Grofians Unauthorized
Discussion Group
Grofian Peyotists
The Shaman's Way - Part III
The following excerpt is from
THE STORMY SEARCH FOR THE SELF
(Grof, C. & Grof, S. 1990)
http://www.erowid.org/library/books/stormy.shtml
--excerpt from Chapter 6:
Differing Views of the Shamanic Crisis
"With few exceptions, Western experts agree that the shamanic crisis represents a severe form of psychopathology, although opinions differ as to the appropriate clinical label. The most frequent diagnoses given to such states are schizophrenia or some other form of psychosis, hysteria, and epilepsy. Yet anthropologists and psychiatrists who have intimate knowledge of shamanism, including firsthand experiences of the shamanic state of consciousness, refuse to see the shamanic crisis as a mental disease. They assert that this clinical approach reflects Western culture's preference for consensus reality, lack of a genuine understanding of altered states of consciousness, and a strong tendency to pathologize all such states without discrimination. Michael Harner, who is both an anthropologist and an initiated shaman, calls this attitude ethnocentric, because it expresses a strong cultural bias. He also refers to it as 'cognicentric,' meaning that it uses as its exclusive source of knowledge information originating in the ordinary state of consciousness.
In view of the often dramatic positive results of the shamanic crisis, it is certainly more appropriate to consider this condition to be--at least potentially--an amazing process of healing and profound restructuring of personality that facilitates resolution of a variety of life problems. Its therapeutic potential compares very favorably with the best treatment procedures available to Western psychiatry. [Sequences have been observed that are] indistinguishable from the shamanic crisis in a variety of settings: in psychedelic sessions, in . . . experiential work with breathing and music, and during the course of spiritual emergencies of modern Westerners.
Traditional scientists often attribute the appreciation that non-Western societies show for shamans to the fact that these societies are unable to discriminate the abnormal from the supernormal because of their lack of education and scientific knowledge. This explanation is in sharp conflict with the experiences of those who have had intimate contact with shamans and shamanic cultures. Such people have a clear understanding that bizarre experiences and behaviors are not enough to qualify one as a shaman. While some individuals are seen as great shamans, others are considered sick or crazy. In order for someone to be considered a shaman, following the initiatory crisis he or she has to show at least adequate functioning in everyday reality. In many instances, the social adjustment of shamans is clearly superior to other members of the group.
Shamans are typically active participants in social, economic, and even political affairs of the tribe. They are hunters, farmers, gardeners, craftsmen, artists, and often responsible family members. The tribe sees them as important guardians of the psychological, spiritual, and ecological equilibrium and as intermediaries between the seen and the unseen worlds. The master shaman has to be at home in nonordinary as well as ordinary reality and operate successfully in both; this is seen as evidence of genuine shamanic power.
All these facts are difficult to reconcile with the idea that shamans are ambulant psychotics or otherwise severely disturbed individuals, although their entry into the shamanic career might have been marked by extreme emotional and psychosomatic turmoil. The observations from the world of shamanism thus bring into sharp relief the need to discriminate between pathological states that have to be medically treated and transformative states that have a positive potential and should be supported." (pp. 120-121)
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