Neoshamanism

Like many New Age structures, Neoshamanism is a weak one; mainly, an amalgamated puddle of beliefs that have been lumped together from the remnants of cultures that have long been extinct, or decimated severely in number. To write objectively on a practice of which mainly consists of a group of dirty suburbanite malcontents banging drums, and smoking marijuana, is an impossibility. While shamanism in its own rights has been criticized, the traditional shaman have often criticised the bastardization that is Neoshamanism, in the place of traditional shamanism and which for them, is a sacred religious practice. Several traditional shaman have observed, and stated that Neoshamanism is as dangerous as it is incorrect, and unnecessary.

While it took hundreds, sometimes thousands of years for traditional shaman, and the folk healers of eras long gone, to discover herbal remedies, storytelling, and spiritual healing, it has taken only a few years for a minority population of strung out bohemian flakes to organize their neuroses enough to get it recognized as a belief structure. Neoshamanism is not a fully condemnable practice; there are some Neoshaman who practice traditionally, according to the beliefs of one culture, instead of several. The real practicing Neoshaman, who responsibly, and respectfully manage their careers, are not to be misinterpreted as an enemy. While blending European cultures together in a consistent melding of real practice is a more pure form of shaman method, blending Eastern religion, and North American native spirituality, is quite opposite.

Furthermore, “shaman” is by rights, a generalized term; many practitioners of folk healing have traditional names for their career, and offense can easily be taken by lumping together any group of people with a single term. That evidence at least, is irrefutable. Neoshamanism deflects the role of negativity in traditional shaman belief. While the initiation of shaman into their spiritual practice was literally through some form of near death experience, neoshamanism refuses to acknowledge any such negativity as a necessity of their practice, by which they devalue not only the roles of positive shamanism, but also the entire practice.