Until recently, Western medical tradition had developed a limited vision of what was proper medical practice. This vision has so influenced the perception the public has had of other healing traditions that this alternative version of healing has often been portrayed as superstitious at best and ôsatanicö at worst. During the latter part of the 20th century, however, many people seeking alternative routes to be healed or to become healers have turned to the ômedicine manö, or shamanism, as a viable option. This paper will explore the concept of Shamanism as it is understood and sometimes practiced today.
The term ôshamanismö turns up many definitions. Some who have studied shamanism believe it to be the practice of mass hypnosis induced by the rituals of an accepted psychopomp in a certain tribe or group of people (McClenon, 1997). Others define shamanism as a practice and belief that centers on communication with the spirits of nature and the spirits of the dead through the ritualized possession of a spirit medium, such as a shaman (Beliefnet, 2001). Then there is Carlos CastanedaÆs mentor, don Juan, who uses the term ôbrujoö to denote a medicine man or ôsorcererö and defines a shaman as a ôman of knowledgeö (Castaneda, 1974, p. 5). All of these sources seem to agree, however, on the fact that through ritual, meditation, and sometimes psychotropic herbs, an alternate, or ônonordinaryö, reality is sought in an attempt to diagnose or heal a situation or a person, or even seek a ôlessonö from an ôallyö or ôspirit guideö. Beck, Walters, and Francisco (1992) maintain that during this state of nonordinary reality, the shaman is released to explore ôbeyond ordinary boundaries of experienceö (p. 100), by seeing over great distances, or into the inner workings of a plant or the human body. CastanedaÆs Don Juan referred to this process as ôseeingö versus ôlookingö (1974, p. 10). In being released to Ã...