WALK WITH A SANGOMA SURGEON

SHAMANS, CURANDEROS & SANGOMAS


 The word shaman originally comes from Siberia.  
According to Mircea Eliade; Shamanism is a technique of religious ecstasy. Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment.

The word shamanism today is probably an all encompassing term used to embrace many different indigenous cultures and ways of healing but Eliade's definition is very apt. Westerners are now engaging more and more in shamanic healing rituals and are adopting them in their own healing practices. 
There have been as many descriptions
 for the art as there are shamanic techniques.

South America is the home to many shamans or curanderos who have access to a host of mind altering plants that Pachamama (the Earth Mother) provides. 

In the Americas, South and North, there are relatively safe entheogens such as Peyote, mushrooms, Ayahuasca and San Pedro cactus that can help those who have never crossed "the veil between worlds", to do so. They are also now being recognized and even legalized in many countries. Icaros or sacred chants used with ayahuasca are very much part of the experience, and with the plant are vital in helping participants gain access to alternative realities.  
In Africa the margin between a pharmacological effect and death in their mind altering plants is often very narrow. Hence other techniques are used. Iboga in Gabon and other central African rain forests is extremely powerful and its effects are not to be taken lightly. Ayahuasca and especially Iboga have been very successful in curing drug addictions and are being used therapeutically in the West now in a more distilled purified form e.g. as the active ingredient - ibogaine. 
Whether this works as well or better without being in the ecosystem from which it came and without the shamanic ritual accompanying it, remains to be determined.
The effects can be profound and life altering and there is no question that healing and even curing can occur of conditions that have defied the best that Western medicine has to offer. However, it is hard to document how often and how reliable these reports are especially in the long term. They should never be a substitute, but a compliment to allopathic treatments.
I encountered the effects of Ayahuasca in two sessions that I had in Peru in the late 1980's. I would have to say that they opened a door for me in the early stages of my journey that had previously been closed. However, for myself I did not like the idea of taking a substance each time to advance my practice. I recall listening to Houston Smith giving a lecture on entheogens and saying; "once you have opened the door you do not have to keep knocking!" Others have correctly said that once you have opened a window then you need to start looking for the doorway... Maybe entheogens are a way to do this on a long term basis but they were not for me. They also have to be handled with care, love and humility by the shaman or the plant spirit may come back to bite them.
Eventually, however, the inner work also has to be done.

It is not infrequent to encountered someone who has had an enlightening experience and now feel they are enlightened and ready to teach others. The Ancestors warn;

The work of getting "enlightened" has really just begun although it is probably true that there are a few old souls with enough humility who can break through from a semi-dormant state to a much higher level with this experience. Having someone with a high vibration and a depth of spiritual knowledge help one navigate the experience with the help of the substance is optimal.

Moreover, having had such a life changing experience Westerners are apt to give more credit to the shaman or curandero than they deserve. For those on this particular journey it may be best to find someone from their own culture who not only has embraced the indigenous knowledge but also is far along his or her own psychotherapeutic and enlightenment path. 

Deciding on which shaman to trust should be no different to undertaking a relationship with a neurosurgeon. Both can be risky. We should do our homework especially around issues of power versus humility and the ability of the shaman to protect the sacred space so that spirits not of the light do not intrude.

I remember talking to Credo Mutwa, the powerful Zulu sanusi (prophet), about this type of experience and he came down heavily in favor of the African method of using dancing and drumming to do the same thing. He said this was less likely to cause distortions.  I held onto his wisdom and in future Inward Bound trips would consult with sangomas whenever I was in South Africa to guide me with my trips and my life. They used divination bones to get information from their spirit guides and these were also profoundly accurate. 
I had learned a lot from the curanderos in Peru but not for one moment did I ever feel I had the ability to be a shaman. I was always an objective observer, rarely a participant absorbing as much wisdom as I could to help me with my allopathic practice. 
I was surprised, to say the least, when I was told by several sangomas I encountered on my travels that I was being called by my Ancestors to do sangoma work using divinations, plant medicines and dreams. It was more impactful that this happened repeatedly over a period of a few years from different sangomas, from various tribes in the far north of Southern Africa. Nevertheless I never took it to heart thinking that being a left brained surgeon I had no talent. 
Maybe some have you have had similar unhelpful doubts about your abilities?

Above are a range of paranormal phenomena that can be accessed not only by shamans but any worthy psychic.

Having a high energy vibration usually induced by spiritual practice is called Coherence. When we are Coherent, synchronicity occurs more commonly and we may experience Superfluidity or what athletes call "getting into the zone." This can be attained more easily by using imagination to practice routines much in the way a surgeon can imagine herself doing an operation before going into the operating room the night before the event. Imagining procedure in detail, whatever it is, is known to facilitate competence. 

Distant diagnosis can be made by any good psychic over the phone without ever knowing anything but the clients name. Double blind studies have shown that distant healing works even if the patient does not know they are being healed i.e. placebo is discounted. The other terms speak for themselves. 

The polarities highlighted in a marroon color are germaine to the South African paradigm which is quite unique. Sangomas have their dreams scripted by their ancestors who tell them what to do, who may be coming to see them and what plant they may have to use to help the patient. The divination bones (there are other objects besides small, wild animal bones) are accurate because they are "thrown" by a spirit force and hence do not fall in a random fashion but in one where the numerous polarities can be accurately read. This is a form of telekinesis. The bones are like a psycho-spiritual C.T scan. The bones tell the waking dream that is the client's life. 

True spirit possession goes beyond channeling. In the former instance the spirit takes over the body of the sangoma completely, adopts a different voice, may ask to be covered in suitable apparel they are used to "wearing" and may even speak in tongues. Sangoma medicine is another form of shamanism as per the definitions above.

Never thinking that I had any aptitude whatsoever to enter these realms I was to be dragged kicking and screaming and protesting to what was to become part of my destiny, whether I thought I could do it or not.

My teacher to come, P.H. Mntshali, had his own definition of his craft. He used to say; "This is the original medicine which will never change. We go to the root cause of the problem which is spiritual, whereas you doctors usually only treat the result."

 I believe he was correct.

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-_MP3s/08_Save_Your_Morning_Prayer.mp3

Listen to your dreams. We all have spirit guides who want to help us. If you want to learn more go to davidcumes.com and look under videos for connecting with ancestors and dreams or download...

http://davidcumes.com/videos_12.html 

WALK WITH A SURGEON SANGOMA

MORE ON INWARD BOUND #5

 

Jung, Maslow and ancient wisdom have said the search for the true Self or real Self or higher Self is at the core of all human motivation. Whether we know it or not, we are searching for this connection and the drive is always present, even if subconscious. The higher Self is that God-like part of ourselves, the soul, our Buddha Self or Christ consciousness or in Yoga texts, the Atman. In order to reach our inner being or higher Self, we must subordinate ego to that Self.
Nature is one of the easiest places for us to facilitate this inner journey - its all a question of intention.
There is a story of two Buddhist monks who were always arguing and debating with one another. The one entered a doorway and stood there saying to the other; "What am I doing, going in or going out?" to which his friend answered; "That depends entirely on your intention." Intention and a certain inner receptivity are key to being in nature in a meditative way.


The figure above demonstrates some of the polarities that can catalyze wilderness or nature's rapture.
There should be an element of fear or rather wonder much in the sense that though the bible often says we should fear the Creator, in Hebrew it could also be read as in being in AWE of the Great Spirit. We should honor the splendor of the Garden of Eden archetype.

It is a simple but profound action when ones enters the "Garden" to open the space for one's intention and to close it formally when one exits, either at the beginning and the end of the journey or in the moment of that encounter whether its a few hours or a day. 

One can look for metaphors and signs offered by the Still, Growing and Wild Beings of nature that arise as we walk. Clearly an experience in a vehicle, a 4x4, bicycle or even a horse may not allow this focus.  We need to keep it simple. This is when we may come into contact with a power animal either in real time or in a dream. Often this animal or other "Being" may be the one we need at that moment in time rather than the one we want - a mouse to signify humility (rather than something grand like a bald eagle.) A fox may tell us we have to be a little cunning with an encounter we are going to have on our return. A coyote may signify a trickster  that will try and manipulate an event soon.

It is easy to subordinate our ego when we immerse in wild places - the more wild the more the humility when we come into direct contact with the power of Her elements. 

Time is key and for me five days is optimal. However, the longer we are out the better. The 40 days and nights of spiritual masters might be too much for most of us. However, peeling away the polluting effects of modern daily living that prevent us from reaching Self, takes time.

Solitude is essential at given moments even if this means walking in complete silence with others and with spaces apart. Using other meditative techniques to deepen our state of consciousness helps.

The Ancestors

For those who can't get "out" - a walk on the beach, a garden or park can do the same thing. Again its all about intention and receptivity.

Outward Bound's mission statement is to take folks of all ages into wilderness areas, give them increasingly difficult skills to perform, assure their success and hence enhance self mastery, self worth and self actualization. Being "Inward Bound" is different and is more about transpersonal experiences, transcendence and Self realization (the Ancestors prefer the word Becoming because Self realization and enlightenment infer an end point and there is no end point.)

The Ancestors

Being inwardly directed is to rely more on soft than hard skills and the soft fascinations of nature such as; the sounds or mantra of the bush; the music of water running, or the wind in the trees, sun and moon "sets" and "rises," aromas and entraining our biorhythms to the rhythms of nature.
The longer we are out the more likely inner experiences such as dreams, synchronicity, coherence of our and the group vibration, healing and intuitive insights will manifest.
Wilderness Rapture occurs if only for a brief moment in times when The Knower
The Known
 the Process of Knowing 
fuse into one (The Oneness Experience or Unity Consciousness.)
This was Bunnell's experience as one of the first whites to enter Yosemite Valley.

In summary

Click on the links to highlight then play

_-_MP3s/05_Fire_of_Transformation.mp3

-_MP3s/01_The_Four_Beings.mp3

Next week we will talk about our Incorporation of the experience.

All of these factors can be extrapolated to the future segment on Tshisimane - the indigenous healing center established much later in a remote mountain area in the far north of South Africa.

A WALK WITH A SURGEON SANGOMA #4

INWARD BOUND

(again apologies for changes in font sizes - they would not correct)

“Those of us who have spent time in wilderness are aware of the fact that there is something more to the wilderness than we ourselves can express. Wilderness is an instrument for enabling us to recover our lost capacity for religious experience...”
We cannot today recreate the original wilderness human in shape form or habitat. But we can recover him because he exists in us. She is the foundation in spirit or psyche on which we build and we are not complete until we have recovered him/her…” 

Laurens van der Post

Not all of us can relate to wilderness or truly wild places but most can relate to nature and if we cannot its because modern living has managed to extract this vital ingredient from our lives. 

If we substitute the word "nature" for wilderness it can be found just about anywhere; a park, a garden, a retreat, the right spar, a cabin in the woods or by a lake. We don't have to be hunter gatherers to deepen our natural experiences. However, if we could   reach this level of expertise in wilderness we would begin to live beyond the five senses and enter a reality few of us would ever realize and most can only imagine.

"The force of the primal manifest as love is the glory of God." The Ancestors

When I came back from the Kalahari I wrote Inner Passages Outer Journeys and formed a small company called Inward Bound whose purpose was to simulate the Bushman consciousness as much as feasible by keeping as little as possible between us and nature. It worked amazing well, though the two weeks we spent in some pristine wilderness area doing this was not easy. It required a significant amount of time and expense getting to, immersing in and then returning back to our normal lives. In these journeys - for structure - we simulated the three phases of the Hero/ine;
 Separation - Theshold - Incorporation 
and embraced all its associated polarities using nature as the catalyst.

For my personal self the best I could do was to "hunt and gather" in the supermarket, fill my backpack and walk into the wilderness for several days or more.
 These acts can have profound healing effects and help us connect with a primal part of ourselves that may have been lost in the eons of time. It's not so long ago that we were all hunter gatherers. The essence of this inner journey is to keep it simple and have the minimum of material possessions between ourselves and nature. Anything that separates us from the Earth Mother must be carefully scrutinized, whether it be the wrong company, alcohol, a horse and its care or even a camera. It one ventures forth on foot with a backpack it is unlikely that anything redundant will be carried. 

 Few of us use nature or wilderness as spiritual practice or for deep inner healing. There is little spiritual information to be gleaned from research on the subject. Wilderness psychology is full of data, but usually the closest one can get to the word "healing" is the term "restorative." Their information seems limited since the authors only report what can be objectively measured and most of what happens in wilderness cannot be put into words. Transcendence and healing in the wild has been labeled the “wilderness effect” but I prefer the term "wilderness rapture” which speaks to the psycho-spiritual transcendence that can occur, similar to Maslow's Peak Experience. 

Martin Buber said, 
"All humans have access to God, but each has a different access." 
Nature is a preferred environment for rapture and healing especially if we immerse in it for several days - five is optimal in order to discard the polluting effects of civilization and more if practicable. Experiencing nature in the right way is not only non denominational but is a tool for transcending ego and reaching for a deeper reality.

Yoga philosophy would say that this mini-samadhi or rapture occurs when;
 the Observer (you,) the Observed (say a sunset) and the Process of you observing the sunset all fuse into one. 
This is also called unity consciousness or the oneness experience. For a brief ecstatic period one fuses with or becomes the "observed" and enters the "Field." Many of us may have had this experience but also may have forgotten, trivialized and not validated and actualized it for our-Selves.

Nature is a room with many doors and windows to spirit and has all the polarities required for Self "Becoming." In nature we can find the middle way described by the Buddha between the opposing dynamics of up/down, hot/cold, terrified/tranquil, thirsty/quenched, hungry/satisfied, light /dark, exhausted/rested, wet and dry. It is in this polarity that we can find balance and equanimity. 

The San's ability to transcend ego, open their hearts and travel out of body during their trance dance is a testament to the power of these influences. 

Many go into wild places to work out, stress bust, run rapids, conquer mountains and bag peaks. This militaristic form of lingo and the experience of rapture may be mutually exclusive. Nature often bats last especially in the face of arrogance when it is often the mountaineer who gets bagged and the river that is running the kayaker and not always in the best way.

This was how I used to be when I lived in South Africa and ventured into the bush regularly with a 4x4 and all the camping accoutrements. However, after emigrating, with the help of a "California connected consciousness," yoga and more especially after the San experience I found this was no longer tenable.

Below is what I wrote in Inner Passages Outer Journeys - nothing that has not been described before and more eloquently but it had now become my own experience. Around the same time I had a dream message that said;

"It is better to experience the learning than learn the experience."

Kabir overstates it a bit - even more powerfully - it helps to know the "words" as well; 

"The Sacred Books of the East are nothing but words. I looked through their covers one day sideways. What Kabir talks of is only what he has lived through. If you have not lived through something, it is not true."

Having previously been outwardly directed I knew all the pitfalls.

On our trips I became the "policeman," if you like, guarding myself and others quietly from going OUT rather than IN.

 Inward Bound is about; 

Self Realization or Becoming rather than self mastery/concept.

Transcending ego rather than subordinating ourselves to its power (in the words of a U.S. military general who came on one of our trips and after being immersed in the San experience for two weeks; 

"The secret to spiritual power is not having power.")

Higher chakras rather than lower survival ones.

Inward Bound rather than being outwardly directed.

"Soft" skills rather than hard skills.

"Soft" fascinations and silence rather than needless chatter.

Attending to needs rather than wants.

Connection and simplicity rather than excessiveness and luxury. (but definitely not being cold, wet or hungry!)

When we enter our nature space, wherever we find it to be, we should regard it as Sacred, as if we were entering a temple. I recall a wilderness guide's words to us before we entered the Umfolozi game reserve with its Big Five for a five day hiking immersion;  "This is my church - don't desecrate it!"

Sacred space is somewhere special where we enter with sacred intent and behave in a way that reinforces this intent. We cannot remain there - its a gift to us where we can connect with the Field, our guides, dreams and the Garden of Eden archetype. When we enter we should open the space formally and when we leave close it - with gratitude. When we return to Incorporate we can look at and even journal what the journey may have brought to us. These effects often take time to germinate.

Click on the link to highlight - then play

05_Meet_Me_At_the_Ri..>

WALK WITH A SURGEON SANGOMA #3

THE SAN BUSHMEN OF THE KALAHARI
(excuse changes in font size I was unable to correct.)

In 1987 my "wounded-ness" came to a head in a sort of existential crisis arising from frustration in private practice and a deteriorating marriage (partly at least due to the rigors of the profession.) Sometimes it takes a challenge to propel someone who is stuck into effective action. This can also be an illness, death of a loved one, loss of a job or one's income and other challenges where the opportunity arises to make something useful out of the "situation." In my case, growing up in South Africa, I had always been fascinated by the San Bushmen but the opportunity to spend an extended time with them had eluded me. I decided it was time to leave my surgical practice for a month and head to the Kalahari. My trip was facilitated by Isaac Barnard who had spent a good part of his life with the San. Essentially after a short stay with a group he had taken up, he left me alone with a 4x4 Toyota, a case of supplies and a tent. My real journey at last had begun.

The Bushmen, or San are one of the last Hunter Gatherers of Africa. Anthropologists see them as a link to long lost stone age cultures and naturalists and hunters admire them for their extraordinary expertise in the bush. Those of a more mystical inclination are fascinated with their oneness with the fauna and flora of the Kalahari, a connection that has enabled them to survive for centuries in a desert that most others have avoided. 
Although many Westerners are enthralled with the superb bushcraft or “hard” skills, just as noteworthy are their group interaction or “soft” skills, and spirituality.

 The San are renowned for an out of body spirit dance that enables the healer to leave his or her body and connect with the spirit world for the restoration of the health of the clan or individual. The dance as well as their dreams enable some profound psychic and healing abilities. Moreover, the out of body trance state allows remote viewing of game or water and other resources which have helped them survive in an austere environment for eons.

During my visit it seemed that their closeness to nature facilitated a consciousness akin to the mystics of Eastern religions; joy and living totally in the present moment, lack of ego and judgmental attitudes, unconditional love for children, an unconditional positive regard for each other and being in the flow of nature and the cosmos. They were also egalitarian - men and women had equal say and there was no chief or leader. All group decisions were  done by consensus.

The only "spiritual practice" they appeared to have had that enabled them to reach this enlightened state was the purity of their relationship with wilderness. They had no esoteric techniques such as meditation or yoga and many at that time were illiterate. Hence it seemed that nature alone, being a "room" with many doors and windows to spirit was the power allowing them to transcend and travel into the Astral realms. 

I started to get the idea that although we could no longer be hunter gatherers the closer we could get to Mother Nature the more profound would be our inner experiences. Nature could meditate us! We would, however, like the San, need to have as little as possible separating us from Her energies.

The Kua San depicted the mother earth as a pregnant woman created by the Great Spirit "Bisi." The huge belly of the woman that they drew for me they told had ruptured, giving forth all the animals of the veld. The skin of the woman then became the crust of the mother earth whom the San treat with the greatest respect. The concepts of Gaia and Deep Ecology that we are now embracing were obvious to them. 

 Few of us will ever know what it feels like 
to be a hunter-gatherer, to be so connected to wilderness that one can survive and even thrive. Their survival gear comprised an antelope skin bag housing a fire kit, a bow and poison arrows, a digging stick for foraging and a sipping straw to suck water out of tree hollows or from sip wells in the sand. With a toy like bow, poison arrows, amazing stealth and tracking ability they were able to bring down large animals, enough to fee the whole clan. They related to nature beyond the five senses and lived in a psycho-spiritual dimension that we could hardly appreciate. 

      Love was not a challenge for the clan - there was an abundance of it. It was humility and an open heart that enabled them to negotiate the spirit world so expertly through their healing trance dance. Their healers would say that one had to love everyone no matter what you thought of them in order to heal others. They managed to reach higher states of consciousness not by any esoteric practice but by their intrinsic connection with Nature alone and by exposure to the multifaceted properties She possesses.  

    With the fast disappearing clans in the remote Kalahari, 1987 was for me a small window in time when one could still experience  what life was like for our ancestor hunter-gatherers. After all it was not so long ago in the context of earth time that we had been them.  We all have Bushman D.N.A. and they were the first people.
This was a seminal experience for me. Sadly for them everything has now changed and their habitat, amazing bush technological skills and even the original unpolluted power of their healing dance are threatened. 

Bushman child in an advanced yoga asana. Spontaneous yoga positions and mudras unknown to indigenous peoples have been known to occur spontaneously during Kundalini experiences. 

The San call Kundalini - "Num."

        At last some ideas about an "alternative" healing paradigm relating to wilderness began to gel in my psyche during those startling Kalahari nights in the Kalahari with their singing and dancing around the fire. 
         Serendipitously when I returned I was asked to give a talk on my "journey" to the local medical society which gave the impetus for research.  I began to delve into the "yoga" of wild places; energy anatomy, eco psychology, the Gaia hypothesis and wilderness psychology. The lecture was a great success and I was invited to speak to other medical groups  A surgeon who was also a Sikh, in one of the lectures came up to me after the lecture and said; "I cannot believe that you got away with talking about Kundalini to this audience!" 
        Most physicians are under the gun especially today and are looking for ways to relieve themselves of stress. Most love to sail, surf, ski, hike etc. so what I was saying was received with interest. 
I also gave an informal talk in Durban South Africa. A well known journalist came up to me afterwards and said to me - "you have a book here, write it!" And so it was that "Inner Passages Outer Journeys" manifested itself. I had never had any desire or for that matter any expertise to do such a thing. There is a summary pdf of the book on the web site for those interested. The book is out of print but can still be found.

             Click of the link to highlight and play.
       (Original San spirit chants are included in the song.)

/Indigenous_Voices_-_MP3s/05_Bushman_Bush_Mantra.mp3



Those wanting to view a dvd of the Trance Dance can look under Videos at davidcumes.com and this title; San out of body spirit healing trance dance. It's five minutes.

or click on this link 

http://davidcumes.com/videos_5.html