Chasing the Shamans of Amazon

Last night, I was reading a book on Shamanism titled "Stone Age Wisdom: The Healing Principles of Shamanism". I came across this book while browsing Half Price Books. Although we hear a lot about other spiritual schools of thought, Shamanism is mostly unexplored territory. The ancient cultures of Americas have intrigued me since I read various Native American folktales, which included the custom of having a Shaman in every tribe. Whenever some disease fell on the tribe, the Shaman would go in a deep trance and the whole tribe would be healed through his spiritual powers. While the rituals of Shamanism may just be interesting for one’s passing curiosity, the basic principles are quite profound. Their belief that everything has a spirit extends to five basic aspects:

- Everything is alive
- Everything is conscious
- Everything is dynamic
- Everything is connected
- Everything is responsive

I found the idea of analyzing dreams through these five aspects to get a glimpse into the past and future particularly interesting. The way these ancients connected with their environment through mutual respect should be a lesson for all of us who are busy consuming everything around us mindlessly in the name of progress. Although it is easy to reject everything as superstition, I think there is a lot to learn from the ancient traditions we have long forgotten to create our own brave new world.