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Page 1: Shamanism and Dreams - Dream Institutedream-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/RR_DT_21-1.pdf · is Carlos Castaneda. But is it possible for a modern “ratio - nal” person to become

Near the end of David Cherni-ack’s film, Fire on the Moun-tain: A Gathering of Shamans,the Dalai Lama says that we inthe modern industrial worldsuffer from the mistaken con-cept that we can controlnature, whereas shamansknow that we are all con-nected, with each other andwith the earth, and that it isour responsibility to care forthe earth.In dreams we experience

the shamanic world. Every-thing is alive, everything isconnected. Animals talk to us.Our ancestors come acrossvast distances to meet with us.We journey into other realms.We fly. It is as if the magicalquality the waking world oncehad has been preserved for usin our dreams. Dreamers whoshare their dreams with othersusually come to feel that atsome deep level we are all con-nected.Over the years, I have had

the opportunity to experienceshamanic dreamwork manytimes, in workshops anddream conferences around thecountry. I have tried my handat making masks and other rit-ual objects, gone on innerjourneys to meet ancestors andallies, and re-entered mydreams through trance statesinduced by drumming. Someof these experiences have beenamong the most powerful Ihave had doing dreamwork.Although one person I met

was a Mexican-born womanfrom a long line of shamans,most of the workshop leaderswere people like me—white,

middle-class, college edu-cated—and took care toexplain that though they hadstudied shamanic techniques,often with real shamans, theydid not consider themselvesshamans. Personally, I distrustpeople not born into shamanicculture who study these tech-niques and then present them-selves as shamans.We can study shamanic

principles and beliefs, practiceshamanic rituals and tech-niques, have profoundlymeaningful experiences—butwe were not raised believingwith every bone in our bodiesthat the world is alive, thatplants and animals and stonescan talk to us, that the deadstill know us, that we journeyto other worlds in our dreamsand visions. Nor are weimmersed in a culture whereeveryone shares those beliefs.The techniques work, as I

can attest from personal expe-rience. So one possibility is toexperience and work withthem, and bring what we havelearned into our own dream-work practices. “Shamanic-influenced” dreamworkersneedn’t be actual shamans.Another possibility would

be to undergo training orapprenticeship with a shaman,with the goal of becoming ashaman oneself. A well-knownexample (perhaps just fantasy)is Carlos Castaneda. But is itpossible for a modern “ratio-nal” person to become ashaman? Or would therealways be some degree ofdivided consciousness, of roleplaying? Can one be true to

one’s own culture while alsobeing true to the shamanictraining? In other words, finda new way of being a shamanthat would allow authenticitywithin one’s own culture?Another way to approach

this question is to ask, “Isthere a profession in our cul-ture that performs a functionanalogous to that of theshaman in traditional cul-tures?” Part of the problem inlooking at the question thisway is that the traditionalfunction of the shaman hasbeen divided among manyprofessions in our modernsocieties, including doctor,health practitioner, therapist,and priest. Consequently,there is no one profession thatcorresponds to the role of theshaman.“Shamans can be described

as practitioners who work onbehalf of a community that hasgiven them a privileged statusto serve its psychological andspiritual needs. . . . These prac-titioners claim to deliberatelymodify their attentional statesin an attempt to access infor-mation not ordinarily availableto other members of the com-munity. Shamans use thisinformation in their attemptsto ameliorate the psychologi-cal and spiritual problemsfaced by the group memberswho gave them shamanic sta-tus.” (Krippner)Given this definition, a case

could be made that dream-workers are the shamans ofour modern culture. While theother professions I listed workin different ways to “amelio-rate the psychological and spir-itual problems” of their clients(and are generally afforded

more “privileged status” thandreamworkers!), only dream-workers “access informationnot ordinarily available bydeliberately altering atten-tional states.” The altered statethey access is the dream, andthe information they retrievemay include not only psycho-logical insight, but also psiexperiences, health informa-tion, and communicationsfrom the dead—all part of theshaman’s traditional realm. (Asare dreams. Krippner pointsout that in addition to usingsuch technologies as drum-ming or hallucinogens to alterconsciousness, shamans alsodraw upon naturally occurringaltered states such as dreams.)Another parallel between

dreamworkers and shamans isthe experience of being calledto the work. Many ASD mem-bers have reported Big Dreamsthat marked a turning point intheir commitment to dream-work (see, for example, Kath-leen Sullivan’s account in thisissue).One important difference

between shamans and dream-workers is that the shaman isgranted special authority inacquiring and interpreting theinformation retrieved fromaltered states. In our culture,we grant similar authority todoctors, priests, etc. Dream-workers are unique in that (to

2 DREAM TIME · Spring 2004, Volume 21, Number 1 · A Publication of the Association for the Study of Dreams

FROM THE EDITOR Richard A. Russo

Shamanism and Dreams

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