ABSTRACT
In an earlier chapter I referred to the ancient form of healing known as shamanism, and suggested that all subsequent forms of treatment, both physical and psychological, derive from it. A considerable literature now exists on shamanism, originally drawing on reports by ethnographers and explorers of primitive communities, and latterly by educated native psychiatrists and anthropologists. In all of these societies the shaman held a very special place, sometimes revered, sometimes feared, but always regarded as a unique type of individual who both belonged to, yet was apart from, the community he or she served. Although the specific healing techniques vary from society to society, even from tribe to tribe, the one ability every shaman possesses is to enter into a trance in order to make direct contact with the spirit world. There he or she encounters demons, or dead relatives, or animal spirits and, risking great dangers, tries to gain their help on the sufferer’s behalf. One type of journey involves searching the nether regions for the sufferer’s lost soul which had been stolen, often during sleep. Loss of soul was the most severe of the primitive illnesses; its contemporary equivalent would be a suicidal depression or a borderline schizoid state.
