which the mind becomes absorbed in and focuses on a
dominant idea. The attention is then withdrawn and the nervous system itself
is partly cut off from sensory input. The body exhibits a feeling of
inertia, involuntary nervous responses, frenzy.
The Emotional level of ecstasy refers to overwhelming feelings of awe,
anxiety, joy, sadness, fear, astonishment, passion, etc.
The Intuitive level communicates a direct experience and understanding of
expanded or altered states of awareness or consciousness.
While the physical response is always present, the emotional response may
or may not be significant when intuition is the principal means of ecstatic
perception. Beyond the intuitive state there is a fourth condition in which
a holistic perception exceeds mental and emotional limitations and
understanding.
These ecstatic experiences of the Shaman go far beyond a feeling or
perception of the sacred. They involve the Shaman directly and actively in
transcendent realities and lower realms of being. These experiences may
occur in either the dream state, the awakened state, or both. Dreams, and in
particular, lucid dreams, often play a significant role in the life of a
Shaman or Shamanic student.
HOW DOES ONE BECOME A SHAMAN?
The Call to be a Faerie Shaman is often related to a near death experience
by the person. Among the traditional examples are being struck by
lightening, a fall from a height, a serious life-threatening illness or
lucid dream experiences in which the candidate dies or has some organs
consumed and replaced and is thus reborn. Survival of these initial inner
and outer brushes with death provides the Shaman with personal experiences
which strengthen his or her ability to work effectively with others. Having
experienced something, a Shaman is more likely to understand what must be
done to correct a condition or situation.
Although some have wondered if the experience of Shamanic ecstasy or flight
makes a person a Faerie Shaman, we would say no. A Faerie Shaman is more
than someone with an experience. First, years of training under an
experienced teacher are required before one becomes a traditional Faerie
Shaman. Second, a Faerie Shaman is not just an initiate who has received
inner and outer training, but is a master of Shamanic journeying and
techniques of Shamanic ecstasy. Finally, a Shaman is a link or bridge
between this world and the next. This is a sacred trust and a service to the
Craft community. Sometimes a community that a Shaman serves is rather small
such as a Coven. In other instances it may be an entire tradition.
One becomes a Faerie Shaman by one of three methods:
Hereditary means.
A Spontaneous spiritual call or selection by a Shaman.
Personal choice and Quest.
This latter method is less frequent and traditionally such a Shaman is
considered less powerful than one selected by one of the two preceding
methods.
In any respect, the Faerie Shaman is not recognized as legitimate without
having undergone two types of training:
Ecstatic (dreams, trances, etc.)
Traditional ("Shamanic techniques, names and functions of spirits, mythology
and genealogy of the clan, secret language, etc.)
This course of instruction, given by the spirits and the master Shamans is
equivalent to an initiation. It is also possible for the entire process to
take place in the dream state or in ecstatic experience. Thus, there is more
to becoming a Faerie Shaman than a single experience. It requires training,
perseverance and service.
BISEXUALITY AND SHAMANISM
Shamans frequently encounter bisexual beings and spirit guides in their
initiation journeys. They play a key role in the drastic reorganization of
categories that shatters the shaman's old perceptions of reality and opens
him or her to the multiple dimensions of existence. Along these same lines,
gender ambiguity frequently characterizes many shamans themselves who were
gay or lesbian. Homosexuality and androgyny create a liminal status that
helps to legitimize the shaman as an interpreter and go-between on both
social and spiritual levels.
If sexuality is considered on a scale with homosexuality at one end and
heterosexuality at the other end, where both extremes prefer one gender to
the exclusion of the other, then all the scale in between, is bisexuality of
one degree or another, and in the center is pure bisexuality, which is
actually a rare thing indeed; very few people can honestly say that they at
no time prefer one gender over the other, even allowing for shifts in that
preference.
Heterosexuals think bisexuals are promiscuous to the point of
ridiculousness, sexually attracted to anyone who draws breath. Gays think
bisexuals are halfway out of the closet, denying their gay-ness, either
passing through a phase or simply passing. In a way, the latter is the more
brutal set of misconceptions. Heterosexuals tend to stereotype bisexuals;
gays often seek to deny them their very identity by denying the validity, or
even the existence, of their preference.
There is another option, one that the faerie shamans of the Celts -- and the
peoples they served -- would likely have embraced: recognizing the
spiritual and personal gifts that life in the craft gives bisexuals, and
honoring their ability as go-betweens in many worlds.
As a walker between the worlds, a shaman is at home in places betwixt and
between, regions that are neither this nor that, concepts that resonate
strongly with Celtic sensibilities.
Shamanism, forces a radical change in the shaman's view of reality. Reality
itself is called into question, or more accurately, the definition of words
like reality and unreality are questioned. This is the first set of opposed
pairs that the shaman is forced by his or her own experience to put on a
continuum rather than on opposite sides of an arbitrary line. Real and
unreal become relative terms, their relativity measured by how much
borderland lies between.
We are about to go on a Journey. All Aboard
http://sites.netscape.net/gsussnzl/homepage
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