I decided to pose a fundamental question to an old sea gypsy working on his boat. I asked, "Do you have any religious beliefs". My translator looked at me nervously and then looked at the calm squatting man carving out his new boat nearby. The translator was reluctant but eventually translated my question as the carpenter calmly focused on his work. "Well" the carpenter began as he sliced a thin strip of bamboo. "There is spirit everywhere...in the forest.... in the sea" He continued to slice the bamboo for his boat into thinner and thinner slices as he focused on his work. It was probably best that he was multitasking like this, answering cosmic questions and building his boat; otherwise the already humid air may have thickened with the serious dialogue between us. "You see" he continued, "my ancestors' spirits are on this island. They usually embody the totem pole, but they are available to protect us whether we are in the forest or in the sea. I can pray to them for protection whether I see a tiger in the jungle or a shark in the sea." "This is a spirit filled world" I looked around the jungle and, although I saw no spirits, I didn't close my mind to his words. After all there must be something beyond my own limited human perception; there must be something behind the ordered universe. It seems like there should be nothing, but there is something. Existence, to me, seems miraculous. So I couldn't disagree with the boat maker. He then began to explain that once a year there is a traditional celebration. Usually, my translator explained, this celebration begins in April. During the celebration the community gathers together; they meet with their ancestor spirits and invite them to enter their bodies and speak to the group. During this celebration they feast on seafood and make lots of rhythmic drumming; they trance, sing, and dance. The explorer De Munck asks the Congo forest Bambuti about their belief system. Bambuti say to him "First spirit is Kahini, father of the Bambuti." One of De Munck's Bambuti friends says that the first spirit "is to the Bambuti what roots are to a tree." It "is our beginning, the sum of the breath of our ancestors."
Like most hunting and gathering societies the pygmies beliefs are based on Animism and Shamanism. The most well known form of Animism is the Native American belief that things in nature, such as the forest itself, people, animals, trees, mountains, the sky, and planets have consciousness. When a man dies in this animist pygmy clan that De Munck studied, his soul is often embodied in the clan's totem, a leopard. The totem is the clan's animal; used as a symbol that represents the clan. Other Bambuti pygmy clans have their own totems as well. Various totems include diverse natural objects such as animals, trees, tree stumps, or even termite mounds. The Bambuti believe that their forest is full of spirits and what they call Shetanis. These spirits are dynamic beings that can turn themselves into humans or animal shapes. One of the Bambuti that De Munck spoke with explained that their ancestors had the power to change themselves into their totem animal, the leopard.
The spirit of the Forest itself is called the Tore. The Bambuti explain that the Tore "is the spirit of the forest represented by living men. For it to keep its power it must stay hidden and mysterious." One day De Munck tells of a traditional ceremonial party in which the Bambuti communicate with the Tore while the males make rhythmic music, drink palm wine and smoke marijuana... The Bambuti hold a large tree trunk that works as a trumpet and they blow into it. The trumpet itself summons the spirit in times of need for assistance. The men run around in the camp rushing from one end to the other causing lots of commotion. De Munck explains, "Easily one believes that the spirit of the forest is singing. The setting gives an eerie atmosphere which adds to the unreality of the scene. Drums vibrate, earth trembles under the hammering of the feet. Water pipes gurgle, the live coals sway to the cadence, little red gleams in the night...The Tore prowls nearer and nearer the camp. Its weird and savage chant comes out of the depths of the forest... Awe fills the heart that hears the Tore', spirit of the Meli Hetu. The men remaining in the camp answer the Tore; they are drunk on marijuana and palm wine...everyone dances and sings...late into the night." "After this" De Munck says "It is hard to get to sleep-but have I dreamed?"
Aborigines of Australia believed in a period of time called "The Dreaming". The Dreaming refers to the beginning of creation. The Aborigines believe that during the Dreamtime, the Ancestral Spirits traveled across an empty bare land and created animals, landscapes, rivers, trees, the moon and the stars of the sky. Part of this belief is that stars are actually campfires of the ancestors who created their world.
Afterwards, the Ancestral Spirits changed into aspects of the landscape, and sometimes walked through rocks into other dimensions. This last phenomenon of walking into rock surfaces is represented in cave drawings. The Aborigine's religion was Animist and was a form of Shamanism. Since they had Animist beliefs they naturally had totem animals like the pygmies, as hunter/gatherer cultures generally have. They have various traditional ceremonies that allow them to connect to their ancestral spiritual beings. The aborigines were somewhat diverse from region to region so there were many different forms of ritual and ceremony. They often used music with their didgeridoo, dancing with their totem animal imitations, foot stomping, and impermanent art in their ritual. In some cases they performed ceremonies in the high noon outback desert sun and danced for days asking the spirits for rain. In other forms of ritual the Aborigines created short Dreamtime songs that depicted events associated with ancestral "Dreaming". Ritual chant includes the depiction of events within "The Dreaming" with various dance movement.
As all the above-mentioned groups did, The Inuit, or the "Eskimo" of the northern Arctic Circle traditionally practiced Shamanism. Each shaman had their own spirits. In fact, ancestors were thought of as spirits which a shaman could communicate with.
The Inuit believe in a "Great Spirit." Peter Ernerk, an Inuit of Canada, explains that Inuit believe "in the existence of Naarjuk. This Supreme Being, equivalent to the Christian God, made the earth and water. Someone else, according to our beliefs, made arctic char fish. I don't fear Naarjuk. I am told that he exists somewhere in the universe, he is the boss of sila, the sky, looking after all our relations who have passed away." Peter also explains that Shamanism "was our way of life for many, many years before Roman Catholic and Anglican missionaries arrived on the heels of European traders to forcibly replace shamanism with their religion."
Specifically, in traditional Inuit society, the Shaman was seen as a healer. As in most hunting gathering cultures, the Shaman acted as one that healed the body, mind, and the spirit.
Peter Ernerk explains that "Inuit camps sometimes had more than one Shaman, and they could be either men or women. But that doesn't mean anyone could be an angatkuq (Shaman). No, that person had to have the ability to vision, to see spirits. Shamans were born, not made."
A way of "performing rituals was through the songs of sakauhiit - spiritual songs. The shaman would sing the song of alianait, alianait (joy, joy, joy). The pisiit/pihiit is traditional songs that begin with the words ajaijaa, ajaijaa".
Peter explains that when a ritual was about to be performed that they would enter an igloo and it would be darkened. In summertime "When there was 24-hour daylight, we of course could not do anything about this. But when it was done in an igloo or a tent, the qulliq (oil lamp) was only slightly lit, so as to make the room much darker."
Here in the igloo the Shaman would sing the songs of "joy joy" and would locate the psychological/spiritual problems of the sick person and attempt to heal his patient.
Peter says that "Today, the worship of Shamanism in Nunavut is still secret, not openly practiced as it is in other circumpolar countries such as Russia." Many young people are attempting to learn more about it. Peter says that some of the young generation sees Shamanism "as a positive thing. It may not be visible on the surface, but some are practicing shamanism. You practice shamanism within your own self."
Peter explains that he believes in souls and spirits. He says "I believe in my spirits who help me in life, whether I am in danger on the land or seeking and finding animals. One of those spirits that I believe in is my father. Even though my father died in 1971, I believe that he sometimes hunts animals through me. I also believe that he speaks the thoughts of goodness through me. Among some tribes of Inuit and especially among Nattilikmiut, where my father comes from, we believe."
Peter also tells of other spirits that he believes in: "On the other hand, Nuliajuk is a spirit from the sea, the boss of all sea animals, especially seals. She is half woman and half fish, with a fin. Europeans refer to her as "Sea Goddess." In my time, when seal hunters were not catching any seals, my father would say it is because we made Nuliajuk angry. And then it became necessary for the Shaman to find out why Nuliajuk was angry. Only then was it possible to catch seals again. Many Inuit are named after spirits such as Nuliajuk. Many of our traditional names are spiritual."
Peter then goes on to make a comment and says "The missionaries and the churches, as well as the governments, have put down and belittled Inuit spirituality since coming here a bit over 50 years ago. Instead of looking at it as evil, society must look at it as a positive answer to our social problems. All denominations should make mention of Inuit spirituality now and then, when delivering sermons in the churches. I think we are really praying for answers from the same Almighty, Nunaliuqti - the earth maker. Don't you think so?"
Religion is universal. The anthropological definition of religion concerns human systems of belief relating to the divine or supernatural beings, powers, and forces. Religion also can be defined as systems of belief that give meaning to our lives. Some Native Americans were believers in the Great Spirit. The Celts worshipped nature and believed in several deities. The Egyptians believed in the Sun God and were polytheist as well. Many Americans are in various protestant and catholic forms of Christianity. Headhunting tribes in Malaysia believe in a force called Manna. The various well known forms of divinity include the Indian Shiva, African ancestral spirits, Buddha, Krishna, Apollo, Zeus, Allah, Mercury (Greek Gods), Aphrodite, The White Buffalo Woman of the Sioux, Shiva, Mayan Gods, etc.
Religion is an old tradition. The attempt to explain our existence and the reason we live, as far as we know, seems to be an exclusively human act. Yet we have no proof of that it is an exclusive human act. The question as to when human religion began immediately brings up questions of consciousness and the evolution of intelligence. No one knows when religion began. Yet we can only speculate as to what it was like when a distant ancestor first questioned his or her self at some point about the meaning of his or her presence in the universe. Maybe our ancestor sat in Africa and thought in her own way as the sun poured down on her "Why am I alive?" "How did the savannah come into being?" As we do now, she would have had to hypothesize and speculate and sometimes come up with tentative answers. But if we are to look out our own human evolution we know that human brains have been increasing in size and that the modern brain size has existed for 50,000 years. By looking at the art and tools of our ancestors, we can assess the intelligence of a person who made talented paintings 32,000 years ago. Surely these toolmakers and artists were able to ask themselves the most basic fundamental questions. In France, there are cave paintings of what seem to be dancing Shamanic figures. There are also Neanderthal burial sites where our ancient cousins painted their dead, indicating that there may have been some form of ritualized burials. In the Neolithic era the Europeans were creating giant stone circles that seem to have ritualistic purpose, such as England's Stonehenge. These large stone monolithic structures are all over Europe.
The Englishmen Sir Edward Burnett Tyler theorized that Religion was born out of attempts to explain why we are here. As he studied hunter-gatherers in the 1800's he noticed a universal similarity in all of their religions. They generally believed that everything had a soul, that mostly things in nature, for example, stones, trees, mountains, animals, plants, and the sky, have souls or consciousness. But also man made objects such as weapons and jewelry could have souls. He noticed that modern hunter-gatherers have universal religion and that it must have a root religion from which it all was developed. Religion was the beginning of our pre-historic ancestors' attempts at explaining his or her existence.
Tyler called this first religion Animism. The word Animism comes from the word anima, which means soul. Tyler also hypothesized that the cause of the belief in animism was through dreams. Dreams and visions are the tools in which the priests or the shamans could travel. Shamanism is basically practicing Animism. Or, in other words, Shamanism is Animism in action. The Shaman is the tribal priest who has the gift of perceiving and even communicating with spirits, gods, and souls.
A Shaman becomes a Shaman usually through heredity or through demonstrating a natural talent or character. A child that has visions and is different would be seen as a spiritual child.
The defining universal trait of a shaman is spiritual travel into other dimensions. The shaman leaves the body and takes journeys to other dimensions or realms. These travels through other dimensions can be accessed through the use of chanting, dance, prayer, musical trance, dreams, sacred plants, or fasting. Often the purpose of the Shaman is to heal sick people. Many psychosomatic illnesses are thought to have spiritual causes, and the shaman can sometimes heal the ill by using trance, prayer and chants.
Before we go any farther, I want to explain that I am not asking the reader to convert to any form of belief system. I will only suggest that having a belief system and a meaning in life has a therapeutic value and potentially improves your health. From a psychological perspective having belief systems serves a purpose. But allow the reader to be aware that the author himself is an open minded mystic, but again, my purpose is to review positive sides of our ancient tribal tradition of developing belief systems, not to convince anyone of a particular belief system.
For the last two centuries, ever since we had the scientific revolution coinciding with the industrial revolution, and especially because of Darwin's evidences of evolution, there has been a growing materialism, a growing belief in nothing but the obvious physical world. Psychologists sometimes refer to this growing alienation from spirituality as the "existential vacuum". This vacuum describes a scientific person's feeling of emptiness, a lack of meaning and purpose. The antidote for this is a return to meaning. But how can we have meaning with growing scientific materialism in society?
Evolution has been a major theme in this book and it is a major theme for the reason for our existence. But evolution does not discard a meaning in life or a supernatural existence. In fact in gallop polls most American believers in evolution realize this. Most American darwinists hypothesize that it is possible that the mutation of DNA could be a medium used by an intelligent being or beings to create conscious life. But again, the point here is not to convince you of a belief in a god, the point here is that just because we found the mechanism of natural selection does not mean that there is no supernatural meaning and purpose behind existence.
People that have scientific ethics have objections to developing a belief system without evidence. This commitment to science is good, but we must realize that even science requires faith. Science is good because it uses strict observation and the scientific method based on experimentation, cause and effect, hypothesis, facts and evidence. Although materialists make the assumption that the physical world that science measures is real when the physical world that science measures may be an illusion. Belief in the physical world also takes faith, or belief without proof, because the physical world may be an illusion, a dream, a hallucination etc. So, even science is a system of belief based on a faith.
The point is that having any belief systems require faith.
In psychological literature it is easy to run into the idea that belief systems sometimes are extremely healing. A common belief system can create social unity if it is practiced together with other people. This social aspect of religion is called fellowship. Having rituals or set times to pray and come together and experience fellowship is good because it allows a sense of intimacy and that fills our need that was once filled by real clans, especially as people are becoming more and more isolated.
The Harvard Psychologist Timothy Leary agreed with this idea of community. He says in his well-known book, Start Your Own Religion, that teaches, "dropping out turning on and tuning in," that the process of gaining spirituality is "most naturally done in small groups of family members, lovers and seed friends...you must form the most ancient and sacred of Human structures-the clan. A clan or cult is a small group of human beings organized around a religious goal. Remember, you are basically a primate. You are designed by a two billion year blue print to live in a small band... You cannot accept the political or spiritual leadership of anyone you cannot touch, con-spire (breathe) with, worship with, get high with.
Your clan must be centered around a shrine and a totem spiritual energy source. To the clan you dedicate your highest loyalty, and to you the clan offers its complete protection. But the clan must be centered on religious goals. Religion means being tuned in to the natural rhythm." Leary's point of creating community is evident, but the main point in his book Start Your Own Religion1 is that religion creates an experience of altering consciousness, or what he calls being "turned on" which is basically having a positive state of mind that Leary calls being "high". Having belief systems serves emotional needs in many ways.
As Carl Marx points out "Religion is the medicine of the masses." Because religion serves these emotional needs it can be therapeutic. In fact, Jean Calment, the oldest woman in documented history, prayed every morning. Prayer or meditation can improve morale. Prayer and meditation also simply cause the relaxation of the nervous system. Since the 1970s the Mind/Body Medical Institute affiliated with Harvard University has documented that there is an increase in the activity of "theta" brain waves when we pray or meditate. These brainwaves are indicators of calm states of mind that have positive effect on the body. Gregg Jacobs, an author and assistant professor from Harvard Medical School, says simply "Prayer is the modern brain's means by which we can connect to more powerful ancestral states of consciousness".
Another researcher, by the name of Andrew Newberg, wrote an article in the academic journal known as Psychiatry Research which explains that a part of the brain, which normally actively calculates spatial orientation, transforms itself during intense prayer or meditation into a peaceful motionless place. Newberg thinks that "It creates a blurring of the self-other relationship," He studies Buddhist Monks and Catholic Nuns that pray or meditate for long periods of time. Subjectively these people say that they experience "a complete dissolving of the self, a sense of union, a sense of infinite spacelessness."
How this works and whether there is a supernatural factor involved in this is not known, the point is just that prayer has positive impact on the mind and stress. Simply, researchers are coming to the conclusion that prayer is medicinal.
Part of religion therapy is in the form of dance and song And as we know this has therapeutic value as well.
The organization known as Alcoholics Anonymous also uses a form of Spiritual Therapy. Alcoholic men are often atheist or agnostic and this philosophy of alcoholic agnosticism allows alcoholics to say... "There is no purpose in life. Life is meaningless and therefore it doesn't matter" So AA, with this understanding, teaches these alcoholics to find the "higher power" in whatever form or appearance they can find it, and in many cases alcoholics recover to become functioning people. In their so-called "Big Book," the AA manual that helps these alcoholics to recover, a physician writes about some of his experience. He says that the religion therapy of AA has become a "remedy for thousands." This is an example of the therapeutic value of finding meaning in life. Again, whether or not there is a supernatural factor in this is hard to prove, but the fact that is it is a means to end the pattern of alcoholism in some people is self-evident.
Existential Therapy in general is a type of therapy for people who may be experiencing the "existential vacuum", or a feeling of meaninglessness. An example of existential therapy is Victor Frankle's logo therapy. The term Logo therapy is from the two Greek words "logos" (logic) and "therapeia" (therapy). He believed that if a person could find a reason or a meaning to his or her life then this person would find greater degrees of mental health. Victor Frankl had a unique experience. He first studied Psychology for many years until he was placed in a concentration camp in Poland. He, at this time, received a view of humanity in an exceptional state.
He made the observation and found that having meaning or reason in life was an important factor in the rate of survival and mental health among the prisoners in this psychologically challenging environment. From this observation he developed a Logo therapy that helps people to find a foundational logic or meaning of life. In other words, he, like Timothy Leary, teaches to start your own religion. Victor Frankl found his own meaning in life was the supernatural force of love. He then applied his foundational belief in this force and applied in his attempt to heal people by teaching them to find the force or the reason themselves.
So developing a belief system is a way of connecting to our healthy ancestral state of consciousness. Probably the closest way to imitate our ancestral tradition is to try Shamanism as the Pygmies, Aborigines, and Inuit all did. It was probably a cultural adaptation, which we now know is healing, and it promoted the survival of our ancestors.
Again, Shamanism is Animism in action. Shamanism is the way to practice the belief in Animism. Professor Michael Harner, writer of the Way of the Shaman, believes that one of the evidences that Shamanism works is the universal quality of it, the fact that tribes separated by geographical space and time have used it.
Michael Harner created workshops for contemporary Animism. Harner's workshops in the U.S. and Europe use the beating of a drum as a trance-creating tool into what Harner calls the "Mythic World". The mythic world is accessed through the drumbeat, while the participant relaxes, closes his or her eyes, and goes through a series of visualizations. Usually the visualization begins with a tree. Harner takes his participant through a series of mental images. Harner then takes the traveler to a visualized light source. As the participant enters the light source, he or she then calls for a spiritual guide, a personal, spirit or totem that guides the participant through the path of exploring his or her inner psyche.
Our lives come to an end, or so it seems from a physical standpoint. We live a short life compared to the infinity of eternity. Eternity is more important than a short lifetime. This means that the most important aspect of our lives is the possibility of the spiritual existence vs. the physical existence. Buddhists call this the impermanent nature of reality. Christians say not to lay your treasure on earth where dust and moths corrupt. So beyond psychological purposes, getting a clear understanding of the metaphysical has more purposes than just healing. It might be of primary importance.
For those who have not found a meaning and a purpose, the psychologist Victor Frankl explains that the one important rule is simply to have the willpower to find a meaning in life. Creating meaning in life should be a priority; after all, religious discovery really is the most important part of our existence. Yet one of the big problems is that people do not realize how important it is for not only personal spiritual reasons but also for mental health, and so they simply do not set aside there time. Sometimes they simply are too busy living or surviving to set aside time to find a meaning. Yet really one should drop everything for this goal.
After allocating time the next important part of this process is simply a technique in which to find meaning and purpose. One basic way to do this is to simply search for truth through information gathering and some thick serious thinking. Basically, just spending some time to define what you believe and then giving this a term is one of the most basic techniques. The Native Americans used an interesting technique to find their own purposes and meaning. They went on Vision Quests. This included a basic technique, where the participant isolates her or him self in the wilderness, and fasts or eats lightly. Here the participant thinks, meditates, prays, or waits for a vision or enlightenment or what other people may term as a revelation. The Aborigines of Australia had a similar process that was called a "walk about", which is a rite of passage where the Aborigine isolated himself in the wilderness much like the Native Americans did.
The Animas Valley Institute is an example of an organization that teaches people to do this within industrial culture. The founder Dr. Bill Plotkin says that his contemporary form of the ancient "Vision Fast "is a most powerful and dynamic wilderness rite for men and women who are (1) seeking greater clarity regarding life purpose and meaning, and/or (2) undergoing the healing and empowerment of a major life transition1."
In essence this is what The Buddha did when he found enlightenment. Jesus also went off by himself in the Wilderness to meet John his cousin to be baptized in the Jordan River before he began his teachings. This technique of using Vision Quests is what the psychologist Timothy Leary teaches as well; in his book "Start Your Own Religion." He advises people to "drop out" of society in order that one can gain purpose and get "turned on"; so that when one returns back to society or when one gets "tuned in." to the modern industrial world system he or she will have a needed purpose and a meaning in life.

Existential Therapy
The psychologist Brooke Medicine Eagle teaches another example of modern Shamanism. One of her practices that she teaches her clients is the "Medicine Wheel Ceremony". Medicine wheels refer to stone circles used in ceremonies found among the Native Americans. She "honors" each direction with a stone, East, South, North, and West. Each time she sets a stone in each direction she will offer a prayer in honor of the spirits that represent that particular direction. When she is done with each direction she has a complete stone circle. And then a single stone is set in the middle of the circle representing the connecting of father sky and mother earth with all four directions. In her example of honoring father sky repeats the following prayer. She says "Great Spirit, hear us as we honor not only outside ourselves, in each part of your creation but inside ourselves as well. Thank you for the light of your holy days and help us awaken the light of spirit within us. For light and air and sky, for our lives, we thank you."