Shamanism -- critical concepts, 20
p. 63 hunters’ shaman
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"... an antelope shaman, a man who in aboriginal times was entrusted with the task of "singing" antelope to sleep during the annual Washo antelope drives." |
p. 63 dream of the moon
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"he would go to sleep ... and dream of a bear who came and stood in the lean-to opening and stared at him. When he looked at the bear, it would vanish, and then |
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[the dreamer] would fly up into the sky toward the moon. This dream recurred frequently over a fairly long period." |
p. 67 a dream concerning the dead
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"I had a dream. I saw a buck in the west. It was a horned buck. It looked east. |
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"... the buck was the "boss of the rain." ... The Washo believed that the souls of the recently dead travel south {which is also the belief in India} but that, soon after, the souls of those who have done evil turn east." |
p. 70 method for curing
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"... he paid for the health of the patient by scattering grey and yellow seeds mixed with pieces of abalone around the body of the patient; the seeds symbolized food, and the shells symbolized money. ... |
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Arising, he walked around blowing his whistle, attempting to attract the disease object or germ from the body of the patient ... whence it might be repulsed or captured by the whistle." |
p. 73 the tenets of traditional Washo religion
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"a spirit world populated by the departed souls of all animate beings ... |
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The age of a person in the spirit world was that at which he had died. |
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The souls of evil persons were segregated in one section of the spirit world, but they underwent no particular punishments ..." |
pp. 73-74 shamanic theory of spirit-energy
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p. |
theory |
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73 |
"the substance and composition of the spirit world is very similar to ... pulses of energy. These are everlasting and everpresent, and all objects in the natural world are also composed partially of them. ... therefore, spirit and mind are the same, both being composed of ... "ethereal waves." |
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When an individual dreams, his "mind-power" travels to the spirit world, remaining connected to his material body by a thin lifeline of energy. If this thin line of energy breaks, the individual’s "mind-power" is unable to return to its material shell, and death results. |
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73-4 |
... when a person dies his departing spirit or "ego" remains temporarily encased in a weak body shell, the "astral body," but within one month the "astral body" falls away and the "pure" ego or spirit returns to the spirit world." |
p. 74 the 3 planes of existence
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"The spirit world itself has three planes – the first a "coarse" level, the second a finer level, and the third was the finest or purest level. |
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Normally, when a person dreams, his spirit or mind-power travels to the first level. |
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Passage into the second level, either in dreams or in death, |
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is impossible unless the individual has been pure in mind and heart ... |
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The third level is the domain of "God," "creator," and "omnipotent life." {cf. the Manda< designation of the Supreme Deity as "Life".} |
p. 75 magpies & shamanic rattlesnake-power
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Dream of "sitting at the eastern end of a valley hiding from a whirlwind. Seeing it was coming straight toward him, he was frightened and hid in the willows. The whirlwind stopped in front of him, and a magpie flew out and lit on a nearby willow." |
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"rattlesnake power, the power to sorcerize, ... to handle rattlesnakes without personal harm ..." |
p. 76 butterfly-spirit causing heart-flutter
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"with an apparent history of heart trouble, ... found a butterfly in the man’s chest and removed it." |
Andrei A. Znamenski : Shamanism. RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2004. 3 Vols.
Vol. II, pp. 62-84 = 20. Don Handelman : "The development of a Washo shaman".