Re-painting the Shaman's Trance in the Sustainability Age. PlanetShifter.com Magazine & [open myth source] Interview with Mike Williams by Willi Paul and David Metcalfe

Introduction by David Metcalfe

Mythology is built with material gathered from the experiential world. In the same way that artists train their eye to mind the subtle lines and their hands to translate that vision into a painting or sculpture, mythic stories are told by those who have trained their eyes to see the subtle lines of reality and who have developed the means to bring those stories into the daily acts that they perform.

The role of the pilgrim, as described by href=https://www.planetshifter.com/myth/1621 target="blank">Baba Rampuri is to bring back blessings from their journey. In the same way to Follow the Shaman's Call, as described in Dr. Mike Williams book of the same name, is to journey into the cauldron of the world's creation and mediate between the world we see and the world of things we rarely glimpse.

Myths are brought alive through the shaman and brought into the culture as active forces that can challenge and change society.

Community development is at the core of this vision. Relationships established by envisioning the world through myth help create a conversation with the environment. Dr. Williams has used his study of archaeology to develop an understanding for the techniques and rituals that allowed people in the past to develop these relationships.

For Dr. Williams the shaman's role is deeply connected to the health of the society. Our present situation would be much different if we all felt the world's ills "at an instinctual and almost somatic level," as he describes the shaman's understanding of the problems of the world.

Is it possible that we can retrain ourselves for this vision?

The [open myth source] source project brings together conversations, symbols, songs, visual art and stories to act as a catalyst for this process. We agree with Dr. Williams, in a world stricken with fear and confusion, "The drive to end suffering is paramount." It's time to sing again the songs that bring us together, that bring us a vision of where we come from, where we are and what lies ahead.

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Interview with Mike Williams by Willi Paul -

Is this (yet another) prehistory on the Planet, or what I call the Sustainability Age?

We often look back at the prehistoric past as a time when people were more in tune with the natural world and took account of sustainability in their everyday lives. This was not always true, however, and as soon as they were capable of doing so, humans began to exploit the natural world with no thought of sustainable use. Mega-fauna went extinct, shellfish were decimated on remote islands, and, with the move to farming, huge areas of forest were cleared.

Some people realised what was happening and, in historical times, there is evidence of almost visionary solutions to environmental problems. The people of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, invented the bird-man races as an answer to environmental degradation of their island, and some Maori people set aside reserves on their island home of New Zealand, where hunting was restricted.

I think these answers presented themselves in part because of people's connection with the spirit world and a recognition of forces larger than themselves. This is what seems to be happening today in what you refer to as the Sustainability Age. People are recognising that the future of the planet is influenced by the actions of each one of us. Coupled with a burgeoning interest in earth-based spirituality, perhaps we are beginning to see the world as some of our more enlightened ancestors did. It remains to be seen which aspect of the past finally emerges: the continuing degradation of the natural world or its meaningful conservation.

Is sustainability like a new religion?

I make a distinction between spirituality, which is a personal relationship an individual has with forces larger than themselves (some might think of these as deities), and religion, which has traditionally been about following rules and, increasingly, dogma.

If sustainability becomes a religion, then such dogma might overtake it and, where you have dogma, you also have rebellion. We are seeing something of this with people increasingly turning their backs on the scientific evidence for artificial climate change. With spirituality, there is less rebellion since the experience is personal and not institutionalized. I would encourage everyone to enter into their own relationship with the natural world and see Mother Nature as a sacred being. It is far more difficult to misuse and destroy something we hold as sacred.

Do you consider rock musicians as shamans?

Now that would depend on the definition of a shaman! I think that any creative force, either making music, art, or writing, is an invocation of forces larger than ourselves. Many creative people feel that they merely channel what they create rather than it originating purely inside of themselves.

For performance art, such as rock or, indeed, any form of live music, there is a connection formed between artist and audience that transcends individuality. In a way, the audience give their souls to the performer and it is only when the music ends, in that moment of stillness before the applause, that their souls return and individual personalities are born anew. In this way, the experience of a concert is akin to a shamanic journey and, as overseer of that journey, perhaps the musician becomes a shaman.

Are modern shaman's helping to create new mythologies? If so, can you give us some examples?

There are some who doubt that it is possible to follow shamanism in our modern world since we are so far removed from a traditional earth-based lifestyle. I find this view extremely limiting. We know that shamanism is a technique that can be utilised by everyone; if nothing else, neurobiology tells us that. Not everyone will become a shaman as a result of practicing shamanism but the techniques are available to all.

The spread of shamanism in the Western world can be compared to the spread of Buddhism. Every place touched by Buddhism has shaped its own distinct practice and tradition that, whilst still following the basic tenets of Buddha's teachings, has given the religion a new form. The same is true of shamanism and it will be interesting to see how the practice develops and changes in our modern world.

Already, we have new mythologies developing from shamanic spirituality that appear entirely modern. We instinctively accept, for example, that companies have souls that can go bad, they have power animals (think of the logos of many major companies that are animals), and many seem to have a disembodied will that is beyond any single individual within the organisation. We instinctively use ancient systems of thought, such as shamanism, to explain our entirely modern world.

How the practice of shamanism fit into the following organizations (if at all):
1. Masons
2. Catholic Church
3. Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids

Shamanism is a technique for accessing alternative realities and interacting with the spirits that reside there. In this sense, all and any religion or spiritual institution might incorporate elements of shamanism, including those in the question. Of course, organised religion tends to discourage personal interaction with God or the spirits, arguing that a priest or other intermediary needs to act as a go-between, but many people who follow those religions still have personal experiences of drawing close to their idea of divinity. This is not surprising since, as I commented earlier, the practice of shamanism is available to all.

For myself, I am closely involved with the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids and, whilst shamanism is not overtly part of the taught course, it is clear that many of the practices could be regarded as shamanic.

Do you believe in a God? If so, please describe this process and benefit.

I find it difficult to conceive of a God in the Judeo-Christian sense, with an omnipotent and all-knowing figure overseeing my every deed, presumably allowing bad as well as good to befall me. Whilst I do not discount that there may indeed be a universal creator God, I see deity as a spiritual force that I can approach and interact with and, occasionally, perhaps even influence through my shamanic work.

Certainly, in the past, people had an almost contractual relationship with the Gods and there is evidence of shrines being utterly destroyed, presumably after these Gods had proved particularly capricious. Similarly, I feel that the spirits, unlike a beneficent but arguably useless God (bad things do happen), are capricious or, rather, are less concerned with individual lives. Shamanism is a means of making ourselves a little more visible to them and, in my experience, they can, and regularly do, show compassion towards us as a result.

By fusing your archaeological and shamanic perspectives, what are the possible benefits of the new alchemy?

My research suggests that people in the past followed a shamanic lifestyle and this is what I try to bring through in the new alchemy, as you so eloquently put it.

Seeing the world as inherently sacred, and with spirits that can be approached and interacted with, makes it far more difficult to harm the planet in a deliberate or unthinking manner. I still live a modern life and I am aware that my actions have an unavoidably negative consequence to the earth but I also see it as my responsibility to account for these actions and to make sure that some degree of equanimity is retained. Shamanism is about walking in balance, between this world and the other world, and between our negative and our positive influences on the world.

If we are to move towards a sustainable future, I believe that it has to include a discernment of the sacred in all things but especially the natural world, and shamanism can help us achieve this.

Are your power animal and spirit guides the same as mine? Why is this rite or awakening different for each person?

Spirit is formless. When we approach spirit, we approach something that we cannot see with our normal eyes. Shamans enter a state of non-ordinary reality when they journey to the otherworld in shamanic trance, and it only then that spirit becomes visible. Scientists call these visions of the spirits 'hallucinations' and they are correct to a point. Since spirit is formless, when we meet spirit in non-ordinary reality, our brain makes sense of what is before us by cloaking it in familiar imagery. For many people, spirit first appears as an animal. Scientists explain this by commenting that animals are the most common form of hallucination, whilst shamans speak of having found their power animal. The two approaches, whilst situated in their own distinct paradigms, are remarkably similar.

The form of animal that my mind gives to spirit may be different to yours (and it may be that spirit has an influence on exactly what animal we see), but we are still relating to the same formless spirit. Similarly, we may continue to break spirit down into further animal helpers or even human guides. There really is no limit.

This is also why there is no universal pantheon of shamanic Gods or spirits, since each individual will formulate their own. Meeting spirit for the first time is a rite of awakening that we can only go through ourselves.

Where and what is the common well or interface for the shamanic powers you know?

The common well for all shamanic power is undoubtedly spirit. How we utilise that power, however, is down to our individual inclination and experience. There is an almost universal acceptance that a traditional shaman must have suffered in order to access the power of spirit. In our modern world, suffering can take many forms but most of us will have passed through dark periods in our lives. It is from understanding and accepting our suffering that compassion arises, firstly for ourselves and then, by extending our understanding of such suffering, outwards towards others.

Spirit seems moved by the manifestation of human compassion and lends its aid to our healing or other tasks. In this way, the shaman never heals but just acts as a conduit for the power of spirit to flow. But this is only possible through the initial intervention of the shaman and the strength of compassion that he or she brings to the situation. It is a symbiotic relationship.

To a shaman, there is no division between self and other. Where one person suffers, so all people suffer. The shaman feels this at an instinctual and almost somatic level. The drive to end suffering is paramount.

Please review my research on shamans and offer your comments.

To me, a shaman is one who can enter alternative realities, interacts with the spirits that reside there, and then uses the power this gives him or her to serve the community. Service is key to shamanism and this is reflected in the comments on your site, with its emphasis on serving the earth and all its inhabitants through sustainability.

Few people in the West call themselves shamans – it is something I would never do – since we have lost the direct connection to serving our communities in the way that shamans in traditional societies would do. Perhaps this will come with time or perhaps we will need to think on a much larger scale and our service will be to the entire planet and the sustainable future of all life.

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Mike Williams Biography -

Looking back, I cannot recall when my love of prehistory began. I was obsessive about the past and ever since I can remember, the ancient world filled me with wonder. Here were people who lived thousands of years ago but left remains that I could visit, literally walking in their footsteps. Shamanism has always been a part of me too. The inner realms that only I could access were as real to me as anything else in the world. I believe that all children are born like this; it is only later that our innate abilities are squashed and we forget what was once quite natural. As I got older, I wanted to know more about those who lived in the past: I wanted to know what these people talked about, what they thought, and, most of all, what they believed in. Did they worship Gods? Did they speak to spirits? Did they look at the stars and wish they could touch them? I was a child for whom the supernatural was near enough to touch and, at some level, I knew that those who had lived in the past felt the same.

My childlike enthusiasm for the past never waned and my early career as a chartered surveyor and developer left me more often looking into a hole to see what I could find rather than filling it with concrete to see what I could construct. In between, I sought out stone circles, burial mounds, and all the wonders that punctuate our land. Pretty soon, my love of these mysteries took over I resigned from my job and returned to University to study full time. I took an MA and then a PhD at the University of Reading, studying under Professor Richard Bradley. My thesis explored the ancient beliefs of our European past: the shamanic practice of our ancestors. The child really did birth the man.

Whilst at Reading University, my academic papers included explaining the Iron Age bog bodies, an exploration of trance imagery on Celtic coins, and the agricultural cycle as a metaphor for prehistoric belief. I also presented at national and international conferences on all aspects of prehistoric belief and shamanism.

Of course, whilst I was a serious academic I kept quiet about my training with the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD), the largest modern Druid order in the world. Stating that I was an initiated Druid did not strike me as sitting comfortably in the world of ivory towers. As I followed their training through all three grades, however, I felt as if it had been written just for me, so close did it mould around my being. Perhaps it was natural that I have now become a tutor for the Bard and Ovate grades, helping others find their feet on a path that still means so much to me.

To set the shamanism of our ancestors into context, I researched many modern shamanic communities from around the world. This provided essential background for my PhD but also allowed me to explore different shamanic traditions. Those that called to me strongest were, perhaps unsurprisingly, of northern Eurasia: the Sámi of Lapland and the many groups that populate Siberia. I found that the traditions of these people stretch back, almost unbroken, to the time I was studying. All of a sudden, the mute remains of the past found a voice. I had the good fortune to travel through Lapland and Siberia and to work under some modern shamans. I also studied core shamanism and attended myriad training courses and workshops wherever and whenever I could. I learnt how to heal illness through extracting the spirit of the affliction, and I learnt how to restore souls to those who had lost them through trauma. Eventually, my own shamanic practice formed. I also began to write books from both an archaeological and shamanic perspective. In truth, however, they are really two sides to the same coin: my archaeology books set out the evidence for prehistoric shamanism and how it affected people's lives, and my shamanic books show how we can still follow this path today, drawing on the wisdom of our ancient forbears.

My latest books are Follow the Shaman's Call: An Ancient Path for Modern Lives, published by Llewellyn Worldwide which is a practical guide to ancient European shamanism and won a silver medal at this year's IPPY awards in New York. Prehistoric Belief: Shamans, Trance and the Afterlife, is an in-depth look at prehistoric shamanism has just been published by The History Press.

I have found a home tucked into a secluded valley in Wales, which I share with my wife and various animals.

Connections –

Mike Williams
PrehistoricShamanism.com