Shamanism part II

Last time, we discussed the concept of Shamanism, the origins of the term and some of the dangers of the approaches towards Shamanism in the new age spiritual movement. In this article we will look a little deeper into what we call Shamanism, which seems to be a world culture.

As seekers of spiritual knowledge it is important for us to understand that like any seeker we are very vulnerable to whom we receive direction from. With this said, in the modern lifestyle we can observe that the greater society is interested in making money or capitalizing on anyone who is in the position to be capitalized on. In order for the consumer society to function optimally it is important to impregnate the minds of its citizens with a consumer mentality. Meaning it is necessary to keep the majority of humans ungrounded, disoriented, and in a state of spiritual desperation. This must be understood in our attempts to study shamanism, which due to the new age movement has become an opportunity for big business.

As discussed last issue the term shamanism is losing its credibility as a valuable, effective label nomenclature as it relates to the traditional cultures it is used within. For many indigenous Spiritual Masters and priests this label is derogatory and racist, but there are many arguments of disapproval with the term shamansism. One being that it is a ploy to confuse the seeker by grouping many different indigenous spiritual systems into one. In one particular argument it was stated that this is done as if implying that all of them have one common origin, which the arguer claimed to be false.

With the knowledge of the Kemetic spiritual system we can see the problem with the arguer's last point however we must acknowledge that devaluing and confusing indigenous spiritual systems has been a tactic of colonial powers since their inception. It is what colonization is.

So it is extremely essential for the seeker to understand that though there is one original spiritual system that other indigenous systems were derived from, and that this system has survived until today there is also a value in observing the differences between the cultural approaches to one Divine World, according to one set of spiritual laws. That value lies in validating our understanding of the original system and even from a sociological standpoint it is valuable. As it is said, "there is one truth, but many ways to get there... one destination but many routes that can take us there."

Before we continue our search for the divine through the cultures of humanity and observe the different methods of indigenous spirituality and the emphasis put on different aspects of the original spiritual system they all have, let us continue to explore the common practices associated with shamanism, namely vision quest. Let us continue by looking into the concept of what is referred to as a shaman today in hopes of salvaging the true indigenous customs utilized by society that have been labeled with this word. A shaman is a member of the society that is different from priests because priests have a full time spiritual association, where shamans are just seen as experts who people of the community come to see in order to solve their issues.

In Kemetic culture we observe a priest to be one who has dedicated their life to learning the laws of the spiritual world, and utilizing these laws and concepts in assisting others as well as him/her self in a logical step by step process towards self perfection and the divine world. A priest in an indigenous context is a very practical position. This must be said because the idea of a priest or "spiritual" leader in the modern world has moved into very impractical territories. He/she gains this professional title because he/she succeeds in harnessing the emotions of the community and inspiring stronger belief in, or faith and emotions towards their chosen God. In an indigenous context a priest is a position of knowledge, one who takes on the tedious task of learning the spiritual laws that govern existence. As one moves up through the rankings of initiation and priesthood one learns how to manipulate different energies with the accumulation of knowledge of the existence. For instance every priest before they reach the level of a priest must first hold the position of a healer. This shows the difference in practicality between the traditional priest and the modern "priest"'. For if one is to solve our spiritual problems they must prove themselves in solving our human health problems first.

The idea of a member of society being in between the priests/healers and the community, whose members of the community can go to in order to solve their problems can possibly be traced to the traditional Kemetic society. In traditional Kemetic society every family name is known to specialize in healing some specific illness. This is apart from the professional priests/healers. However, this, as well as the healing of the professional priest/healer is a very technical domain that requires intense training and education. Even those who are born with predispositions to observing spirits or spiritual processes must go through intense trainings. Just as we said last issue what is called the "shaman's trance" is misleading. In the life of every priest there is a part of their technical training in which they assess visions that they have but this is also based on and inseparable from the technical education that they are receiving. Even every bloodline of the traditional society we spoke of, who each possess the knowledge to heal specific illness are able to do so because the intense education and training that allows them to do this is passed down from father to son, mother to daughter and so on.

We must be very careful to avoid corrupting the traditions of our ancestors as we seek to reconnect with them. There is a widespread reawakening of the populations of the modern world to the values and traditions of our ancestors. Considering the way in which the modern world functions and the necessity for the modern citizen to be manipulated by the modern governments and corporations in order to guarantee their continued dominance we must understand it is not in the best interest for these entities to allow us to reconnect to our roots and our place of empowerment. Therefore if we closely investigate the idea of "shamanism" and "Egyptology" we will see that these things come to confuse us about the hard work and dedication to indigenous culture and study that is necessary to reconnect to our culture and achieve a level of professionalism in it. In order to change the world we will have to start with ourselves, and in order to change ourselves we will have to utilize our full energy and do the hard work necessary to take the evil and corruption that we have been infected with out. If this is not done we cannot approach the divine. If we are dirty in our approach the purity of the Divine World will be forced to move away.

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