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Parapsychology and Magic / Devotions / What is Shamanism? / The spirits. / 


The spirits.

One misconception of the shamanic relationship with the spirits is that he/she commands them at will, and that they beckon to his/her will at all times, like servants to a master. That is not the attitude that most shamans would even consider. It is more symbiotic than that. The shaman asks the spirit for help in the task at hand, or for advice, etc. - in trade, the shaman makes offerings, such as tobacco, carvings, etc. Many shaman are humbled in the presence of spirit, not putting insulting demands on them. With power animals, the term 'dancing the power animal' is often used to describe the offering rituals, or 'shape shifting'. What this is, is allowing the spirit to experience our 'reality' or state of being, in exchange for our peek into their 'reality' (note: reality is a bad description, since it is inferring that one is more REAL than another). Every shamanic culture has these practices, only the metaphor changes. Sacrifice is almost never used anymore, except in small, very underground groups, and in some small isolated islands. For the most part, shaman everywhere have found that it is not really necessary for results, and there are other ways to honor the spirits.

A shaman may have several spirit allies, each one having specialties - usually they are linked through symbolism. The visual appearance is usually the preference of the viewer. Therefore, One person may use animals, another may use angels, and yet another may use something else, all for the same spiritual archetype. There are, however, some similar images that seem to be burned deep into the core essence of our beings - they are, all the animal groups, the world-wide dragon phenomenon, flying humanoids, and energy spheres. They are all called different things by different people, but all equate to the same thing. The world view is different, the outcome the same. Flying people are called angels, ancestors, and demons - depending on who you ask. Dragons are almost always the same, but there are several breeds - energy spheres are called spirits, ghosts, souls, god, the all, etc. The mythological creatures seem to be mixes of animal/dragon/people. The modern religions are mostly people/energy spheres. Many times, in modern religions, dragons and animals and mixes there of are considered to either be evil and satanic, or just plain fake, children's stories. You have to remember, though, that this was not so in the beginning of the modern religions - but they were made so over time as conversion techniques. They were dis-crediting the older religions to make people convert. This is not to put down modern religions, as now they are not doing that anymore (at least most aren't), but in history it was so.



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