My attempts to systematize shamanic endeavors in this short work is in response to the very real need I see to re-awaken shamanic awareness on the parts of modern people, especially those who already feel a intuitive attraction towards spiritual ecology and the re-appraisals of animistic worldviews and associated mystical practices.
I believe that the esoteric aspects of animism, as embodied by the shaman and shamanic spiritual techniques, are strong and natural paths to mental and spiritual wholeness. I believe that they are a direct path to the discovery of reciprocal harmony between the human being and the environment from which humanity is inseparable. That environment includes other human beings, and other living beings who occupy no less important places. I also believe that animism, and the shamanic arts that exist alongside it, represent more wholesome sources for religious and spiritual understandings and practices than the scriptures of most modern religions.
I do not believe that the non-animistic, monotheistic worldviews and their various religious expressions have the ability to shape human beings who can live successfully or in harmony with the world in the way which will be required in the coming centuries. I also do not believe that the strict monotheistic worldview adequately captures or mediates the truth about the inner realities of human beings and the realities of the Unseen world, in the way that people need. Because of these deficits, I believe a return to animism and shamanic spirituality to be an imperative if humankind is to survive into the future with any hint of mental or spiritual health, or if it will survive at all.
Religions that deny the animistic model of reality are not alone to blame for the problems that face humankind in our modern world challenge. Materialism in its many manifestations is another source of many woes, though I believe the one to be sprung from the other- when nature is "de-sacralized" by religions which lead people away from animism, a void is left which people will rush to fill in whatever way they can.
Promises of glorious heavens and choirs of angels cannot satisfy the deeper thirsts inside of the souls of humanity. In every age there will be those who comprehend, on a deep and sometimes wordless level, that an important aspect of humankind's sacred purpose has been lost at the hands of social and religious forces that deny animism and structure the existence of humans around fanaticism, fear, greed, power-over schemes, dogmatism, and exploitation.
There will also be others who manage to free themselves from the nonsense of organized religions, but who never compensate for the loss of their religious grounding or faith in any healthy manner. Instead, free of the constraints of any form of morality beyond the most mechanical, self-serving type, the most destructive powers inherent in human nature are given license to run free in these individuals, and they fall easily into the traps of materialism, atheism, hedonism, and the extremes of spiritually-blind empiricism.
They (along with those who never had any religious grounding) tend to lead a very self-centered life concerned with their own pleasure and well-being, with no belief in continuity for mind or spirit after the event called "death". They tend to reject any greater vision of reality that might intrude on the notion of their utter mental and material sovereignty, or which may destroy the comfort they take in the idea that there is no ultimate accountability for their actions and deeds in this life.
For these people, there is no "sacred purpose" for human life; there is only a Darwinian rat race: a competition of resources and genetics that began suddenly at birth and ends utterly at death. Whatever compassionate or selfless acts they decide to express are, for them, nothing more than magnanimous signs of how "moral" they can be all on their own, outside of the boundaries or influences of religion. This being so, the goodness of their deeds is choked off by the fact that their deeds are used in an egoistic way to bolster their sense of superiority.
Though animism is not a "religion" as much as a worldview, it will offer such people no comfort, nor give them some carte blanche to continue with their lifestyles or ways of thinking. Animistic worldviews universally teach a central lesson regarding the connection that exists between every person and every other thing in the world. They emphasize the sacredness of that relationship, and the importance of each person being aware of the impact of their actions and thoughts on the rest of the web of life. They also teach that we are beings of flesh as well as spirit, and that the spirit has an ongoing existence and continuity beyond the boundaries of what we call "this life".
A return to animism and shamanic spirituality is not a call for human beings to leave cities and technology behind and "return to the wilds", or any such thing. It is not an invitation to indulge our longings or fond fantasies regarding what the realities of tribal life must have been like. Such a return does not require us to turn back the clock and "go wild" in a literal outward way, though it will most certainly require a radical adjustment of our own attitude and worldview, which from an outsider's perspective may make a person seem quite madly out of step with mainstream cultures.
There's no doubt that the modern day has brought us many gifts and improvements to the quality of some aspects of human life. That being said, it is my conviction that there are many aspects of human life that have suffered in our convenient modern day, aspects of our interior lives that have been neglected or ignored, and atrophied as a result. I'm speaking of deep and important spiritual aspects of life without which we can never be fully at peace. There is no need to throw off the helpful aspects of modern living that humans have managed to create and secure. There is, however, a need to recognize that there is more to attend to in human life than just material needs.
An awareness and acceptance of several things is needed if humans are to attain a condition of lasting peace and happiness:
1. We must know who and what we are, and from what source we are sprung.
2. We must know how we relate to the rest of reality, a reality that we typically (and mistakenly) understand to be separate from ourselves.
3. We must know what our sacred purpose for living is, and we must be healthy enough, strong enough, and/or free enough to actualize this purpose through our daily lives.
I will suggest answers to these questions in the present work, but we must develop towards them slowly.
In my own experience of Animism in the modern context, as well as in the sources for traditional animism that I have studied, two central "core" themes emerge. The first is the theme of Intimate Connection, and the second is Reciprocal Power Exchange.
Intimate Connection is the solid center of Animism. Animistic worldviews posit that human beings, as well as other animals, and all living things besides (like plants) have spirits, or some essence which is endowed with awareness and intent. It also posits the existence of spirits or "inorganic beings" that have an existence which is just as real as humans or beasts or plants, but fully unseen.
The animistic world is densely populated with living powers that all have some share of awareness and intent. That share of awareness and intent can sometimes be more than that of humans, and sometimes less, depending on the entity. Regardless, all are sacred and important to the whole of reality. Further, all are intimately connected to both reality itself, and to all other "parts" of reality.
There is no true isolation and no alienation possible, except in the minds of some beings that hallucinate (for various delusional reasons) that they are separate. Humans are often bedeviled by such delusions and the psychic pain that follows- the sense of alienation from the world and from their fellow man- can be intense.
Alongside this idea of Intimate Connection is the idea of Reciprocal Power Exchange: all parts of reality, all beings in reality, affect one another. We affect the world everyday, and all the other beings in it, and we are in turn affected by them. If we do damaging things to the world or other beings, we suffer for it.
Two of the best examples I have heard regarding Reciprocal Power Exchange are the examples of Global Warming, and of the medieval cat burnings. Global warming is closer to all of us historically, and I need not go far into explaining it here. Despite the efforts of some to deny the reality of global warming, the greed and blindness of humans alive today has caused the world to become warmer than it should be, through the release of pollution. The effects of this have been catastrophic, and will continue to be so.
Acting under the influence of greed, and in full blindness of the animistic wisdom of Reciprocal Power Exchange, humans have damaged the world and caused temperatures to change unnaturally; the result of this is the increasing frequency of destructive weather, the loss of many species and natural habitats, and more diseases and troubles for humans.
The example of the medieval cat burnings is an older example, but it brings a sharper focus to what I am talking about. In Medieval times, the church believed that cats were manifestations of evil powers, and often considered them familiar spirits to witches. Pious Christian towns often began each day by burning baskets of living cats while the morning bells were being rung, to drive away the "evil spirits" that they lived in fear of. Because of this brutal and senseless practice, inspired by Christian ignorance, cat populations dwindled rapidly.
The Reciprocal Power Exchange occurred when the Black Plague came to Europe- as we know now, the plague itself was spread by fleas on infected rats, rats whose populations were allowed to grow huge because of the lack of cats. Over half of Europe's population died because of this plague, and that death toll included Christian bishops and priests, and even one Pope. The deforestation of Europe so that more farmland could be created for the wealth of kings and rulers also contributed to the spread of the plague. What those Europeans did to the world, they very much did to themselves.
A person who has actualized the Animistic worldview within themselves lives in constant awareness of their intimate connection to all forms of life, seen and unseen, and in constant awareness of the reality of reciprocal power exchange, on the interpersonal level and on the level of relationship with the environment.
These two central ideas yield many forms of health and sanity: a person who believes in such a way no longer need feel "alone" or "isolated", for no part of reality, no being, lives in isolation from the many other beings who are brothers and sisters in the system of reality. We are also all sprung from the same underlying powers. This sense of boundless participation in reality itself, and the sense of "being in one's place" lays the groundwork for the sense of "oneness with the universe" that is often mentioned by people who have entered into the dimension of natural spirituality. Those people also have a natural sense and basis for morality that is deeper than any revealed text: awareness if reciprocal power exchange leads them to avoid destructive actions and cultivate good relationships with all beings and the world itself.
