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siegnagel ago

Good article. But as someone who is married to a Shamen/Witchy type and I as a former Zen priest, I'd say not just RA is Shamanistic in nature, all Religion is. Every single one is derived from Shamanism, since Shamanism is simply humans making sense of the World. A need or thirst for knowledge about ourselves and the Universe. I've studied Shingon Buddhism for over two decades, Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. It's the Japanese equivalent of Tibetan Buddhism, so is extremely connected to Shamanism, albeit more civilised than the Vajrayana of the Tibetans. But my point being, all Religion not just 'cults' are simple evolutions of Shamanism.

eucalyptus_spearmint ago

I wouldn't define the three major religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as being shamanistic, would you? I always associated shamanism with nature worship. ๐Ÿค”

It's a minor point in this forum. Any person in any religious group can be an abuser, but as you were a practitioner I'm interested in hearing how you defined yourself.

An internet definition of shaman "a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, especially among some peoples of northern Asia and North America. Typically such people enter a trance state during a ritual, and practice divination and healing."

siegnagel ago

The Abrahamic religions still are derived from Shamanism. They acknowledge a spirit world consisting of the unseen, demons, angels, watchers and so on. Any attempt to understand the World and its machinations is Shamanic in nature. Praying to God is Shamanic. God is unseen and three acknowledge its existence. Christianity's 'dark night of the soul' is typical of death and rebirth, like the Muslim fana. These are Shamanic moments. The ecstasy of Christ is the same, trance like moments of clarity. Sufi Islam's especially esoteric and occult in nature.

rooting4redpillers ago

I take it, youโ€™re not a Methodist.

eucalyptus_spearmint ago

I agree about Sufi to an extent but it is an offshoot of Islam from my understanding and not representative of the mainstream. You could also argue that certain offshoots of Judaism and Christianity (the kabbalah is Jewish mysticism, is it not?)

And certain sects of Christianity are more mystical than others, Catholicism and Mormonism for example. But I think even then I am pushing the definition in ways that doesn't really fit. I still have to disagree on a few key points. One is the lack of nature focus, the other is that, in most forms of Christianity at least, entering any altered state or trance is strictly forbidden and shamanism involves this heavily. To claim that shamanism is simply an acknowledgement of the spiritual in general is to pervert the meaning of the word from its widely accepted definition. All who share a belief in spirits are not shamans.

I think this is an interesting topic, but not PG relevant I don't suppose. ๐Ÿ™ƒ