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Shamanism

Shamanism is found in far more primitive conditions than any of the civilizations that gave rise to the religions of the Book. Please read here. Specifically:

Post-Shamanic: While shamanism may be readily identified among many hunting and gathering peoples and in some traditional herding societies, identifying specific groups of individuals who might be called shamans is a difficult task in more stratified agricultural and manufacturing based societies. A society may be said to be Post- Shamanic when there are the presence of shamanic motifs in its traditional folklore or spiritual practices indicate a clear pattern of traditions of ascent into the heavens, descent into the nether- worlds, movement between this world and a parallel Otherworld, are present in its history. Such a society or tradition may have become very specialized and recombined aspects of mysticism, prophecy and shamanism into more specialized or more "fully developed" practices and may have assigned those to highly specialized functionaries. When such practices and functionaries are present or have teplaced the traditional shamans found in historical or traditional shamanism the use of Post-shamanic is appropriate.

More specifically, a society may be said to be Post-Shamanic when at least 6 of the following 8 conditions have been met:

1. Shamanic ecstasy is still present, but light trance techniques are also used to access the Otherworld.
2. Agriculture and some forms of manufacturing/crafts have replaced hunting and gathering as the primary basis for the economic life of the community.
3. The society has developed a highly stratified social structure and very specialized occupations.
4. Religion and spiritual methodology has become more fully developed and can no longer be properly referred to as "archaic." This is expecially important for rituals, ceremonies and ecstatic techniques which had traditionally been the domain of the shamans.
5. Mystical ecstasy and unitive visions have become at least as important esoteric experiences and doctrines as shamanic ecstasy, ascension and descent in the religious and spiritual life of the community.
6. The shaman is no longer the primary escort for the souls of the dead into their place in the next world (psychopomp). This role generally either passes onto the priestcraft or clergy to perform through ritual, is an object of individual or group prayer, or is beleived to be done by gods of guardian spirits, angels or demons.
7. A professional clergy is present which regulates the religious life of the community.
8. Other forms of healing, divining and counseling are present have replaced shamans as the primary source of such services.
Post-shamanic motifs are found among many Indo-Eruopean, Asian, African and some native peoples of North America. The use of Post-Shamanic as a term makes examination of these parallel traditons and possible survivals of earlier shamanic traditions easier.


Shamanism is not an urban phenomenon, nor is it found among agricultural civilizations. It requires a kind of training to put the mind in a self-induced trace-like state which accesses parts of the mind not ordinarily available to conscious thought. While I doubt that there is any real "travel" going on out of the body or to other parallel realms, the practice of yogic meditation and other forms of prayer-induced ecstacy have been around long enough to have some credibility. Shamanism uses that ecstacy in specific ways to "contact" "other worlds" or the spirits. Shamans claim to command spirits. None of the religious figures you discuss ever claimed to do that; rather, it was more the other way, with God commanding them.

You can't diagnose Mohammed's medical condition. He's been dead for years and years. Please stop pretending you can.

That you put Jesus in a different, "better" category than other great figures in religions of the Book whom you mention (and btw, where do you stand on Moses?) shows you to be a defender of Christianity, and not only that, but at the expense of Judaism and Islam. Not that it matters much in general, except that you go on to claim that you aren't. Please make up your mind.

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