Shamanism and Peacemaking

[LadyHawk]

This is an article written by a great teacher.

Shamanism and Peacemaking
By Myron Eshowsky
© Shamanism, Fall/Winter 1999, Vol. 12, No. 2

We did not take up weapons, for that is not our way, but in the strength of our minds we stood against them offering healing where there was pain and returning kindness for anger.
— Waitaha Elder speaking of the invasion by the Maori long ago.



Introduction
When I was a young boy, I used to attend services at a Jewish Nursing Home. The moments I enjoyed most were the times after kiddush (a sacred meal), when the men would gather to discuss some spiritual point. They would argue and argue, sometimes to the point of getting red in the face and looking like they would explode into a fight. I remember asking the rabbi, "Who is right?" His response was not what I expected: "They are all right. Each of them has a piece of the truth." And so I learned that we all have our own journey to make and many are trails that lead to wisdom.

I offer this story to contrast how most of us in the West experience conflict. As Deborah Tannen reminds us, "politics is a domain that necessarily entails conflict and opposition."1 Most of us have experienced how politicized our conflicts have become. There is a tendency to treat problems as an either/or duality. Someone is right and someone is wrong. Someone is the winner and someone is the loser. This polarity separates rather than unites us as people. In this context, I know few people who like conflict, including myself.

A few years ago I began researching how shamans worked with tribal conflict. During this research, I discovered that shamans have been utilized to help heal the conflicts of fifteen years of civil war in Mozambique and in post-Apartheid South Africa, where they serve a community role in helping maintain the health and welfare of the village.2 However, much to my surprise, the topic of what tribal peoples may have to teach us about living together in a more connected and harmonious manner remains largely unexplored.

In a shamanic world view where everything is connected, all conflict is ultimately community conflict. Malidoma Somé expresses this sentiment when he writes

Indigenous societies concede the existence of conflict but view it as something of importance and of interest to the community. The conflict is some sort of message directed to the entire community but expressed through the individuals embroiled in the conflict. Interpersonal conflict is therefore not really interpersonal to the indigenous; all conflict is community conflict. The message for the community that lies behind the friction two people are experiencing must be assimilated and resolved successfully to serve the greater good of the community.3
My research taught me that the diversity of approaches different shamanic traditions used for resolving conflicts was vast. Learning this, I became curious about how they might be adapted to Western culture. Through a number of journeys, I gained insights, which I. began to apply. This article shares some of these understandings and offers case examples of healing brought to specific conflict situations.

[LadyHawk]

Part II this is II of V.

In the West, approaches to resolving conflict focus primarily on communication by aggrieved parties, negotiation, compromise, and agreement. Most importantly the emphasis is on outcome, i.e., resolution. In practice, compromise can leave seeds which blossom into future conflict. Since many of the conflicts are polarized and seldom resolved, they can fester into larger ones. An easy example for understanding this is divorce.

A couple with children get divorced. The fight between them continues, even though the divorce is final. The children get caught in the middle and develop problems of their own. These problems, whether psychological or social, begin to involve a number of other parties. People who were friends and offered support to the couple pull away or take sides. The conflict, originally between two people, spreads into more and more people's lives. Soon, the original unhealed conflict is eclipsed by these other issues.

From a shamanic perspective, these conflicts are spiritual. The source of these conflicts may not be readily apparent, being hidden from ordinary modes of perceiving and understanding. Having a shamanic worldview helps people understand the damage being done on a spiritual level. Michael Harner makes the point in an interview:

From a shamanic point of view, all people have a spiritual side, whether they recognize it or not. When people get angry, jealous, or have a hostile emotional attitude, they can vent not only verbal and physical abuse, but spiritual abuse without even knowing it. In other words, if somebody is ignorant of shamanic principles, they can do damage to other people on a spiritual level This doesn't mean you shouldn't get angry at people. It just means that you should have discipline and know there are parameters. You can get angry with somebody and verbally let out steam and at the same time control your spiritual side.4
In many of the cultures I have researched, rituals and ceremonies are practiced to support the expression of these energies. Among certain tribes, a common practice is to barely whisper your angry feelings as you walk by a person with whom you are in conflict. Malidoma Somé describes "ash circles," used by the Dagara for conflict resolution. After a ritual of "truth-telling" in front of the community, wherein both parties in conflict are given the opportunity to state their side of the disagreement without interruption, they retire to a sacred space created by a circle of ash. The "ears," not only of the tribe are present, but also of the ancestors and spirits. As the two persons in conflict enter the ash circle, each takes a mouthful of water from one of two bowls. To the Dagara, water symbolizes peace and life; ash symbolizes protection. They face away from each other, eventually spitting the water out. They then face one another and scream at each other wildly, but without physical violence. At some point a catharsis occurs and they throw the remaining water in the bowls on each other, ending the ritual in tears and grief release. The community also is actively involved by verbalizing the importance of the conflicted parties to the tribe, playing a key role of support, and personal affirmation.5

Among the Yanomami, a form of ceremonial dialogue called wayamou is used. In preparation for this ceremony, the aggrieved parties paint their bodies and adorn themselves. As they enter a sacred circle, they are greeted with shouts, whistles, and the sounds of arrows beating on the walls. They get into hammocks. The Elders may say a few words. Often, they are offered tobacco to chew and perhaps some food.

Once night falls, the dialogue begins. They argue, with full and open expressiveness, saying what they need to say. In the turn-taking, the listener must do so meekly, awaiting a turn to speak out. The volume and tempo of the exchange tends to go in waves. At some point there is a "calming" and the anger subsides. The ceremony always ends at the beginning of the new day's light, after which there is a gift exchange and sharing of food.6

In the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa, the Ju/'hoansi integrate the relieving of conflict tensions within their dancing healing rituals. (The use of dance for the resolution of conflict is used in several Melanesian cultures as well.) Partly, the intent of the dance is to bring the people together to honor each group member's importance to the tribe. If two women are at odds, others will arrange for them to be next to each other in the singing circles, hoping that sisterhood between them will be re-established. Inherent in their approach is the belief that these tensions can create illness in the group. It is common for them to express these tensions as healing occurs within the dancing healing ritual. An example of this ritual expression, related to an ongoing dispute about a prospective divorce, resulted in the energy of the dance lacking power and the singing being flat. Rather than being a full circle of singing women, they had broken into two curved groups.

Arguments begin between the two lines of women, shouts about each other's 'stinginess' or 'bad manners.' The shouting escalates, dominating the dance for a moment. Then two older women, facing each other at opposite ends of the two lines, bring the angry exchange to a climax. Suddenly, as each feels some redress has been won, they agree to resolve their differences and move on with the dance.7

>The circle reconnected and eventually the mood lightened and laughter broke out. The healing dance was then able to continue rather than be poisoned by the conflict.8

Not all of these rituals and attempts to diffuse tensions are so openly expressive. The Jivaro (also known as Shuar) shaman, for instance, buries a lance (said to contain the animosity between the conflicting parties) in a place hidden deep in the forest so the antagonists cannot uncover it.10 The Iroquois Nation held council to resolve problems and conflicts within the confederation. In some cultures, very specific rituals for presenting one's case to the Elders exist(ed). These often involve(d) deep questioning and an attempt to make right through actions as well as prescribed ritual. The Hawaiian practice of Ho'Oponopono is an example of this type of ritual.10

In the west, it is not uncommon to have jealousy and envy played out against leaders. In essence, these are attacks on personal power. These attacks can be ongoing, ceaseless, and relentless. By contrast, the Zulu have a ritual day once each year when the warriors denounce the king. In this ritual, they may blame his actions, call them base and cowardly, oblige him to explain, question his explanations, and even threaten and express contempt for him. However, this is done only within the ritual context and is not continued afterward.11

Among the Yao, the king is attacked upon his installation. He is symbolically struck on the head, passes out, is given a funeral, and is reborn. This ritual of death and rebirth, initiates the king into a higher status role, one believed to be spiritually empowered. The ritual ends with a display of support for the king.12

These examples indicate the range of responses to conflict that are practiced. The following case histories are offered as examples of the application of shamanic methods to heal conflict here in Western culture. Four different categories of examples are offered: personal, interpersonal, family, and community.

[LadyHawk]

III/V

A Doctor's Angst

The husband of a good friend came to see if I could offer some healing for what had been for him a distressing year. A world-renowned surgeon, he had not been able to practice for a year. His problems began when he passed out during a surgery. The immediate concern was the possibility of a heart attack. He was hospitalized, but no obvious medical problems could be found. Among his symptoms was a loss of feeling in his dominant hand along with the beginnings of a tremor. After a number of medical workups, there were concerns that some sort of neuro-muscular disease was beginning to show itself.

Eventually, he was diagnosed as having an anxiety disorder which, it was hypothesized, fit the other symptoms. Anti-anxiety medication and cognitive- behavioral therapy were prescribed. While he felt less anxious, the symptoms continued. He was facing the possibility that in his early 50's he was finished as a surgeon. In my interview with him, I found his description of his process to be more like a man at war with himself. Internally, he was battling with voices of self-judgment and self-sabotage.

My own journey brought me face to face with the spirit of his illness. This spirit was angry and out to win. It was clear that it did not want to be appeased by me. My teacher pointed out that this was the source of the surgeon's problems. He was going to have to do his own work to heal his internal conflict.

A Hmong shaman I met in Wisconsin had shared with me a method of working with what he called "demons." In their culture, many conflicts are understood to be the work of these demons. I was told in my journey that the surgeon would gain benefit from working in a similar manner.

With this information, I had the surgeon journey to the spirit of his conflict. He met a voraciously angry monster being. In the journey he received guidance on how to honor this spirit and what it needed. A representation of the spirit was made and this was then enspirited with the essence of the angry spirit. He put this figurine in his yard by a large tree. Here a shrine to the spirit was built, daily food offerings left, and a song sung. This ritual was to be observed from the new moon to the next new moon.

Within a couple of days, all symptoms were completely alleviated. The surgeon returned to the operating room shortly thereafter. Three years later, he remains symptom-free and doing what he loves.

Workplace Difficulties

In a circle I was facilitating years ago, there was a man who asked if l could help with a problem he was having at work. A physicist, he was co-team leader for a major research project with a man who was verbally and physically abusing him. The nature of the project was such that there was no supervisor to mediate these issues. The physicist, who was in his early 60s, did not feel he could quit the project due to his fear that he would not be employable elsewhere, given his age.

The circle did a healing dance on his behalf. Two members volunteered to journey to the spirits of the two men and learn what it was like to be in their shoes. They were then to dance this out. Others were to merge with their spirit helpers and bring healing to the dance. The dancer who danced the abusive co-leader experienced tremendous heart pain as if her heart were broken. This shifted as the dance went on.

The next day the physicist went to work and found a flower on his desk. Later that morning a catered lunch was delivered to him at the work site. The other team leader came up to him and said, "I am really sorry that I have treated you so badly. I've taken all my home distress out on you and I hope you can forgive me." It turned out that his marriage had been dissolving over many months and had finally led to a separation. The flowers and lunch continued to be delivered daily until the end of the project.

[LadyHawk]

IV/of V.

Blending Families

A couple came in wanting to work on how to blend their families. After marrying, they had created a home that included the wife's two adolescent daughters. A couple of months later the husband's son, who had lived in another town with his mother, was kicked out due to his extremely violent behavior. The father literally found his son on his doorstep with no forewarning. The father had divorced his son's mother very early in the son's life and had not had a major role in his life up to that point.

The appearance of the son created a great deal of family distress. The son had been violent on several occasions and had trashed his mother's house. There were also concerns regarding his lack of boundaries with his stepsisters. In light of his felt obligation to try to turn his son's life around, the father rented an apartment for himself and his son. The couple maintained their relationship the best they could under this arrangement. At the time of our beginning sessions, six months had gone by since moving to the apartment and the husband was feeling a strong desire to blend the families. The wife was skittish and unsure.

In coming to know them, I learned that the father, when under high stress, would sometimes lose his temper. His wife described his anger as, "I look in his eyes and he is not there." In essence, she was describing dissociated rage. His history revealed he had been beaten as a young child on an ongoing basis by his mother, and that she had spent time in mental institutions. The wife's history included relationships with men who had abused her. Her oldest daughter was complaining of severe depression and feelings of not wanting to be alive. Her younger daughter was having problems as well.

In the course of our working together, I eventually did soul retrievals for all the family members. In journeying on what to work on for the bigger issues in the family, I was directed to tell the parents we were going to do a "family constitution" ritual. The spirits gave me a number of questions that were to be addressed by each family member in terms of rights and expectations for being a constitutional member of the family. Within a ritual context that included drumming, singing, speaking truths, and sitting with one's truths over a few days, the family finally agreed to a constitution which included rituals for anger release and community response for the breaking of taboos in the constitution. The signing of the constitution was followed by a feast with friends of the family.

There were no more outbursts by the son. He got straight A's the rest of his high school career and went on to college. A couple of minor sessions were held with the parents regarding concerns they had with the youngest daughter, which were easily resolved.

Community Healing

My keenest interest in this work has been in community conflict healing and working within the natural groupings in which it occurs. A couple of years ago, I befriended a group of people who were building a spiritual gathering place in rural Wisconsin. One of the members of this group is a shamanic practitioner and teacher. I really appreciated their open heartedness and the purity of intent in their dreams.

As they were beginning to build, a multinational corporate farming group based in Belgium bought the farm next door with the intent of building a factory pig farm. For all the people of this particular valley, it would mean weeks of awful smells as well as a number of environmental impact concerns. For the people I knew, it meant the end of their dream if this factory farm were to be built. A number of interventions took place. One group member who is an attorney, drafted a new zoning ordinance, which she placed before the county board. The intent of the ordinance was to limit the size and scope of pig farming and its environmental impact. In researching the issues involved, it was found that the State Department of Natural Resources policy was to grant permits and not do environmental impact studies until a minimum of six months had passed (if ever). At this time also, news reports described negative environmental impacts of factory pig farming in North Carolina.

The drumming circle community did soul healing work for the land the corporation was attempting to buy. It had never been well cared for. Non-local owners had bought it a couple of years prior and stood to make a huge profit on their investment. The community of a few thousand had split over the issues involved. A poor county, there was the promise of new jobs. Farmers in the county feared any ordinances that might limit the freedom of how they ran their family farms. County Board meetings were packed with concerned citizens. A number of journeys were done to try to bring understanding, healing, and clarity to the issues involved. Full effort was made to make contact with the corporate president, who was attending these county meetings.

The positive side of this conflict was how the issues allowed the spiritual community to become known by other community members and how it demystified for all what they were doing and who they were. The zoning ordinance passed the County Board. At the same time, it was recognized there were a number of legal issues which might overturn this ordinance.

Toward the end of this process, an attempt was made to conduct a community healing ritual for the conflict. It had consumed weeks and months of people's lives. Attempts were made to invite a wide spectrum of community members. A conflict healing dance occurred similar to what was described earlier in this article. As is generally the case, the most immediate impact of these rituals was an increased sense of understanding and compassion for the complexity of issues involved.

The real impact of the ritual came the next day. The non-local owners cancelled the contract with the corporation and agreed to sell the farm to a group of locals for the price they had paid. It was a bolt out of the blue. It meant the owners had given up the opportunity to profit greatly. The corporation looked at a couple of other sites in the area, but eventually gave up.

[LadyHawk]

V.

Conclusions and Lessons

There are several principles that emerge from this work. They are as follows:


1. The importance of non-attachment to outcome. Consistently, I have found that the way these conflicts work their way out is unique and often unexpected. Ethically, there are concerns to not misuse power or cause harm to different parties. The range of resolutions can be from a simple shift in the perceptions of how the conflicted parties perceive the issues to major miracles: the "bolts out of the blue."

2. The importance of stepping into the shoes of each party in order to have full understanding and compassion for what is involved. I think of shamans who wear the clothes of their clients in order to understand more fully their illness. In other words, it is necessary to understand the truths of each position.

3. The fact that in every conflict the issues are much deeper than they appear on the surface. There is a spiritual field that influences the conflicting parties. Hidden from our normal way of perceiving, a complexity of issues calling for healing emerges. Every conflict has its own unique configuration. Some of these are personal issues calling for healing, such as soul retrieval, power retrieval, or extraction. Some are the influences of history and the ancestors: issues left behind or in the history of a place, waiting for spiritual resolution. Ultimately, none of these issues are personal, but rather relational in a spiritual context. Recognizing the patterns of connection and what is needed to restore balance and harmony is the work that needs to be done.

4. The importance of language in doing this work. I am bridging this work into a linear world with people who do not understand different ways of perceiving reality. In part, the impasse caused by frustration opens up the possibility of bringing "new" healing approaches to these issues. What I sometimes say in these situations to the people involved is that there are "some issues so overwhelming to what we know how to do, that we pray to God for a miracle to happen, and maybe that is what we need here. I take care to say that I don't know what the new balance or harmony might look like and state that I am not attached to how these things work out.

I leave you with the guiding prophecy of the Waitaha people.

Walk in the shadows, hide in the waters, move in the mists, step behind the rainbow to save the taonga (treasure). Protect our ancestors. Hold the truth close and warm it with brave hearts, for pain will consume the land and the circle of our dreams will be broken. And it will seem lost beyond recall.
KiaKoha! Be Strong! And the day will come when the taonga will be revealed once more. And we will walk tall with the knowledge in the kete (woven basket) and find joy in the colours of the rainbow. And the fires of truth will burn into the hearts of all the people of the land. And they will find the trail of gentleness and peace. Kahuri te Ao — the world turns. And the circle of our dreamtime takes a new shape for a new dawn. And the people of all colours join to bind what was broken and live in hope.13

[LadyHawk]

I am meeting Myron the end of the month for training and would love to hear your thoughts on some of his writing !

[LadyHawk]

Local Shamanic Resources: Core Shamanic Drumming Circles

This will give you a list of drum circles and people you can contact if interested in participating in one.

I have not read them all but plan to. What I have read makes perfect sense to me. Very interesting LH, I am looking forward to reading/learning more.

I am so excited for you!
ohhhhh I wanna come tooooooo got room in your trunk? suitcase? LOL

[LadyHawk]

These are great stories and deserve a bump.

[Snow Fairy]

Thanks for sharing that, LH. Great read.