Shamanic Healing 1 - Spencer Beeson

I decided to write a few blogs on Shamanism healing because it’s a topic I have been researching in another class and it’s a topic that interests me. Healing is a little different than what we are use to with modern medicine. Modern medicine is always looking for a cure for something with a pill or shot, while shamanism provides healing by bringing together the soul and body. Many communities believe that in light of some traumatic event or disease, the soul will leave the body to avoid the pain. When apart from the body, the soul can come into contact with evil spirits or demons of another cosmic reality and it is the job of the shaman to mentally leave his body on a journey to find and return the lost soul. Many of these communities believe that the spirit world can still have an impact on the visible world and it is the job of the shaman to mediate between the two. The shaman has also been known to be able to heal the land and protect it from the evil spirits. Part of shamanism, in particular the healing, is to improve the patient emotionally. For instance, a terminally ill patient isn’t just suffering from physical conditions; it is the job of the shaman to help the patient cope and come to accept their illness in effort to improve the quality of life. A shaman can help the mentally ill, or even somebody suffering from depression, heal on an emotional level and in the end live more of an normal life.