Definitions and Meanings
within Shamanism's
Nomenclature
Definitions within Shamanism and shamanic
practices are sometimes very
different from the typically accepted Judaeo-Christian (or
even Hollywood) concepts.
Please allow me to ask one thing of you, the reader?
Suspend any pre-conceived definitions for the moment,
especially those based in religion’s dogma or popular
definition. These religion based, definitions are not
those of shamanism’s and I will be using these terms
based upon their shamanic meanings.
The origin of the description or term, “shaman” is
generally attributed to the Tungus tribes-people of what
is now Siberia. Shaman translates [arguably] as, “one
who knows”. In other traditional societies, ‘medicine
man’, ‘spirit talker’, ‘clever fella’, ‘witchdoctor’
etc. are all terms that typically describe a set of
skills commonly recognised or defined by industrialised
society as that of a shaman.
Anthropologists note evidence of shamanic practices in one form
or another in virtually all non-industrialised human
cultures from pre-history to today. Independently
developed shamanic practices have been using
contextually similar terms to describe phenomena and
observations for millennia, arguably far earlier &
independent of any organised religion’s definitions.
These terms continue to remain in use today despite a
significant and confusing overlap with later but far
more pervasive, modern religion based nomenclature or
definition.
| Term |
Definition |
|
Three Worlds |
The Middle,
Upper and Lower worlds of the "Middle
Kingdom". |
|
Three Kingdoms |
The analogue
non-linear energetic potential, the middle
Kingdom of the above three worlds, and
non-linear spirit & probability. |
|
Journey |
A state of
altered consciousness - the Shamanic State,
where a practitioner may voyage with their
mind beyond the
physical & linear constraints of the
corporeal experience. |
|
Energy |
Potential
which is yet to undergo the process of
temporal distillation through Probability's
process of resolution. |
|
Spirit |
The
persistent (timeless) energy of persistent
observations. Our thoughts are
arguably fixed in non-linear probability to exist
outside of linear time (think of
Schrodinger's cat for the science folks
here). Think of spirit a little like
Probability - the polar opposite of
Potential. |
|
Demon |
A semi-self
perpetuating entity formed from spirit and
intent. Demons may be formed by
recurrent thoughts (i.e. fear of cancer) or by
shaman to aid in healing etc. When
created for healing, the demons are limited
by design to fulfil only their intended
functions and then dissolve. Also used
negatively by some practitioners (e.g.
curses). |
|
Entity |
A fully
self-perpetuating energetic or spiritual
entity. A thought given enough energy
and repetition may resolve into an
autonomous, independent reality - an entity. |
|
Soul |
The
Energetic, Spiritual and Potential reality of a
mind. We may be talking of a person's
individual soul or a wandering soul often
thought of as a Poltergeist etc. |
|
Temporal
Distillation |
The process
where Probability resolves the myriad
possibilities of Potential into a singular
time line, always seeking the most
enduringly energetic outcome possible. |
|
Elementals |
Embodiments
of things to which personalities have been
attributed over time. Wind, Fire,
Earth, Tree (forest), River are all things
which have developed spirit over time, as
have many others, and are considered
elementals. |
|
Gaia |
The Spirit of
the Earth and Her children, the continents.
Energised by the same beliefs and
attributions made by peoples present and
past for as long as we have thought. |
|
