shaman among us

A Shaman among us
UW-Oshkosh student embraces ancient form of religion, beliefs
by Will Amacher, of the Advance Titan

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Guidance can come from countless sources, and the manner in which we are guided greatly depends upon what we believe in, what we hold dear and what we wish to change about ourselves or the world around us.

Saul Meyer, a fifth-year UW-Oshkosh senior majoring in studio art and history, never really considered himself to be a religious person and said he wanted to find a belief system that fit into what he thought was important or beneficial.

“I was raised Lutheran,” Meyer said. “But [organized] religion never really was my thing.”

As a result, a little over two years ago Meyer decided to channel his beliefs in a different manner, far from the religious institution that he had been raised in.

“I had always been interested in shamanism for a long time. And one day, I decided that I wanted to become a shaman,” Meyer said.

Humoring his interest in spiritual truth through personal discovery versus dogmatic tradition, Saul opted to look into shamanism as a belief path.

“With shamanism, there aren’t gods,” Meyer said. “There isn’t a priest class… There is us, the normal people, and there is the spirit world that exists outside the material world. Then you have the middle man, which is the shaman.”

The Encyclopedia of Religion, a resource on most religious practices and beliefs, goes into great detail describing the many facets of shamanism, the origins of which range in location from Siberia and inner Asia to North and South America. According to the encyclopedia, a “picking-and-choosing” of shamanic beliefs from these assorted sects has begun to occur. Dr. Jeff Kaplan, a religious studies professor at UW-Oshkosh, described this occurrence of “Neoshamanism.”

“Neoshamanism is a type of self-taught shamanism, which attracts people in an eclectic sort of way,” Kaplan said. “You get pieces from here, pieces from there, literary pieces.”

The Encyclopedia of Religion describes one of the unique tasks undertaken in shamanistic practices, citing that “the shaman ‘specializes’ in the trance state, during which his soul is believed to leave his body and to ascend to the sky or descend to the underworld.”

This trance state is reached during what is called a “vision quest.” This quest is a spiritual journey where shamans detach themselves from the physical world and depart into the spirit world to try to discover the truth behind a dilemma or problem. Such journeys begin in many different ways depending on the culture in which they are used. Religious studies Professor Dr. Dennis Lishka differentiated between the numerous ways such enlightenment can be reached.

“It can be a vision quest, where you take a physical journey, or they can be involved in some kind of exhausting physical activity, like nonstop dancing to drumming for long periods of time,” Lishka said. “Or they can take psychotropic drugs, specifically around the Equator where the drum skins don’t stay very tight because of the humidity in the jungle.”

Meyer has never partaken in a vision quest, participated in any such retreats or become part of any mail order program, but he has found guidance in literature that he has acquired.

“My family and friends humored me,” Meyer said. “I’ve had friends give me books on shamanism and my parents gave me some books for Christmas last year.”

Although his beliefs are much different from those in his family, Meyer has never received any resistance for choosing an alternate religion. Not only has his family accepted his newfound beliefs, Meyer has even inspired members of his family to appreciate some of the different practices behind shamanism.

“My dad is pretty supportive of me,” Meyer said. “He participates in drum circles, and he even made me a drum of my own.”

Where one man practicing shamanism is fairly innocent in the society that we have become used to in America, this general tolerance of such religions is not true throughout all of the United States. Kaplan, who studied for over six years with the Inupiat Eskimo tribe in northern Alaska, revealed some of the glaring threats and prejudices that threatened the Inuit tribe that he spent numerous years with.

“Shamanism among the Inupiat has been demonized by the Church to the point where it is only practiced underground,” Kaplan said. “[The Church] sees the shaman as a literal servant of the devil, which makes it difficult to be a shaman and teach shamanism.”

To the minds influenced by Christian churches, the attempt to create a lasting connection with the environment around us could be seen as pagan or otherwise heretical compared to the “be a good person and you will go to heaven” mentality. Time has loosened such prejudices, but this may be due to the dwindling participants in these unorthodox beliefs. Needless to say, considerable resistance still exists in areas where shamanic practices are still a part of local culture.

Although he has had a minimal amount of experience with shamanism beyond reading and meditation, Saul Meyer has found a set of beliefs that closely fit with what he finds important rather than forcing himself to adhere to traditional religious groups and the beliefs that come along with those groups.

“With shamanism, there is no ‘book,’ there is no school that you need to go to,” Meyer said. “Rather than believing that a higher power controls everything, shamans believe that everything has an energy that coalesces and mixes to create the natural order of things.”

His shamanic ways still in their infancy, and despite the fact that he has never gone through any tribal shamanic practices, Meyer has found a system that works for him. Even though he is comfortable with the path he has chosen, Meyer still has goals that he wishes to accomplish within his system of beliefs.

“I would like to do a vision quest, I really would,” Meyer said. “In terms of a lifelong goal, I want to get back to being able to create my own view of the world, not one that is forced on me by a church or school.”


Photo submitted by Heather Wright
With no traditional shaman in reach, Saul Meyer turns to literature and a natural setting for spiritual guidance.
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