Shamanism

The world of ecstasy is the world of supernatural powers and agencies, therefore the shaman dives into it. He exists in two worlds: outside the trance he lives the daily life..., inside the trance he is a part and parcel of the supernatural world, sharing with the spirits some of their potentialities: the capacity to fly, to transform himself, to become one with his helping spirit, and so on. (Hultkrantz, Ake. A Definition of Shamanism. Temenos 9:25-37)


Aua, an Iglulik Eskimo shaman: I endeavored to become a shaman by the help of others; but I did not succeed. I visited many famous shamans, and gave them great gifts...I sought solitude, and here I soon became very melancholy. I would sometimes fall to weeping, and feel unhappy without knowing why. Then, for no reason, all would suddenly be changed, and I felt a great, inexplicable joy, a joy so powerful that I could not restrain it, but had to break into song, a mighty song, with only room for the one word: joy, joy! And I had to use the full strength of my voice. And then in the midst of such a fit of mysterious and overwhelming delight I became a shaman, not knowing myself how it came about. But I was a shaman. I could see and hear in a totally different way. I had gained my qaumaEq, my enlightenment, the shaman-light of brain and body, and this in such a manner that it was not only I who could see through the darkness of life, but the same light also shone out from me, imperceptible to human beings, but visible to all the spirits of earth and sky and sea, and these now came to me and became my helping spirits. (Eliade, Mircea. 1964. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Bollingen Series 76. New York: Pantheon. Revised and enlarged from original French edition, 1951)