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Connecting with local spirits?
Sep. 8th, 2003 12:04 pmI had a really unusual, photo-realistic dream last night. For those who don't know, i have about a half-dozen dreams i remember a year, so when there is one, it usually stands out- especially when it's like something out of an IMAX film with complete surround sound and so on.
This one was pretty much a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the learning process of a Haida medicine man/shaman/skaga. It should be noted that i have no real knowledge of this particular First Nation people other than that they're somehow related to the Tlingit. Accordingly, on waking, i was pretty skeptical about the contents, but doing a little digging about on the internet, it looks as if some of the things which happened in the dream bear at least a passing similarity to elements in the dream. I'm not sure how i knew the people were Haida, but there wasn't any question about it.
The 'trainee' in question was being taught by an older man who was definitely a family member. Poking around shows that generally the calling passed from maternal uncle to nephew. Part of his training included being introduced to the orca, halibut and salmon, as well as to black bears, butterflies and dragonflies. He was also introduced to aethereal creatures who were called the canoe people and forest people. The same cursory 'net check shows this to line up fairly accurately- there also would have been an introduction to an air people. There was also instruction in carving small ritual objects, rattles and the like, but not drums. Apparently the Haida are known for not using drums in psychopomp.
The final element was a view into the student's dream world- the classically shamanistic beheading dream.In this case, his head was stolen by a whale, given to a halibut, stolen by an otter, and somehow ended up being carried around by a firefly.
Very strange, yet very real. They symbols all seem to line up, which makes me wonder if somehow i haven't managed to unconsciously make some connexion with something of the Land here.
This one was pretty much a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the learning process of a Haida medicine man/shaman/skaga. It should be noted that i have no real knowledge of this particular First Nation people other than that they're somehow related to the Tlingit. Accordingly, on waking, i was pretty skeptical about the contents, but doing a little digging about on the internet, it looks as if some of the things which happened in the dream bear at least a passing similarity to elements in the dream. I'm not sure how i knew the people were Haida, but there wasn't any question about it.
The 'trainee' in question was being taught by an older man who was definitely a family member. Poking around shows that generally the calling passed from maternal uncle to nephew. Part of his training included being introduced to the orca, halibut and salmon, as well as to black bears, butterflies and dragonflies. He was also introduced to aethereal creatures who were called the canoe people and forest people. The same cursory 'net check shows this to line up fairly accurately- there also would have been an introduction to an air people. There was also instruction in carving small ritual objects, rattles and the like, but not drums. Apparently the Haida are known for not using drums in psychopomp.
The final element was a view into the student's dream world- the classically shamanistic beheading dream.In this case, his head was stolen by a whale, given to a halibut, stolen by an otter, and somehow ended up being carried around by a firefly.
Very strange, yet very real. They symbols all seem to line up, which makes me wonder if somehow i haven't managed to unconsciously make some connexion with something of the Land here.
