CHAPTER THREE.
THE ANCIENT SHAMANIC ORIGINS OF MEDIUMSHIP. Chapter Three will discuss Shamanism with regard to five particular objectives. The first objective will be to provide a more detailed discussion of the ancient phenomenon known as archaic shamanism to which passing reference was made in the preceding broad historical overview. This discussion will provide a historical, contextual home for the practices of mediumship, which are carried out today in particular by adherents to the religious movement known as Spiritualism. The religious philosophy of Spiritualism, discussed in earlier pages, grew up and is still nurtured by spirit communiqués believed to have their source in the invisible world and are received through the alleged faculty of mediumship. The role and function of the shaman; the shamanic state of consciousness which enables the shaman to make contact with the inhabitants of the invisible realms; how this altered state of consciousness is obtained; shamanic descriptions of realms of the non-physical world; the closeness of their alleged spirit helpers; and themes of psychic dismemberment, suffering and reintegration, leading to spiritual transformation and knowledge gained from the invisible spheres will be discussed in association with the first objective. The second objective will reveal that the ecstatic soul journeys of the shamans of antiquity, to visit otherworldly, co-existent realms and receive mediumistic communications from non-corporeal beings, possess many of the diverse features of transformative spiritual experiences. The writings of the eminent French scholar named Mircea Eliade will be drawn upon to provide evidence with regard to this objective. Eliade is highly recognised and acclaimed for his writings, which were based on a lifetime of academic research into the complex area of religions. Eliade's research evidences the historic and ongoing, related patterns of features of religions and religious experiences. Consequently, Eliade is understood to be a comparatist of religions and a religious historian. Eliade explains that ancient shamanic, psychic experiences of ascent and flying through the air like a spirit, (akin to features found in contemporary, related out of body and near death experiences) and mediumistically communicating with invisible, spirit inhabitants of meta-geographic realms, through the use of psycho-spiritual senses, possess the features involved in spiritual experiences despite the antiquity of these experiences. These archaic shamanic, spiritually orientated, psychic, mediumistic experiences engendered shamanic, experience-based spiritual and eschatological belief systems. Eliade is emphatic that shamanic experiences which gave rise to and perpetuated their beliefs in after death survival in the non-physical world, ethical behaviour and respect for animals and the Earth and the belief in the interconnectedness of all of creation, should not be regarded by contemporary materialist societies as being in any way spiritually inferior. The mediumistic experiences of historic shamans in particular, regarding communication with the inhabitants of the metaphysical, ethereal realms, which were believed to transcend time and space and to be the source of all spiritual insights and knowledge, inevitably gave rise to many shamanic spiritual beliefs including the belief in the interconnectedness of all life forms and the need to be respectful to each life form. When animals were eaten, they typically took no-more animals than were needed to feed and clothe the tribe, respectfully wasting nothing of their catch. Consequently, the third objective of this chapter evidences that many shamanic psychic, mediumistic practices and shamanic spiritual and eschatological experience-based beliefs have been highly significant and influential and are believed to lie at the roots of much of the world's spiritual philosophy. Shamanic beliefs and practices will be shown to be the ancestors of cultures and to be the source of a broad global range of practices and beliefs. Shamanism is inherent in alchemy, yoga techniques, the Hermetic Tradition, the Eastern traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism and the Wisdom Tradition or Perennial Philosophy, expounded in modern times by the Theosophical Movement, and the Spiritualist religion, which is nurtured by spiritually orientated alleged mediumistic communications believed to originate in the invisible realms. In particular, the writings of Shirley Nicholson and Larry Peters will be drawn upon to support the accumulated research evidence in order to fulfil the objectives of this discussion. Nicholson is known for her work as a senior editor for the Theosophical Publishing House which co-ordinates Quest Books. Nicholson is also known for her contributions as an author of a significant number of articles and books of an esoteric-philosophical and theosophical nature, many of which deal with altered states of consciousness. Larry G. Peters PhD. is an American author and is particularly known for carrying out anthropological research into the psychological and sociological aspects of shamanism in Nepal . Peters has worked as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the California Graduate Institute, Graduate School of Psychology in Westwood , California . He has also worked as a psychotherapist in private practice. Having carried out extensive research associated with shamanism, Peters concurs with Eliade, confirming that the ahistoric, shamanic, psychic, mediumistic experiences are essentially spiritual in nature and that they have been a significant influence, giving birth to many of humankind's spiritual and esoteric traditions. The fourth objective will be to explore the close relationship between the beliefs and practices of highly respected spiritual teachers of the Judeo-Christian traditions, alternatively known as the biblical prophets of antiquity, with those of earlier shamanic traditions. Similarities of experience and belief will be discussed including ancient echoes of mediumship taken from Ancient Semite Hebrew sources and will explore biblical Old Testament accounts in a mediumistic context. Evidence to support the objectives of this discussion will draw, in particular, on the research and writings of the scholar named Rabbi Yonassan Gershom. Gershom is known for his work as a Jewish spiritual teacher and as the Spiritual Director of the Disciples of the Light, which is a Jewish Fellowship in Minneapolis , Minesota. Gershom's private practice in America was characterised by its shamanic features, including techniques from Jewish mysticism, to assist in counselling and psychological healing. The fifth objective will be to evidence that the apparent psychic and mediumistic abilities reported of shamans from antiquity are regularly demonstrated today. This discussion will draw supportive evidence from contemporary psychical research studies that have been methodically documented and evaluated. Particular reference will be made to the writings of D. Scott Rogo. Rogo worked at John F. Kennedy University in California before his death and has written approximately twenty-five books on the subject of the paranormal. Rogo had research positions with the Psychical Research Foundation and with the Maimonides Medical Centres former Division of Parapsychology and Psychophysics in Brooklyn . He worked as a member
|
