Shaman Sickness (NTS)

Okay! I'm going to break this reply up a bit as I want to try and comment on a few of the replies on here all in one post!

" One involves literally lying in a grave for a few days in trance. That is definitely a test of mental strength as well as physical. You must have no fear, remain perfectly still, and fast in a deep hole in the ground as if a corpse. If I remember correctly, they even slightly cover the body in dirt (leaving the face obviously uncovered), so there is the feeling of being buried. I always considered this one as one of the more pleasant ways. The only problem is digging a six foot deep hole and not gaining police attention! "

Oh how I love seeing correlations between practices! In response to what you said above, White: In Northern Tradition Shamanism there is a practice we call "Mound Sitting", which typically involves either sitting atop a grave or actually sitting in a grave for a time period ranging from one day to a handful of days. What you said was also pretty similar to Going Under. I may work on writing an article over that next! It's fascinating for sure. I have a desire to combine Mound Sitting, Seidhr and Val-galdr to see what kind of experience it could provoke. For Mound Sitting you can read a more indepth description of it here:

http://www.uppsalaonline.com/uppsala/mound.htm

And thanks for that awesome link to that entry, Aph! I'm definitely going to set aside some time to read it. It sounds similar to the other things I was looking into and reading over!

Artin- I think the idea of relating shaman sickness to tarot. It's interesting, for sure. And I love the way you interpreted it. It fits the situation.

As for you, gypsybard, thank you for sharing that information with us! It's so neat to see people sharing their own personal experiences! I appreciate it. :)

I would like to make clear that I do practice cherokee medicine but I don't associate myself with the term "shaman". Many Native Americans do not. I use the term in posts because most people do not understand what a medicine (wo)man is. Although I'm told I'm very much one, I don't even accept a title because of the way I was brought up.

I believe it is a much more subtle path than most think. In fact, when I was taught it, it was like being taught how to cook or tend a garden. There is no separation between life, spirit, and medicine. Everything was a lesson, everything had more meaning than met the eye. I just saw it as poetry not magick. It may seem odd to many, but growing up, I didn't know I was being taught anything special. It was done so naturally. It just was. I knew of no other way. This situation called for that. That happens because of this. Don't do that, do this. THIS IS THE WAY IT IS DONE. End of story.

Only later, when I began speaking with other Cherokees and doing my own research out of curiousity that I understood what had been done. My family knew of my gift to see, hear and sense was strong. It was more than obvious when I was a child, and they always told me I had my cherokee great grandmothers spirit with me. That they could see her in me. I never did understand it until I was much older. I went into studying witchcraft on my own (much to my family's dismay) because I didn't understand that I had been taught the ways of cherokee belief and medicine.

I enjoyed learning witchcraft but as I get older, I find myself falling away from it. I use somethings because I find them useful and don't see why I should limit myself. My journey allowed me to see the universal truths that link many paths.

Most Native Americans don't understand me and think I'm "neo" because of the influences of witchcraft and other magick practices within my work. But in truth I'm just someone who was a soul searcher that realized a little late that I was always home. But my travels taught me many wonderful things, things that I would never have discovered had I not ventured away from the Cherokee ways.

I apologize if I strayed off topic, but with all the shaman subjects I've been writing in lately, I felt it should be explained. Plus Personified wrote about her life pulling her to her path, I wanted to share mine too.

Thank you so much for sharing, White! I definitely think it was still on topic and it's cool to get to know a bit more about you and how you came to be where you are now. :)

Thank you Personified.

Wonderful post personified! Many would not think that a shaman goes through such atrocities in order to help them and others. Personally i believe that when on the path to our higher level of conscienciousness, we all face states similar to these.perhaps it is necessary in order to break through the mental, physical and social trappings we develope in todays society. Anywho, lovely work :D

I definitely agree with you, Light. Thank you :)

You're right Light, it is a way to break the mental, physical and social trappings. Well said. They say that heartbreak cannot be distinguished from real pain in the brain. If this is true, than perhaps shamanic sickness is the transition of our mind expressed physically within our body due to the brain's inability to process what is exactly happening.

thank you so much

I have always wondered on the term Wounded Healer .Right now i start to understand its true maning .We have been told and teached that the true healer is perfect and shiny like the sun kinda of creature .Think of a being that had never tasted death and pain and desperation .Since such ideas have been planted already in our heads we do not expect that in our path we will have to taste them and i am sure if we could escape we would (i would for sure if choice has been given to me ).Then once we have started walking the paths it comes in your mind the phase of pity in which you wonder day and night why on the earth you started with good intention to help and end up in some road of maddness in Painland .After all you supposed to be this perfect creature not a merely lost soul .Then nothing really matters , the answer is kinda slipping away from you because the ordeals are too much to bear .Eventually you shed all expectation ,all terms and conditions given to you ,all bad emotions and you understand that the only way to heal something is to be able to understand it .We understand things only through experiencing them to the full ,and living them to the full.We need to let go of the world that people have created in us, but of course we will not do that without putting good fight.Everything teaches you a lesson even pain and maddness as long as you can separate your understanding for why from what you are feeling .
The key is to learn to break the chains that got you restricted ,but you did liked them because they were well known to you and they felt familiar .However we do not like to break habits ,but you get to know your own inner demons when you try to escape from them once you realized they are there .Spirits do not let you choice to grasp for familiar things till all that is out there unknown stops to be existing for you ,and in that matter all that is in you too .In way all that has been holding you hostage is shaken away ,and it is not like we did not holded on what we thought the world is .Indeed ordeals are lied upon our path so we can get to realize we have gotten ourselves in the deadly trap to assume we know it all .When you are lost you obviouslly need to find yourself .

This thread has been moved to Heathenism from Misc Topics.