(The following is the first in a series of articles aimed at helping people awaken the shamanic core that already exists within the heart of Wicca)

One time, at a Wiccan study group that my wife and I facilitate, someone introduced themselves as being interested in both "Wicca" and "Shamanism".  To them, they were discribing two different spiritual paths. To us, it was like someone saying that they were born on both "Samhain" and "Halloween"...different words for the same thing!

Few words have been as abused in our modern, post new-age lexicon as "shaman" and "shamanic".  Indeed, a great many books I have happened across supposedly dealing with "Shamanism" wind up being watered-down guides to some kind of indisguinishable pseudo Native-Americanism that bears precious little resemblance to any genuine shamanic system practiced anywhere in the world.  What most fail to realize that Wicca is inherantly shamanic, as are most Pagan, non-revealed religions.

Revealed Religions

A "revealed" religion is one that can be easily traced back to an individual who started it.  A person comes along who claims, basically, that God has "spoken to them" and they have it all figured out...what God wants from us, and how we can serve Him.  Judaism has Abraham and/or Moses, Islam has Muhammed (PBUH), Christianity has Jesus (though, more accurately, it's the apostle Paul), etc.  Such religions tend to be heirarchial (because the "special relationship with God" enjoyed by the founder has been passed along a special line of priests/apostles/imams, etc), and view God (or the spirit) as separate from the material world.

While there have been many revealed religions through the centuries, they tend to be absolutist and are overwhelmed by the "big three" of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Organic Religion

An organic religion, on the other hand, grows and evolves slowly over time.  While they may have creation myths that also include the beginnings of the religion, they are often not tied to a historic persona, but are more mythic in nature.  Such a faith will grow with a particular people, and tends to view time in a cyclical (rather than linear) fashion.While modern Pagan faiths, such as Wicca, may have progenators, revivers, or the like, they are re-discoveries of ancient, organic Pagan faiths.  So while we may trace modern Wicca back to Gerald Gardner, he never claimed to have special knowledge of the Divine...he just led the way in re-discovering the Old Ways for a great many people.

Paganism and Shamanism

Organic religions tend to be shamanic at their core.  In fact, most are surprised to learn that the word "shaman" is not a Native-American term.  It was originally used to discribe the spiritual, religio-magical practices of the Turkic-Mongol tribe in Northern Siberia, located in modern day Russia.  The fact that it was later used as a kind of short-hand for anthropologists has made some anthrpologists quite upset.  Those in the second group think that applying the term willy-nilly to any aboriginal religio-magical practice blurs the lines between them in Western minds and robs individual cultures of their uniqueness (I tend to agree, but will continue to use the words "shaman" and it's variations in this article for the sake of clarity).

In fact, the only aboriginal culture that most Americans have ever had any contact with are the various Native American cultures.  Since their religio-spiritual practices have been termed "shamanic", then that word has become entwined with Native American cultures in the minds of many.  In the 1980's, followers of the New Age movement sparked a renewed interest in Native American cultures and practices, and from there things got really bad.

Bury My Heart at Neiman-Marcus

As I've said before, the New Age movement, at it's core, had the idea that there could be one, universal, New Age religion for all people.  In the end, many thought that if they could cherry-pick the "best" aspects from a wide variety of different faiths, then they could someday find that "perfect" blend.

While there were plenty of Eastern mystic and New Age gurus who were eager to enable this buffet-style spirituality (for a hefty fee), there were some Native Americans, from various tribes, who resisted.  I remember hearing Blue-Shield Medicine Woman Amy Lee lamenting how so many suburbanites wanted to come to her to learn "genuine" native American ways, but not wanting to practice genuine Native American ways.  They wanted the "real deal" so that they could take what suited them, and discard the rest.  Amy was not amused.

Of course, there were those, tempted by the big money that could be had, who willingly spewed forth materials and workshops on "Native American Spirituality" specifically tailored to white people.  These people traded on their Native American ancestry to sell a stale mish-mosh of dozens of Native American systems.  I remember one book, written by Sun Bear, that took a base of modern Neo-Paganism and Western astrology, dressed it up in a thin vaneer of Native American window-dressing, and tried to pass this off as the "real thing".
 
(As an aside, I had an aquaintence at the time with strong ties to his Native American  heritage...by best estimates, he was 70% or better Cherokee.  When I mentioned this Sun Bear book, he expressed his...displeasure with the author.  Calling him "Sun Bitch", he said that he could forgive the people who forked over the money for his books and seminars, but Sun Bear knew better.)

What a lot of these fluff books accomplished was a horrible blurring of the lines in the minds of many.  In fact, whenever I hear someone talking about "Native American Spirituality", I feel compelled to correct them.  There never was one, single "Native american Spirituality", but hundreds of different Native American spiritualities - plural.  To anyone willing to take the time to look closely, one Native American religious system can be tremendously different from another.  Only to our uneducated, western eyes do they look the same.  Peel back the animal skins, however, and you'll find a wide variety of concepts and ideas that are truly facinating.

Far too many of the books and web pages I've seen dedicated to shamanism are little more than the old New-Age "Neo-Amerindian" tomes re-worked with a different label attatched.  But animal totems, rattles, and other window-dressing do not a shaman make.

The Shamanic Heart of Wicca

In the end, the energies and principles most often labeled "shamanic" are not something separate that must be combined with Wicca, but something that already exists within the path, waiting to be awakened. 

But how to get there?  Simply adopting the trappings of other shamanic systems will do little for those truly wanting to re-awaken the shamanic heart of Wicca.  Nor will using specific techniques developed for other faiths.

Really, to figure out just how to add the shamanic demention inherrant to Witchcraft to one's own Wiccan practice, it helps to identify just what one is looking for in initiating such a quest.  Why do you want to "combine" Wicca and shamanism?  What are you looking for?  What do you hope to accomplish?

For most, what they want is the benefits that the deep mysticism represented by shamanism can offer both their spiritual and magickal practice.  In reality, magickal religions such as Wicca have spirituality and magick so deeply entwined that separating the two is foolhardy, and at best, a waste of time.  For those pursuing the shamanic path within Wicca, any such separations will quickly fall by the wayside, and they will find that both their magickal potency and their deep spirituality will increase many-fold.

For those seeking to awaken the shamanic core in their Witchcraft practice, they're really seeking to have the deepest possible relationship to the forces of nature...nature spirits, land spirits, etc.  They also seek to have a special bond with the Divine, one stronger than any they may now enjoy.  They seek to have a more fufilling connection to the spirit world, one where forces once beyond our understanding become our friends and allies.  They seek a total connection with the All that has been the goal of mystics and sages since the sawn of time.

I, myself, was seeking a deeper mysticism and found shamanism.  Those searching for shamanism will find themselves on the path of the deep mystic.  In the end, they're the same...at least in Paganism.  Getting there will require a realignment of concepts and ideals (for some), deep introspection, and brutal honesty with oneself.  I cannot lead you there, for the path of the mystic is different for every person who walks that path.  I can, however, give you a few nudges in the right direction.

Coming soon...the first nudge.

Blessed Be,
Taliesin