Shamanic story

The shamanic story is a genre introduced and examined by Michael Berman. A shamanic story is a folk tale, passed from one generation to the next, that is based on or inspired by a shamanic journey. Shamanic stories are produced by cultures that have a shamanic worldview and shamanic cosmology.
Introduction
Shamanic stories are related to tales that Jurgen Kremer called “Tales of Power”, which are “conscious verbal constructions based on numinous experiences in non-ordinary reality, which guide individuals and help them to integrate the spiritual, mythical, or archetypal aspects of their internal and external experience in unique, meaningful, and fulfilling ways.”
Shamanism in folktales
Taube says that folktales were expressions of early stages of development of human society. Within folktales we find reflections of human reality, such as material culture, social relations, customs and beliefs. As each tale is transmitted from one generation to the next, modifications take place to reflect the contemporary human reality. However, remnants of the preceding reality remain. Lyle points out that “there is a potential for material to be retained from a time in the distant past when the narrative was embedded in a total oral worldview or cosmology.”

Kultkrantz points out that, “in areas where shamanism has long been a thing of the past, many tales contain only vague, piecemeal or inaccurate recollections of shamans and their like.” The presence of distinctive characteristics and features of shamanic stories help folklorists and anthropologists reconstruct a culture’s practice of shamanism.
There is no way of knowing whether or not the images and themes in folktales were once believed to be fact and part of the human reality. However, there are images and themes in folktales that reflect shamanistic beliefs and conceptions. When these images and themes tell a tale of a shamanic journey, then they are part of the genre of the shamanic story.
The Shaman in folktales
For the purposes of examining shamanism in folktales, Berman defines a shaman as a figure who “performs an ecstatic (in a trance state), imitative, or demonstrative ritual of a séance (or a combination of all three), at will, in which aid is sought from beings in(what are considered to be) other realities generally for healing purposes or for divination—both for individuals and/or the community.”
Shamanic journey

A shaman embarks on a shamanic journey in order to seek aid from other beings in other realities. Generally, this aid is sought for divination or for healing purposes, either for an individual or a community. The shamanic journey takes place in a trance state, often to the sound of a drumbeat, through dancing, or with the aid of psychotropics. A shamanic story must contain a number of the elements that are typical of a shamanic journey.
Soul loss

Another permutation of the purpose of the shamanic journey is soul retrieval. Soul retrieval is based on the premise that a human being has a non-ordinary essence—the soul, within the ordinary body. When that soul is lost or fractured, the person’s physical and psychic health are at risk. From an emic perspective, memory loss, repetitive negative behavior, a comatose state or a loss of connection with one’s surroundings or even with oneself constitute the loss of one’s soul.

A shaman journeys into another world or another reality to retrieve the lost soul and return it to its ordinary body. Possible remnants in folk tales of soul retrieval include the hero’s journey to another world to retrieve a lost or stolen maiden.
Characteristics and features

Shamanic stories have their own stylistic features, rhetoric, pattern of development and archetypal characters. Shamanic stories differ from culture to culture, as well as within one culture. The following are possible distinctive features; not all features need to be present to constitute and shamanic story.
*Shamanic stories are written in the style of magical realism. The point of departure is realistic or recognizable in terms of chronological events, everyday atmosphere, and predictable characters. However, discontinuities or gaps appear in the true-to-life texture of the narrative.
*Because shamanic stories are accounts of inner journeys, there are a limited number of actors. Multiple actors may be present while the narrative is still situated within the “real” world. But once the hero departs from the everyday, the hero will only encounter one other actor at a time. Usually the actors he encounters on his journey serve either as helpers or as villains.
*Within the shamanic story, the hero or heroine must undergo a change in their state of being. This change in state can be mental or physical. The change reflects their change in status once they have completed their initiation.
*The hero or heroine’s struggle is a remnant of the shaman’s initiation. The outer struggle is seen as symbolic of an inner struggle. From an emic perspective, the outer struggle is as real as the inner struggle.
Examples
Michael Berman has examined and analyzed shamanic stories in several cultures and areas, including Armenia, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Abkhazia, North Ossetia and Daghestan. Below is a list, by no means exhaustive, of some of the shamanic stories he has identified:
*“The Three Languages” The Brothers Grimm
*“The Girl who changed into a Boy”
*“The Ruler and the Wanderer” a Daghestan tale
*“The Girl-King & the Red Fish” a Daghestan tale
*“Golden Leaves” a Chechen tale
Shamanism in Other Categories of Folklore

Dianne E. Farrell finds evidence of shamanic figures in eighteenth century woodcuts. She notes the connection of the shaman to a “helping animal.”

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu