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| Yes | 77% | 172 votes | Total: 223 votes | |
| No | 23% | 51 votes |
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Add to FavoritesOnce upon a time there was a man locked up in a castle. It was a barren and terrible place that brought out the reality of men - those who were good were better, those who were bad were worse.
The man met a woman there one day who agreed to teach him a job he thought he might like to do some day. But the tides were treacherous in the Sea of Men and that future was delayed by a great storm. As the storm raged, the man and the woman had many long conversations about life, about his life in particular, and about the meaning of life, and what she had found and where. She gave him a book that told of a game he could play. The game was playful but serious, too. It was a game of remembering.
He took that book to his cell in the castle that night and tried to play the game. He lay down in the darkness and saw a place where he thought he had lost something. He saw a door he knew well, then the staircase beyond leading down to a cellar he remembered too. He remembered which way the stairway faced and tried to descend but every time he took a step forward the staircase was torn about in his mind's eye. He tried again and again to descend the staircase and each time it was torn around to face the opposite way. He had a great trust in the woman - she had passed all the tests he knew how to give - and he decided he would trust her in this, in this book, in this game; he allowed himself to descend the stairs as they wanted to be.
As he went down he was met by a series of animals - each greeting him in their own way. It made him laugh it was such a strange thing to happen, here in this castle in his cell, in his head. But he felt it in his heart in a way that was new to him - this game was no game but was playful and serious.
The man was me. The woman was a therapist. The castle was a prison. The game was a visualization technique - a way of reconnecting to a child I had once been, a child who had become lost and the cellar was the last place i could remember having been 'him', myself. What happened to me that night surprised the hell out of me - I'm laughing as i write that because it is literally true too. I knew nothing about shamanism then. When i told my friend the therapist about what i had seen she was very surprised and leaned me two books, one of which - 'Singing the Soul Back Home' by Caitlin Matthews, had a detailed description of 'meeting your power animals' and instructions for the budding Shaman on how to enter a trance state and reach such a place of meeting. I was overwhelmed by the exact way my experiences were laid out in this book - the sensations, the particular animals, their traditional greetings. This was NOT something I had been looking for!
I was educated in the philosophy of science, epistemology, psychology and all sorts of other rational things - I had an explanation for EVERYTHING! I really didn't need to be told I was having 'spiritual visions' - that just did not fit my atheistic and rational map of the world. Still...the facts were clear - I had experienced something that many others had and what i FELT about that seemed to me to be more important than the rationalizations my brain happily conjured.
The reason that shamanic symbols are important is that they are cross-culturally experienced. Many men and women, from all the continents and as far back and further than history lets us see, have met the same symbols in journeying(the trance/visionary state a shaman enters) and I would have thought those need to be 'taught' - that they were dependent on a cultural induction, if you will. I was wrong about that and in this experience and in many that were to follow, I consistently met things that have been spoken of and written down for thousands of years.
From the fiery and turgid energy of the underworld(a place misinterpreted and misrepresented as hell in judeo-christian faith) to the bright, airy and awe-inspiring upper world(only misrepresented as heaven in its unreal opposition to 'hell', perhaps). From the spirits who represent themselves as, or are seen by us as animals and the truth each particular creature can help us with, to the many-stranded web of creation...these symbols ARE important, whether you choose to accept a rationalized account of archetypes such as Jung's or a mystical account such as you'll find in shamanism, there is SOMETHING in these symbols that holds profound truth for us humans...whatever we 'really' are.
An interesting aside might be to consider the lack of power the 'demons' have in Pullman's, now further bastardized on film, series of books. The animals he chooses, with perhaps the exception of the golden monkey, hold none of the power you can feel when you read about real experiences of people who have met their own power animals. This is one of the clearest examples i know of having taken form as being more important than content - but it is the content that has power, the symbols aren't a random choice - they are, like I've said, something powerful enough to be discovered and rediscovered by all races throughout history.
Years on now, from that first experience, I still take an agnostic and skeptical view of what i have experienced. I think of Shamanism as a map that seems to relate well to a spiritual reality beneath, just as science and logic are excellent maps to find explanations of every-day reality, but they are still both maps - open to question, revision and new discoveries. They are very different epistemologies(theor ies of knowledge) and where rationality is key in science, emotion, direct experience and intuition are key in Shamanism - perhaps that's why the integrity of symbols is so important. Symbols speak to our hearts in ways that are beyond rationality - at least as our relatively new understanding of that stands.
For me, personally, these symbols are precious because i have experienced their power to change and heal and my relationship with them is something to be guarded and nurtured. For the world at large I believe these symbols are important because they hold truths in a different language than that spoken by science and logic.
Learn more about this author, Miles George.
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No
A symbol is valuable only within context. The importance of a given symbol is weighted relative to the symbols around it and the emphasis placed upon that symbol. Asking if a given set of symbols are important is the same as asking if a language is important. In the case of language, it is generally accepted as true that language (oral or written) is required for a person to express their ideas easily to another.
All language is symbolic. When a person says "I am going to the store," the verbalization is not the same as the act described. When abstract concepts such as love, honor, duty, or even mathematics are included, there is a new element of complexity added. The direct connection between word and understanding its meaning becomes increasingly depending upon context cues and previously agreed upon parameters.
Communication, which is the primary goal of language, fails when there is a misunderstanding of either of these elements. One may ask why focus upon communication and language when the topic of debate is shamanic symbols. The focus upon communication is because the symbols used by shamans (and others who operate within a similar belief system parameters), is a form of language. Unlike the written and spoken word in the English language, there are no individual units to detail the formation of the words that express the concept conveyed.
The language conveyed by the shamanic symbols is a pictorial one and, in some cases, a kinesthetic one. Gestures and images rather then letters make up the words of the language. Strung together it becomes possible to read' the language and understand what the shaman is expressing in their efforts. An understanding of the cultural mindset that the shaman is working from serves to provide the context cues and a comprehension of the traditionally ascribed meanings provides the basis of the previously agreed upon parameters for discussion.
All of this serves to rephrase the question are shamanic symbols important?' to are words important?' It's an incredibly simple question with an equally simple answer. Important implies value. The value of a word is neutral, as it simply serves as a vehicle for expressing a concept. Any and all value attached to the concept is attributed by the speaker or listener. The same is true for all symbols.
In the case of shamanic symbols, like other spiritual symbols, the meanings and importance of the symbols viewed is colored by a high degree of subjectivity. To remove the subjectivity, let's refocus back on the language perspective. The word ma-ma', is it important? Here is where the questions of context and agreed upon meanings rears it's ugly head.
By itself, the word ma-ma' is of neutral value and can be declared unimportant. Within the context of a child learning to speak, however, the word ma-ma' can become important. Let us narrow the focus a bit more, within the context of a small child learning to speak English, the word ma-ma' is important. The child saying the word is demonstrating several developmental milestones that indicate if it is developing properly. The word ma-ma' shows the child has acquired sufficient skill and control over their mouth and vocal cords to manipulate their verbalization in an effort to communicate with others. It could also demonstrate that the child has acquired the intellectual complexity and comprehension to realize that ma-ma' is the word that describes their mother.
If you take the context away, you are left with just a symbol. To the child, it is an important tool to communicate their needs and desires. To the mother of the child, it has an additional meaning. That additional meaning is subjective, it is an expression of love and affection from their child and this make it additionally important. The word ma-ma', however, has no intrinsic value except for what could be derived in how well it conveys the concept. The meanings attached to the word ma-ma' by the child or the mother does not affect the simple fact that it is a word that describes a concept. These subjective meanings attached to the word also do not change the traditionally ascribed meaning or the colloquially attached ones either.
The same can be said for shamanic symbols. They are of a neutral intrinsic value and as such they are of no importance.
Learn more about this author, Deborah M..
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