Comments on: Shamanism and Subjectivity

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:16:13 +0000

I’m going to have to agree with you. Spirituality does seem to be extremely subjective. Regardless of what you say, everything we encounter we perceive a particular kind of way based on past experiences, so agreeing on something seemingly intangible is difficult. It just unfortunately seems as though people feel the need to find reassurance in their own realities through other people, so they feel the need to argue and debate who is right and who is wrong, as opposed to working together and finding commonalities to help each other develop and grow in their own ways.

You also touched on a good point about how different experiences seem to take place based on an individuals feeling on a matter. Such as someones experiences with entities being negative due to them believing it will or should be. I don’t think it’s anything uncommon to get back what you project and I definitely agree. It’s what makes sharing experiences so difficult because what we believe or think seems to have a very strong relationship with what we experience.

By: Riverwolf

Riverwolf — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:06:32 +0000

You make an essential point here, one that I’ve been struggling with (and will continue to do so, I’m sure). When I was a Christian, it was my goal to live as authentically as possible and, basically, to show others that Christ was real–I was looking for that external validation. But over time, I realized that I could prove nothing and, most devastatingly for my Christian faith, my experiences weren’t all that different from non-Christians. Since I believed, however, in the ultimate truth of Christianity above all else, my little house of cards began to fall.

I’ve noticed the same tendencies in shamanism and other pagan paths, but this search for validity really is useless. Christians spend so much time trying to convince everyone that their path is THE ONE–it’s exhausting. Just consider all the denominations and splinter groups, all claiming they ALONE have found the right way. This in itself should be proof that spiritual experiences are subjective and influenced by our own individual idiosyncrasies and other factors.

Shamanism and certain other practices have meaning for me, but I can’t explain it. And I’ve decided I don’t have to. I love the mystery anyway. I am curious about all the many different experiences that others have on these paths, but I personally have no interest in proving my way is right. I spent way too much time trying to do that as a Christian.

Some may find this unsettling, this lack of objective truth. But I think that there is actually truth to be found within this uneasiness. And–at least for the moment!–that truth is mucher wider, much more encompassing, more beautiful and more mysterious than anything we’ve yet to imagine or experience.

The problem comes in when we try to get too literal about anything. Oh sure, I still worry about what people think of me, how silly I look and so on. But there will always be someone to refute what we believe, who challenges our perspective, who believes they alone are the one that can truly see truth. So instead of getting into a battle, we must keep our ego in check and consider that everyone–everyone–is wrong and right at the same time.

By: Childfreelife

Childfreelife — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:37:58 +0000

Why would you back down on your criticism of other systems? I think your criticisms are very apt and that a rigor like that is needed in spirituality and religion.

By: Erynn Laurie

Erynn Laurie — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:36:59 +0000

I would at least tend to default toward “the Otherworld can be dangerous” rather than “the Otherworld is happy and fluffy and always safe” just for the sake of caution.

By: lelia2

lelia2 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:56:55 +0000

Very interesting article. I agree with your perspective that external validation is not the best of goals. And yet it is nice if it happens spontaneously. The trick is to be open to it while not looking for it.

By: mythicanine

mythicanine — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:19:56 +0000

I can clearly see where my own expectations about reality, and spirituality, and related concepts, resemble my experiences as a shaman. Wouldn't that be shamanist? I think objectivity definitely has its perks. It keeps people from slipping off into their own fantasy-worlds. One doesn't have to go actively searching for it, however. Generally, it will find you, providing you keep your feet on the ground as well. I prefer keeping even parts of both in my experience. But saying one is overrated over another indicates, at least to me, a sort of imbalance. Kind of like the UPG argument...the verified and the unverified have equal stance in such things, one should not be totally glorified over the other.