A Shamanic View of Mental Illness

The Dagara people of West Africa have an entirely different view of what is actually happening to someone who has been diagnosed as "mentally ill." In the shamanic view, mental illness signals "the birth of a healer," explains Dagara shaman and writer, Malidoma Patrice Somé, Phd. Thus, mental disorders are spiritual emergencies, spiritual crises, and need to be regarded as such to aid the healer in being born. What those in the West view as mental illness, the Dagara people regard as "good news from the other world." The person going through the crisis has been chosen as a medium for a message to the community that needs to be communicated from the spirit realm.

A different perspective opens up very different possibilities. The Dagara people use ritual to relieve the suffering at the core of "mental illness." According to Somé, ritual can open the way for the individual's healing relationship with helping spirits that supports a cure or definitive movement out of the "mentally ill" state of being and back into the world as an individual better equipped than most to give their gifts to the world. To learn more, read "The Shamanic View of Mental Illness," featuring Malidoma Patrice Some´ (excerpted from The Natural Medicine Guide to Schizophrenia).

The Owls at Devil's Peak Lookout

Devil's Peak Lookout

I have felt a close kinship with owls for most of my life. Over the years, I have had many encounters with these stealthy raptors, but none was more memorable than an incident with a pair of great horned owls at the Devil's Peak forest fire lookout 11 miles southwest of Oregon's Mt. Hood. I backpacked to the summit and spent the night in the old, decommissioned lookout on three separate occasions in the early 1980's. It is a difficult 3.8 mile hike up a very steep trail that is not very scenic. However, when you summit Devil's Peak and ascend the steps of the historic lookout tower, the views are spectacular. The volcanic peaks visible from the lookout include Mt. Jefferson to the south and Mt. Hood to the northwest. Now that the peak is no longer an official fire lookout, the surrounding trees are growing up and will soon obscure most of the expansive views.

I have visited fire lookouts throughout the Pacific Northwest, but Devil's Peak is one of the few lookouts that still remains open to the public and you can actually camp in. The tower is well maintained by volunteers and there is a log book inside where many overnight visitors have signed in. I have had some interesting experiences while camping at the lookout. I remember being awakened early one morning by the lookout door banging in the wind. When I got up to latch the door, I was greeted by the most magnificent sunrise I have ever seen.

During an overnight stay in the summer of 1980, I ventured out onto the wrap-around deck at dusk. Just as I stepped out the door, I came face-to-face with an airborne great horned owl that narrowly missed colliding with me. I was startled, to say the least, and retreated back into the lookout. I spent the remainder of the evening sitting quietly inside the lookout, observing the owl and its mate hunting mice around the perimeter of the structure. The stealthy owls perched atop the tower's overhead window shutters to stalk their prey. Using keen vision and silent wings, they glided to the ground, capturing rodents in their powerful talons. Even when it became too dark to see the owls, I could still hear the high pitched squeaks of their prey. It was a rare experience in the wild that I will never forget.

Owl Medicine

Many people have a fear of owls and owl medicine. Contemplate what it means if you're not comfortable with an animal. If you dislike or are afraid of an animal, it's especially important to connect with it and learn its wisdom. The message it holds for you will be particularly meaningful. Power animals help us connect to the parts of ourselves that we've lost or denied, so it may be mirroring a trait or quality that is ready to come back to help you be in your wholeness.

Owl medicine includes prophecy, wisdom, stealth, silence, intuition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, shapeshifting, and keen vision that can pierce all illusion. Owls and hawks possess the keenest eyesight of all raptors, giving them broad vision. Call upon Owl to unmask and see what is truly beneath the surface -- what is hidden or in the shadows. Night Eagle, as Owl is called, is the bird of magic and darkness, of prophecy and wisdom. Great Horned Owls have a large repertoire of haunting calls that can be heard over several miles on a still night. Owl is a messenger of omens who will call out to let all share in its vision. Click here to view my music video "Owl Vision - Ayahuasca Journey." 

The Soul of the Shaman

The distinguishing characteristic of shamanism is its focus on an ecstatic trance state in which the soul of the shaman is believed to leave his or her body and ascend to the sky (heavens) or descend into the earth (underworld). The drum, sometimes called the shaman's horse, provides the shaman a relatively easy means of controlled transcendence. Researchers have found that if a drum beat frequency of around three to four beats per second is sustained for at least fifteen minutes, it will induce significant trance states in most people, even on their first attempt. During shamanic flight, the sound of the drum serves as a guidance system, indicating where the shaman is at any moment or where they might need to go. The drumbeat also serves as an anchor, or lifeline, that the shaman follows to return to his or her body and/or exit the trance state when the trance work is complete.

The shaman's mount, namely the single-headed frame drum, originated in Siberia along with shamanism itself thousands of years ago. The word shaman comes from Siberia, and it is in this vast geographical region where shamanism proper is to be found. Siberian shamans use the frame drum to convey to the spirits of a place their greetings, any requests, and thanks. It is a spiritual practice designed to help human beings relate to all of nature. Siberia is one of the few places in the world where the shamanic heritage has remained unbroken. Read more.