I came across this article/recorded story. It is about three Shamans among the nomadic reindeer herders of northern Mongolia. Certain parts of the article that jumped out at me convey the importance of recieving an offering when work is done for a client. Also, the experience provided by these shamans that if one is called to be a shaman he cannot refuse those who come to him/her for help. If they do the spirits will get weaker. It provides insight as to thier sense of committment to the community. The link to the story provides different information and is very interesting. It provides audio of the conversations with the shaman and the shaman during ritual. It also provides alot of detail about shamanism in mongolia and the reindeer herders. If interested in reading the article or listening to the story, the link is provided below:
http://homelands.org/worlds/shaman.html
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3 comments:
I was most affected by the story of the Shaman who did not receive a gift in exchange for the work.
He believed that his divorce and death of his son were directly related to non-payment.
As I explore how it feels to be paid money, receive a tangible gift, or a "trade", it becomes quite clear that the need to honor and "feed Spirit" throughout this process is, indeed, extremely important.
In some ways, I feel that Spirit has been particularly lenient and very patient with me on this path.
For this I am very grateful.
Iam so grateful for all the links that are being provided by my tribe-mates. I am computer challenged, and I really appreciate these wonderful opportunities.
I was not able to get this through last week… so I am trying again!
These are very touching article and stories. I understood that the shaman related the death of his son to the fact that he had not received any gift for the treatment; but he explained also that his family was harmed because "he cheated"... So is he referring to the same episode? Did he consider this as "cheating" or is it simply that the writer put the two elements one after the other and they became somewhat confused?... Maybe we will never know but I would still be interested in understanding better the mechanism of the gift (as I seem to have troubles making the concept understandable for some of the persons who come to me for a healing—Robin suggested to me writing it down for my “clients” which is a great suggestion that may be useful to others) and also what the shaman means when he says "that was bad for me, being the mediator in between"... Whereas I think that I understand the general idea, I can also feel that something in me is not clear about that. Any experience, comment, suggestion from others would help. Also, Heart of the Mother, would you mind sharing a little bit more about your own experience on that issue? Thanks in advance! And thanks to She Who Remembers for hunting great resources on internet for us!
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