Shamanism as a living tradition
By Itzhak Beery
January 2024
By Itzhak Beery
January 2024
In the tradition of shamanic wisdom sharing, let me share with you a few true stories; I promise they are all authentic, although I do not use real names or locations. They are a touching reminder of the clash between different perspectives and the importance of holding judgment and jealousy… and instead holding respect, and acceptance of the traditions and beliefs of others. My journey is no different. Since 1995 it has taught me invaluable lessons about humility, acceptance, cultural sensitivity and the poisons of the ‘rightness right’ (those who pursue rightness), especially when it comes to the academic world and written traditions which is often another colonialist superior mindset of thinking and behaving that can often come with an attitude of moral superiority and an air of grander virtue.
The first story centres around my mentor and dear friend, Ipupiara Makunaiman, a respected Pajé–shaman from the Uru-e-wau-wau tribe (People of the Stars) in the Northern Brazilian Amazon. For many years, I had the privilege of assisting him in organising workshops, healing and trips to his Taruma Eco-Center in the Rio Negro area, near Manaus. During these journeys, we immersed ourselves in the teachings and practices of neighbouring tribes such as the Tukano, the Baré Baré, Kanamarié, Sateremaué, Ipixuma, Wéitiri Wairiri and others.
On one of these trips an intriguing incident unfolded, though I chose to not be personally present at the time. A well-known professor of shamanism from a prestigious university joined the group. One afternoon, the Kanamarié shaman Shauré and others approached Ipupiara. They were livid. They expressed their deep offense over the professor’s rude behavior and actions. They even threatened to discontinue their participation in those trips if he or anyone like him ever returned.
“What happened?” Ipupiara asked.
“This man took off his clothes in the middle of the camp and danced naked with a few leaves around his groin, cheerfully mocking our sacred traditions and yelling our songs: like we are some wild people.” They said with sadness and hurt in their eyes.
Ipupiara decided to address the issue with the Ph.D. professor. “Do you know what he told me?” Ipupiara asked, looking at me through his thick glasses and shaking his head in utter disbelief. “He said that he knows more about shamanism than those guys; that he can teach them because he is a Ph.D. in shamanism.” he continued, disappointed. “Can you believe it; a European man from New York.”
My second story started with a reply to my Palm Wisdom online class on Facebook. “There is not such a thing as a shamanic palm reading,” someone claimed. “It’s started in India,” she wrote, and noted her extensive academic credentials, shamanic dissertation and long involvement with indigenous cultures, mainly Native American. After reaffirming that this practice has been used all over the world for millennia, I suggested she watch my videos from the Kichwa and Tsachila shamans of the Andes of Ecuador, in which they explain their palm reading techniques and philosophies. To no avail - she then called me a ‘fake and plastic shaman’. She claimed she knew better. She had studied it. It was not mentioned in any books so it doesn’t exist. I blocked her but the poison had already spread on social media. 19
The third story is similar. My friend, Lynn Roberts, created a Shamanic Reiki course where she teaches how to use both traditions to heal people successfully. She advertised it on Shaman Portal, which I founded in 2007. Immediately there was a huge backlash from some readers on Facebook. “This is not Shamanism”, the purist called. Soon a litany of bad words, even curses, appeared. When I mentioned that every shaman uses hands-on energy healing, using their spirit guides to manipulate energy to activate the energy centres of the body and soul it did not change their fixated mind.
The fourth story involves someone I really respect who studied and practiced one of the ancient Asian traditions and wholeheartedly believes that only what he knew and learned from that tradition could be called shamanism. In his view, anything else, no matter which tradition, is not pure shamanism and sadly he often responds to many posts on the Shaman Portal Facebook group to reprimand people, in the name of education and saving the honor and purity of shamanism.
My fifth story began with a strange declaration made by a person on Facebook who said in authority, “No real shaman is teaching workshops or webinars.” I was debating with myself whether or not to respond to such a brazen claim, especially after he had just received a reply from a native shaman from Ecuador who reassured him that he has Facebook and Instagram accounts and holds classes and webinars. However, I decided to tell him about Taita Don Alberto Taxo, whom I have known since 1997 and who passed due to the pandemic recently. I participated and assisted Don Alberto in his classes, healing ceremonies and teaching.
Don Alberto was a well-known and respected indigenous community leader and Master Yachak. The Dalai Lama called him ‘Jesus of the Andes’ and he was given the Jatun Yachak - A Great Shaman (the highest honor) by the council of Ecuadorian shamans. Don Alberto had many students. He was teaching classes, workshops and webinars around the world; revealing the secrets of the Andes cosmology and wisdom, especially about the ‘Condor and the Eagle’ prophecy his father and grandfather passed on to him. It is a time (500 years period - Pachakuti) when the indigenous shamans of the world will come out of hiding and teach the Western their wisdom and, in exchange, the people of the West will share their technical know-how with the indigenous people. A new period that guarantees a future of exchange, balance, harmony, peace and honest cooperation between the two cultures: the culture of the Mind and those of the Heart.
I believe if there is something common in shamanism, it is its core principles – although even they also come in a multitude of variations:
• The seven directions–East, South, West, North, Up, Down, and Centre
• The four elements– Earth, Fire, Water, Air
• The world is made of moving and vibrating tiny energy particles, and the tension between them contains consciousness
• The cosmic structures of the three worlds. Upper, Middle and Lower
• The sacred connection between the Sun Father and the Earth Mother
• The use of unseen entities – spirits for healing and wisdom communication
• Entering trance-like meditation using musical instruments, vocal sounds and bodily movements to access this shamanic state of consciousness
• The use of ceremonies and rituals as a tool for community bonding and personal experience
• That we are all one and the same with all our relations • The healing power of the Natural World
• The world is as we dream it
As I continue on my journey, these stories serve as a constant reminder of the need to respect and honour the diverse traditions that enrich our world, free from the confines of rigidity and judgment. We must remind ourselves that all shamanic practices are living traditions. They modify with the contact and influence of other cultures. That is how they renew themselves in the spirit of our times. By embracing the core principles of shamanism
The first story centres around my mentor and dear friend, Ipupiara Makunaiman, a respected Pajé–shaman from the Uru-e-wau-wau tribe (People of the Stars) in the Northern Brazilian Amazon. For many years, I had the privilege of assisting him in organising workshops, healing and trips to his Taruma Eco-Center in the Rio Negro area, near Manaus. During these journeys, we immersed ourselves in the teachings and practices of neighbouring tribes such as the Tukano, the Baré Baré, Kanamarié, Sateremaué, Ipixuma, Wéitiri Wairiri and others.
On one of these trips an intriguing incident unfolded, though I chose to not be personally present at the time. A well-known professor of shamanism from a prestigious university joined the group. One afternoon, the Kanamarié shaman Shauré and others approached Ipupiara. They were livid. They expressed their deep offense over the professor’s rude behavior and actions. They even threatened to discontinue their participation in those trips if he or anyone like him ever returned.
“What happened?” Ipupiara asked.
“This man took off his clothes in the middle of the camp and danced naked with a few leaves around his groin, cheerfully mocking our sacred traditions and yelling our songs: like we are some wild people.” They said with sadness and hurt in their eyes.
Ipupiara decided to address the issue with the Ph.D. professor. “Do you know what he told me?” Ipupiara asked, looking at me through his thick glasses and shaking his head in utter disbelief. “He said that he knows more about shamanism than those guys; that he can teach them because he is a Ph.D. in shamanism.” he continued, disappointed. “Can you believe it; a European man from New York.”
My second story started with a reply to my Palm Wisdom online class on Facebook. “There is not such a thing as a shamanic palm reading,” someone claimed. “It’s started in India,” she wrote, and noted her extensive academic credentials, shamanic dissertation and long involvement with indigenous cultures, mainly Native American. After reaffirming that this practice has been used all over the world for millennia, I suggested she watch my videos from the Kichwa and Tsachila shamans of the Andes of Ecuador, in which they explain their palm reading techniques and philosophies. To no avail - she then called me a ‘fake and plastic shaman’. She claimed she knew better. She had studied it. It was not mentioned in any books so it doesn’t exist. I blocked her but the poison had already spread on social media. 19
The third story is similar. My friend, Lynn Roberts, created a Shamanic Reiki course where she teaches how to use both traditions to heal people successfully. She advertised it on Shaman Portal, which I founded in 2007. Immediately there was a huge backlash from some readers on Facebook. “This is not Shamanism”, the purist called. Soon a litany of bad words, even curses, appeared. When I mentioned that every shaman uses hands-on energy healing, using their spirit guides to manipulate energy to activate the energy centres of the body and soul it did not change their fixated mind.
The fourth story involves someone I really respect who studied and practiced one of the ancient Asian traditions and wholeheartedly believes that only what he knew and learned from that tradition could be called shamanism. In his view, anything else, no matter which tradition, is not pure shamanism and sadly he often responds to many posts on the Shaman Portal Facebook group to reprimand people, in the name of education and saving the honor and purity of shamanism.
My fifth story began with a strange declaration made by a person on Facebook who said in authority, “No real shaman is teaching workshops or webinars.” I was debating with myself whether or not to respond to such a brazen claim, especially after he had just received a reply from a native shaman from Ecuador who reassured him that he has Facebook and Instagram accounts and holds classes and webinars. However, I decided to tell him about Taita Don Alberto Taxo, whom I have known since 1997 and who passed due to the pandemic recently. I participated and assisted Don Alberto in his classes, healing ceremonies and teaching.
Don Alberto was a well-known and respected indigenous community leader and Master Yachak. The Dalai Lama called him ‘Jesus of the Andes’ and he was given the Jatun Yachak - A Great Shaman (the highest honor) by the council of Ecuadorian shamans. Don Alberto had many students. He was teaching classes, workshops and webinars around the world; revealing the secrets of the Andes cosmology and wisdom, especially about the ‘Condor and the Eagle’ prophecy his father and grandfather passed on to him. It is a time (500 years period - Pachakuti) when the indigenous shamans of the world will come out of hiding and teach the Western their wisdom and, in exchange, the people of the West will share their technical know-how with the indigenous people. A new period that guarantees a future of exchange, balance, harmony, peace and honest cooperation between the two cultures: the culture of the Mind and those of the Heart.
I believe if there is something common in shamanism, it is its core principles – although even they also come in a multitude of variations:
• The seven directions–East, South, West, North, Up, Down, and Centre
• The four elements– Earth, Fire, Water, Air
• The world is made of moving and vibrating tiny energy particles, and the tension between them contains consciousness
• The cosmic structures of the three worlds. Upper, Middle and Lower
• The sacred connection between the Sun Father and the Earth Mother
• The use of unseen entities – spirits for healing and wisdom communication
• Entering trance-like meditation using musical instruments, vocal sounds and bodily movements to access this shamanic state of consciousness
• The use of ceremonies and rituals as a tool for community bonding and personal experience
• That we are all one and the same with all our relations • The healing power of the Natural World
• The world is as we dream it
As I continue on my journey, these stories serve as a constant reminder of the need to respect and honour the diverse traditions that enrich our world, free from the confines of rigidity and judgment. We must remind ourselves that all shamanic practices are living traditions. They modify with the contact and influence of other cultures. That is how they renew themselves in the spirit of our times. By embracing the core principles of shamanism