17 May Indigenous Perspectives on Transpersonal Psychology
According to Barratt (2013, p. 13), “Every known Indigenous culture has shamanic practitioners.” His definition of shamanism is “a set of methodologies involving the use of altered states of consciousness for healing and spiritual and emotional growth.” Shamans have been found around the globe: North and South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia. Contrary to Western belief, these cultures were highly sophisticated earth-based spiritualties.
One of the differences of these Indigenous practices from modern shamanism is that in Indigenous cultures, the shaman was the person in the community who underwent the transpersonal experience for the good of all. Everyone in the tribe did not. It was seen as a lineage, and something that one prepared for for years. The shaman would travel to alternate realities and it was believed that these transpersonal experiences would allow them to bring healing back to their people.
© 2023 Catherine Auman
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