Enchantment as a Way of Being:

Abstract

Integral Shamanism is a proposal for a rational mysticism that might meet the needs of an increasing number of people who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious or who experience the isolation and anxiety of a world in which there is nothing greater than the self or who feel the depression of disconnection from a world without awe, wonder, and transcendent mystical experiences. Shamanism itself is a spiritual tradition emerging from an animist worldview shared by our stone age ancestors. It is a way of relating to the world that dominated enough of our evolutionary past that it is still hardwired into us. We are genetically programmed to seek awe and wonder in the world around us and to be most fulfilled when we live in an enchanted state, but to truly experience enchantment we need to see the world around us in a way that is open to the possibility of mystical connection. We need to see the world, in some respects, as our stone age ancestors did—as being alive, conscious, dynamic, connected, responsive, and participatory. Understanding the principles that arose from this shared stone age ancestral worldview and the shamanic techniques they gave rise to may help us imagine a truly integral shamanism as not just a healing modality, but as a way of living in a post-modern world.