Shamanic illness

About shamanistic rite, epileptic syndrome and the process of becoming a shaman.

Shamanic disease is a rather strange term, since on the one hand, it can be distributed not only to the shamans, and on the other hand, we must honestly admit that this is not a disease. And maybe that's why no coincidence that in the present situation, when shamanism significantly transformed, our new shamans or neo-shaman speaking about shamanic sickness, sometimes tell us the most incredible situations. For example, once I was struck by the shaman - in any case, it considered itself per se - that I said in answer to a question as she proceeded shamanic sickness, it was a very long cold, she suffered a few years, and then came a healer from Moscow, she went to him and he looked at her and said, "Yes, you're a shaman, you also need to learn, and that you have a shamanic illness. As soon as you start to work - everything goes. " Alas and ah, and it happened. She really believed that it was a real shamanic illness.

In fact, if we turn to the shamanic tradition, then, of course, there is this shamanic sickness, and it highlights all the researchers who somehow engaged in traditional shamanism, for example, in the book Basilova "Chosen spirits" is very popular now, you will find this is the point: it stipulates that the most important thing in shamanic illness - is the mental suffering of man. And mental suffering were very strong, they were fantastic hallucinations, and knew not only the man himself, it is seen and surrounding - I am not referring to hallucinations, and his suffering. And these sufferings could be not only mental, but also psycho-physical nature, that is in the process of becoming was involved in virtually all human psychophysiology.

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Perhaps more reasonable to say that the shaman's disease - this is the process of becoming a shaman, as it is now Western scholars first and treat the issue. If we talk about what it was before, we have to admit that everything happened so powerful, so strong, and, from the point of view of others on culture travelers observed a similar phenomenon is absolutely in the embodiment of mental deviations, we, of course, need to remember that the fundamental principle of shamanic disease apparently was provoked and psyche, physiology and shaman, and including culture. The same Vladimir Basilov used to say that in fact everything that happens with the shaman in this period, cultural provoked. And this is true because, when people lived in a fairly closed environment, they knew very well who the shaman as is the establishment of a shaman, and that this will be followed. Actually, according to this scheme rolled all happened. However, if we consider it from the perspective of neurophysiology, from the perspective of psychology, even from a position of some somatic manifestations occurring at this time with a person, we must remember that it is not only a cultural phenomenon, and the phenomenon of psychophysiology, of course.

I'm in the early 2000s was a great interdisciplinary project to study the peculiarities of the individual shamans, healers and others who are related to such manifestations and the corresponding magical-mystical and magical-medical practitioners. In fact, it was clear that the people who not only are some interesting variant of the formation, but actually as a result of the formation change something in their mind, they have changed the work of the brain. They get some version of the brain, by means of which they then carry out their shamanic practice. But to reach this point, they have to go through a very solid formation that resembles a mental illness.

The very formation of went in different variants. Very vividly about it and usually tell Yakuts write. For example, in the book Ksenofontov, republished in 1992, you can find a lot of variety of materials on which the vision experienced future shamans and how they behaved in this period: they jumped up at night, for example, naked ran away from home, worn on cold forest, sometimes it is in a completely stationary when people have thought that the man was dead, but he came back again to life. Those hallucinations, which they experienced, are extremely interesting. They are interested in their content and for psychiatrists to relate to what is happening in some people, which modern psychiatry considers abnormal. You can view other traditions and other options of becoming a shaman.

For example, in the north-east Siberia, we can observe the phenomenon of transvestism, resulting person also became a shaman.

That is, men are woman, get used to the image of women, sometimes even a "woman", so to speak, was married to a man and led a life of a particular option. This was a lot of writing, for example, Tan Bogoras in their scientific papers and literary works. But these options are not very similar to one another, but the essence is the same: there is always present the shamanic suffering. That is the person to become a shaman, was supposed to be affected by the spirits, as the idea of shamanism is linked directly to the fact that this is a person who, on the one hand, there were shamans ancestors, on the other hand, it is chosen as a man capable of shamanic activity, begin to force her these same spirits. Sometimes they are realized as ancestral spirits, shamans, sometimes a little differently. But, anyway, people usually do not want to become a shaman. His cause. And this compulsion occurs at a very serious impact of the spirits is a mental order in the first place.

If we talk about, what diseases it can be correlated, in Soviet times, when the shaman began to be regarded simply as the mentally ill, they put very different diagnoses. Moreover, in principle it is possible to draw attention to the fact that these diagnoses differ regionally. Say epileptoid syndrome - is one of the diagnoses, which is very often the case in Southern Siberia in the future shaman, or those who did not take place as a shaman. What are some options out there, of course, we called schizophrenia. All this is some of his confirmation, if we look at the description of the process of becoming a shaman. And of course, it is possible to correlate remotely, but it is probably not possible to say that shamans - it's just crazy how some time in the XVII-XVIII centuries appeared the first travelers to observe the process shamanistic rites. Of course, it was quite unlike our culture, and Europeans who came there looking at these people as slightly inferior standing people. And here is the attitude, which then resulted in a statement of some diagnoses. But the fact is that if a person puts such a diagnosis - it is once again we are talking about the Soviet period - and the man sent to psycho clinic for treatment, then, frankly, nothing good is not ended. It is, as a rule, and did not become a shaman, and lost their personal skills.

However, the man who took his own way, it passes through shamanic becoming, naturally, it turned into a shaman. What's been very important in traditional society? The fact is that in a situation where a person fell into such a state that could be described as "a candidate for shamans," invited him to the big shaman - a man capable of understanding what was happening to him. As a result, a certain type of ritual this senior shaman usually did his reasoning. Or, he said, that this man is a shaman, and then, as a rule, take it to the disciples, if tradition is allowed, or he said it, of course, the mentally ill and needs to be treated. Of course, he did not speak these words, I am saying, because for them it was the spirits of the universe, it was an obsession, it was necessary to expel these spirits. So there are two options: either we spirits are distilled off, either, on the contrary, we introduce this future shaman spirit helpers, with his guardian spirits, patrons, through which it will subsequently operate, conducting his shamanistic ritual.

We say that the shaman's disease - is the process of becoming a shaman. However, we have different shamanic techniques and different variants of shamanic practices. All of what I said earlier, is due, as a rule, with the technique, which is called "the journey of the shaman" more technology "expulsion of shamanic spirits" or chat with them in some other form. There is another technique, which is now very widely used in Buryatia. It mostly has to do with Central Asia than to the traditions of our Siberian peoples - is a technique of introduction of the spirit. Here are a few other procedure and shamanic disease itself, and becoming a shaman. If a "journey of the shaman" It was very important to understand that this person should be a shaman, and carry with them a special rite, carried out like the finale of this initiation, initiation, in this situation we are not a one-time initiation, not a one-time initiation and gradual initiation. And then it turns out that you can begin to engage in shamanic practice, almost without suffering shamanic illness.

Once detected the first signs that a person can become a shaman, he turns to a higher shamans, who have been quite a lot of dedications. For example, in the tradition that I mentioned - spirits of the universe - say anything about the nine initiations, or the initiations of thirteen, with the result that a person acquires a quasi-divine status, he becomes a shaman-Zaarin so sacred person of substance. And initially it goes in stages, such dedication and training, and training can go in the truest sense.

Now we have a very interesting company in Ulan-Ude, entitled "Tengeri" where actively devote modern shamans using oldburyatic tradition.

And they were today brought into our reality from northern Mongolia, where the Buryats live and current Buryats living in the Republic of Buryatia, devoted there, acquiring this knowledge and passing their many initiations. Now it goes to the very Buryatia. And not only can initiate Buryats, ethnic Buryats, but also representatives of other nationalities.

There it goes also quite painful, especially if a person desires to have to start shamanic sickness, so he literally fell into it. Nevertheless, it is more like training, and it really is the gradual emergence of a shaman, where at each stage of its train a certain version of the work. What it is? It is a work in an altered state of consciousness. And if in the tradition of the shaman like myself, sometimes simultaneously - very often this happened - dumped as if this altered state of consciousness, he suddenly quite unexpectedly began to someone to see, something to hear, he was persecuted voices that -That he was required during shamanic illness, he saw these spirits in a very terrible cases, they tortured him, it could tear, and it was, so to speak, to the signal to get out of this situation. His one-time dedicated, and he began to deal with all that he saw and heard.

Here it is held in a milder form, and, accordingly, a person simply becomes as it were, every time a new opportunity, a new version of this work in an altered state of consciousness. And I must say that now is generally a very changed dramatically Repose of shamanic illness. Current shamans not only, as I first said, saying that three years was cold, but they say, as a rule, or about any physical suffering that they were persecuted or of depressive states, or that and another, sometimes we can talk about something else. And by the way, for this kind of activity can lead, of course, not only the shaman's disease, especially in the classic versions, which we mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, and there may be a variety of different options, when a person, for example, gets injured, associated with the brain, and it suddenly starts to see, hear, and also refers to a shamanic practice or to the healing practice, or even to some. I must say that this is still poorly understood aspects and, probably, it will be investigated in the future, but it is in interdisciplinary embodiment, when neuroscientists, psychiatrists, psychologists, biophysicists and biochemists together and examine it from all sides. Although currently there is already such an interesting study.