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whistle was a sacred instrument for women, and featured promi-
37
nently in the rites of passage. Sometimes flutes are five or six
feet long, and take a great deal of effort to play. Some flutes
are paired as  male and  female , and played against each
other in tribal ceremonies. The ancient Greeks regarded the
flute as an instrument of healing, and Democritus recommended
that the flute be used to cure a whole host of ailments includ-
ing snakebite!
The Drum
A great deal has been written about shamanic drumming. It is
one of the most popular ways of entering ecstatic states (apart
from sex and drugs, that is!). Drums come in all shapes and
sizes. made from a wide variety of materials. The rhythms
produced can propel listeners (and beaters) into trance states,
and changes in drum-beats can shift trance awareness to dif-
ferent parts of the ritual. Shamanic cultures that employ drum-
ming usually have a battery of specific rthymns for ceremo-
nial use. Haitian Voudou, for example, has distinct  schools
of drumming associated with particular rituals and deities.
Rhythms carry our consciousness along, from heartbeats,
to cycles of breathing, sleeping, night-day and the passage of
seasons. rhythms promote associated body movements and
adjustments, and act as a signal to begin movement without
conscious effort, so that less energy is expended when you
begin; for example, it has been shown that soldiers can march
further, and in beter form, with less fatigue, when accompa-
nied by a marching band. The feeling of being  carried comes
from the structure that rhythm gives to our time-sense, and
the pattern gives a sense of continuance. It becomes a motor
attitude, and one s attention is freed (if this is desired). rhythms
also become  mirrored by our brain activity, and they also
affect heartrate.
Crystals
Again, there s a lot of material available about crystals, and
like shamanism, they re very popular at the moment, having
been incorporated into therapies and the general lore of the
38
 New Age . In Western Magick, crystals are mostly used for
 putting things in - the things being, for example, trouble-
some entities. Unstable energies can be successfully contained
within a crystalline structure, and crystals can be easily
 charged to accept specific energies. Incidentally, this is why
salt is used as part of cleansing rituals. Salt easily picks up
psychic energy, and when dissolved in water, enables the wa-
ter to be more readily charged with energy.
For the Huichol shaman, the crystal is an ancestral shaman,
returned from the skyworld as solidified light, in order to dwell
amongst his kin as a guardian and guiding spirit. This idea, of
the crystal as condensed spirit is common in many shamanic
cultures, from America to Australia. The crystals used in the
sacred rattle of the Warao are known as the shaman s  family
of familiars .
Bone
It is a common shamanic belief that the essential life force or
soul resides not in the flesh, but in the bones. This makes bone
a sacred substance much used for the creation of Power Ob-
jects, and hunting rituals involving bones are found in all
shamanic cultures. Skeletal figures appear in shamanic under-
world myths and can be found carved or painted onto instru-
ments and costumes. Indian Tantriks made great use of bone,
turning it into headresses, bowls, and trumpets made from
human thigh-bones.
Found Objects
The examples given above should give you an idea about the
complexity of Power Objects. What is obvious is that the sha-
man is prepared to utilise any aspect of the environment, giv-
ing it a sacred purpose. The philosophy underlying this ap-
proach is that the shamanka is on an equal footing with all
aspects of her environment - animals, plants, spirits. Human-
ity is a participant in the world, rather than being perceived a
seperate from it. It is difficult to conceive of the Westerners
acting from a similar premise, since part of the attraction of
39
shamanism for some of us is its promise of return to a primal
naturalness, as opposed to the rampant advance of modern
culture, many aspects of which we tend to find abhorrent. Can
we see machines as imbued with a spirit? Can Acid House
propel us into trance states? We tend to associate shamanism
with the great outdoors (what s left of it), but since most of
our people live in cities, how does being a shaman help the
community? These are questions that it s easy to shrug off or
avoid, but if using shamanic techniques means adopting a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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