Journal of Child and Family Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1999, pp. 131-134 Shamans, Healing, and Mental Health Ashvind N. Singh1,2 The term shaman, as it is used today, is derived from the Siberian Tungus word, saman, meaning a person who has direct experience of the mysteries of life and the universe. Shamans are people who are the repositories of specialized knowledge and sacred practices in a culture, passing this knowledge from generation to generation. They are born with or develop a special sensitivity about the nature of the world, the interconnectedness of all things, and the need to maintain a balance in the universe. As children, they often feel that they have a spiritual calling and must endure greater hardships than others in their culture, such as serious illness and personal injury. If they are able to overcome these hardships, they are apprenticed to a shaman or several shamans, who help them to develop their special skills so that they can continue the shamanic tradition. Among other things, fully trained shamans can compose special healing songs, cause him/herself to enter into a trance-like condition, travel after souls or seek lost objects, and diagnose and cure illnesses. Although shamans are usually male, both males and females can be shamans. THE TRADITIONAL SHAMAN A shaman is a person who traverses the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds. The ability to travel between these worlds, and often in other states of consciousness, is what defines a shaman, and is believed to be the source of his strength and power. There are as many forms of shamanism as there are cultures in this world, each one with its own beliefs, practices, and rituals. In western cultures, the shaman is of the physical world only, and is commonly known as the medical doctor. 1 Behavior Specialist, Central State Hospital, Petersburg, VA. 2 Correspondence should be directed to Ashvind N. Singh, 7401 Sparkleberry Lane, Chesterfield, VA 23832-8000. 131 1062-1024/99/0600-0131$16.00/0 1999 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
132 Singh A Shaman's Apprentice Shamans begin their life pre-ordained from an early age to be village healers. It is their calling, and it often comes by way of a dream, vision, or an illness. This calling can, and usually does, disrupt the person's life. Although in some societies being chosen as a shaman is seen as a misfortune, it is most often seen as a great blessing. When the child is old enough, he is sent to work with and become the apprentice of the current village shaman. As an apprentice, the young child begins by learning which plants have medicinal properties and those which are harmful or toxic. Later, he will learn how to use the toxic plants for medicinal purposes as well. Although almost everyone in a village has some knowledge of plant species and their general properties, it is the shaman who is the expert. A rudimentary knowledge of medicinal plants is common among most villagers because of its survival value. For example, when villagers are out hunting and are bitten by insects, or brush up against toxic plants, they need to know enough about medicinal plants to be able to heal themselves, or at least to stabilize their condition until the local shaman can attend to them. Through years of training and practice, a shaman's apprentice learns how to heal afflictions of the body and mind. He may begin by collecting different species of plants for his teacher and learning how to combine them to heal specific ailments. He learns to treat not just the body or the mind, but both, because the body and mind are seen as different aspects of the same entity. In learning to treat the mind, the apprentice learns to call on spiritual guides who exist in the cosmic world. This requires intensive and closely supervised training, such as in Native American vision quests, for the apprentice to harness his spiritual powers. While these powers can also be used for non-healing purposes, the shaman teaches his apprentice how to use his physical and spiritual resources to heal the mind, body, and spirit. As the apprentice gains this knowledge, he realizes that spiritual power is gained by becoming one with all that exists and learning the intricate balance of nature. Shaman Belief System and Healing The healing power of the shamans is tied directly to their cultural belief in the spirits of the dead and in the living spirits of the world in which they live. The living spirits include those of everything that exists in the universe, not just those of humans and animals. Direct communication with these spirits provides the shaman with the knowledge and tools for healing. This type of healing process is based on the idea that everything in the universe is interconnected, without any fundamental parts. Thus, human beings are seen as being one with the universe, and in balance with nature. The concept of oneness is so fundamental to the shaman belief system that diseases are not even considered to be an individual affliction, but a disruption in
Shamans, Healing, and Mental Health 133 the balance of life. When there is imbalance, there is suffering and pain, either of the body or the mind, or both. The balance and harmony among physical and spiritual entities are considered especially important. For example, shamans in many cultures believe that the cause of many ailments can be traced to an imbalance or disharmony of specific spirits. In some cultures, for example, people believe that epilepsy is caused by a spirit who has become angry, and that the spirit conveys its displeasure by periodically draining the life force out of the individual, causing him to drop to the ground and shake uncontrollably. Because of the shaman's understanding of the spirit world, he is able to work with the individual to appease the angry spirit, restore balance and harmony, and enable the individual to be healed. In addition to medicinal plants and objects, spirituality is a cornerstone of the shamanic system. The concept of spirituality can have several meanings; however, within the aboriginal shaman system it usually refers to the life energy that flows among everything. When one aspect of this system is disrupted, it must be healed or great misfortune may fall on those who have caused the disruption. As everything is understood to be interconnected, each individual is considered a part of the collective spirit of the culture. Thus, if one person has an ailment, especially one dealing with the psyche, then not only is the problem within the individual but it also resides within the collective. For this reason, the healing of an individual may involve the whole family or an even wider network of people. In addition, rituals may be used that bring everyone together so that their collective life energies can be directed toward healing the individual. Healing and Mental Health Shamans flourish in holistic cultures. In these cultures, individuals value harmony with their environment, cooperation and cohesiveness above mastery of and control over the environment, and holistic over dualistic thinking. They value the relational context of their lives and find comfort in extended family relationships. Indeed, they place the well-being of their extended family above their own. This kind of understanding of one's place in the universe as an integral part of all things rather than as a separate entity lends itself to a healing model of health and mental health. The shamans believe that their role is to provide or restore balance in nature so that everything is in its place. When there is disharmony, there is pain and suffering. Thus, they see themselves as being instrumental in removing an individual's pain and suffering and facilitating wholeness. Healing implies wholeness or a state of equilibrium. For the shaman, good physical and mental health imply not only that the individual is free from suffering, but also that the individual is in a larger state of equilibrium. That is, the individual is in a harmonious relationship with all things with his biological, social, psychological, physical and cosmic environment. This implies that everything needs to
134 Singh be in balance for the human being to be whole, to be healed. Thus, for the shaman, healing requires much more than attention to the specific pain or suffering. This model of healing is gaining some momentum in current western mental health practice. For example, recent emphasis by therapists on finding out how the individual views his mental illness, what it means to him, and what he thinks can be done to heal him suggests that the individual's world view or context is seen as a critical aspect of mental health treatment. After all, the individual cannot have harmony in his life if the mental health treatment being prescribed for him is not consistent with his world view. Like the shamans, who view healing as coming from within the individual and treatment from external sources, modern mental health professionals are acutely aware that long-term mental health gains can only be sustained by building on the individual's instrumental and spiritual strengths rather than by externally imposed treatments that focus solely on a disease or disorder. Much of this thinking is evident in holistic treatment models, such as Person Centered Planning, which mandates that all treatment endeavors be centered around the individuals strengths. Person Centered Plans are developed not by one or two professionals but a much larger group of people who may have some role to play in enhancing the individual's quality of life, including but not limited to family members, friends, advocates, spiritual advisors, doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, other therapists, teachers, vocational counselors, financial advisors, community providers, and so on. Having this kind of an extended treatment team enables the individual to draw upon the rich topography of resources that are available so that he can achieve and maintain a state of good mental health. These kinds of treatment plans provide the networking and linking to community resources that enable the individual to stay healthy, remain inextricably linked with his community, and maintain his state of equilibrium. After all, good mental health is not an absence of mental affliction but a joyous and harmonious relationship with oneself, one's community, and the universe.