This is for studying
THE EMERGENCE OF THE SHAMANIC ARCHETYPE
The SHAMANIC ARCHETYPE naturally arises in the human psyche in response to major crisis - it is precisely what guides us through crisis to a new birth of consciousness.
Humanity is currently facing a great crisis; our collective “ego” needs to die in order for our collective “Higher Self” to emerge. This death and rebirth crisis is the fundamental crux of shamanistic initiation, a phenomenon that exists in every culture, and is the very pattern by which consciousness itself continuously evolves.
So as a sort of self-healing response to this global crisis, the shamanic archetype is emerging from the collective unconscious, rising up through each and every one of us, thousands, hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions of people experiencing a resurgence of primeval shamanistic knowledge and experience. How this universal archetype manifests is unique to each individual, but behind these unique manifestations is a single complex that is as old as human consciousness itself.
If we approach shamanism as inherently archetypal, universal, and spontaneously arising in any and all cultures, the implication is that:
Individuals from all over the world resonate with the same
archetypal complex, albeit in splendidly diverse ways.
The following 25 "facets" have been designed to measure both the universality (unity) of this vitally important incarnating archetype, and the specific ways (multiplicity) that it is manifesting in each individual. Which ones do you identify with primarily? Secondarily? In your friends?
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25 FACETS OF THE SHAMANIC ARCHETYPE: WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL CONFIGURATION? HOW IS IT MANIFESTING IN YOU?
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1. TWICE BORN / ONE WHO HAS BEEN INITIATED
- Has undergone an initiatory death and spiritual rebirth.
- Has been initiated into “the spirit world” (supersensible realms, immaterial dimensions of consciousness); can “walk and work in both worlds”.
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2. PSYCHOPOMP (SOUL GUIDE)
- Guide of souls to or through the “underworld”. Has passed through “the gates of death” during initiation, and is able to cross the threshold and come back.
- One who carries out ‘Soul Retrievals’.
- Midwife of births, midwife of deaths.
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3. STORYTELLER; MYTHMAKER; SACRED HISTORIAN
- Mythic images and narratives arise out of initiatory journeys into the spiritual world and back. The "Hero's Journey" is symbolically analogous to the shaman's archetypal initiatory narrative.
- Keeper of sacred history.
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4. TECHNICIAN OF DREAM TIME; TENDER OF DREAMS
- Experiences the dream world as a place equally as “real” as the world of waking life.
-Able to work in the dream world.
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5. EXPLORER AND CARTOGRAPHER OF IMMATERIAL REALMS
- Pioneering spirit, who explores and maps out previously unknown (or forgotten or obscure, or difficult to know) realms of consciousness.
- Includes remote viewing, astral projection, spiritual reconnaissance and research.
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6. VISIONARY ARTIST, WRITER, POET, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
- Creator of art that records humanity’s ongoing, ever-evolving relationship to the supersensible, archetypal, mythical, imaginal, magical, spiritual realms.
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7. SACRED MUSICIAN, SINGER, DANCER, ACTOR, PERFORMER
- Performs music, dance, or drama while in a state of trance (inspiration) that further induces a trance state in the audience, by means of which the audience can experience greater access to archetypal reality, the subconscious psyche, or energies of the spiritual world
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8. TECHNICIAN OF (ECSTATIC) TRANCE STATES
- Can enter non-ordinary states of consciousness at will, in order to accomplish specific ends.
- Can induce trance states in others, to achieve particular ends.
- Modern manifestations: DJ, hypnotist, comedian, actor, cinematic arts (director, editor, special effects, score composer), video game designer, charismatic public speaker, politician, evangelical preacher, exotic dancer, advertising artist, Yoga teacher, etc.
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9. ASCETIC
- One who abstains from certain sense-gratifications—certain foods, drinks, drugs, sex, indulgence of passions—with the intention of cultivating more spiritual purity and will-power.
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10. PROMETHEAN SCIENTIST, MATHEMATICIAN, INVENTOR, ENGINEER, ARCHITECT, ENTREPRENEUR
- One who upholds the original unity between Science, Art, and Religion.
- Seeks the promethean gnosis underpinning the natural laws of Creation. Uses this gnosis to give a civilization new theories, discoveries, inventions, innovations, technologies, paradigms. A revolutionary of consciousness.
- Seeks scientific comprehension of the “divine laws and mechanics” of nature and the cosmos.
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11. HERMETIC MAGICIAN, ALCHEMIST, ASTROLOGER, ESOTERICIST, OCCULT SCIENTIST
- One in possession of “secret” hermetic knowledge about the magical Mysteries. Trained in ‘magical arts’. Understands how to use invocations, spells, magical symbols, and “occult science” to attain various ends.
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12. WOUNDED HEALER
- The call to initiation comes in the form of an illness or serious crisis that wounds the candidate. Self-healing—performing one’s own soul-retrieval—constitutes the shamanic initiation. This leads to specialization, vocational focus/mission. For example, a recovered addict may go on to help other addicts recover.
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13. CLAIRVOYANT, PSYCHIC, REMOTE VIEWER, SEER
- Can directly perceive subtle bodies (etheric bodies, astral bodies, auras, chakras, emotions) and/or spiritual entities (shadows, ghosts, demons, angels, ancestral spirits, nature spirits).
- Is tapped into a source of knowledge beyond personal experience. Receives genuine insights about other people or events from supersensible sources.
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14. ENERGY WORKER
- One who enters into an altered state of consciousness, and in this state, works with more subtle energies (usually to bring about some form of healing in others.)
- Some examples: Reiki, Qi-gong, Tantra, acupuncture.
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15. ONE WHO HAS FORMED ALLIANCES / WORKING RELATIONSHIPS WITH SUPERSENSIBLE ENTITIES (SPIRITS)
- Has a conscious relationship with “familiars” “helpers” “tutelary spirits” “guides” “allies” – entities inhabiting supersensible realms.
- Can communicate with spirits, and understand how they communicate with humans.
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16. MYSTICALLY CONNECTED TO NATURE
- Perceives the earth as inherently sentient and Divine, a Great Mother Goddess, worthy of veneration, study, emulation, and much effort (even personal sacrifice) to protect.
- Has a need to commune with Nature; to live close to, in harmony with, Nature; to live according to natural rhythms and cycles.
- Perceives and communicates with the spirits of Nature; has formed a symbiotic relationship with certain plant spirits.
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17. INITIATED INTO THE DARKNESS OF THE SPIRIT WORLD
- As a result of this initiation, is able to perceive (see and/or feel) the spirits of darkness, but may or may not choose to form alliances with them.
- Understands the relationship between spirits, the dark side of magic, human illness, and suffering.
- Initiation is often brought about by trauma; being “abducted” into the underworld. The healing from the trauma (soul retrieval) constitutes the shamanic initiation.
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