Stephanie and Lobo,

The root of shapeshifting lies in shamanism, which in itself is a phenomenon as old as this world (well, almost!) and is still alive and well today. Not least in the Native American tribes, but also in large part of Siberian countries, Mongolia and Nepal. The Inuit are still a highly shamanistic people, as are the Saami and the Ainu (what's left of them!). And this is not counting with the modern shamanism, invented by the New Age culture, which is more centered around selfhealing/knowledge, and cannot quite be paralleled with the original idea and use of shamanism.

The shaman is the person who can access the "otherworld" and it's energies. One way of describing these energies is to parallel them to the animals we see around us, since they all have their own characteristics and abilities easily recognisable. Hence the numerous animal divinities of the ancient and native beliefsystems. They are symbols of the energies and essences reached and communicated with. This is in no way the same thing as working oneself into a trance mecahnically, as I firmly believe the Berserkers were doing, even if a trance is a sort of shapeshifting also, since it does alter the state of mind. But then, so would gettig roaring drunk be also! Or the use of drugs.

The exterior symbol of the shaman having reached an altered state of mind and being in communication with the essence he/she represents is the wear of assimilating gear. Could be just a mask or a skin of the animal. Hence the word shapeshifting. What shifts shape is the mind (and somewhat the personality), not the body, that must therefore be "shifted" by wear of symbolic gear. This again is not to be confounded with the wear of gear for other purposes, such as hunting! Whereas the hunter is much more successful in nearing the prey covered in animal skins, it has nothing to do with shapeshifting as such. This said, a shaman can tell where the prey is, just like the medicineman can find the hidden bundle in Stephanies backyard, and they were probaly used to locate the prey for the hunters!

Whereas most shamans "work" with one or a few animal energies, there are also the Herdsmen. Those are the ones allowed contact with all energy/essence i.e. "all animals". Stephanie's Dancing Sorcerer is one. They are clearly recognisable by the antlers they wear. It's interesting to note the rich presence of the antlers in early Celtic, Scythian and Viking cultures. Most obviously can be seen the reverence of the great stag, often pictured with numerous stars in it's antlers, symbolically describing the contact to the universe's powers as a whole. But the special meaning of the antlers is still present in today's shamanistic rituals, as can be seen in Stephanie's picture. The Saami use exclusively the antler to drum with or to make magic tools and amulets etc.

Why do I rant? Just to show, that there is nothing new under the sun, the masks and the skins have been used from the earliest cultures we have evidence of (AE for example) and that the same beliefs and practices are still present in numerous cultures, as they always have been.

But the Navajo skinwalkers, whereas they are shapeshifters of a kind, have lost the original purpose of shapeshifting. Shapeshifting is usually performed for positive ends and only positive: healing, finding the prey, reaching knowledge of the otherworld. Therefore I can't quite imagine, that the skinwalkers are shapeshifters in the proper and original meaning of the word. They might still shapeshift, but I strongly doubt it is done by mechanical trance (like the Berserkers), that does not demand true communion with the spiritual world and it's essences.

Sorry for the typos, I can only edit so many times...

Ritva



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2005 10:42AM by ritva.