Today’s shaman’s work: healing, connecting, sensemaking
Sandra A. Waddock
April 30, 2017 DOI: 10.4324/9781351216586-3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the shaman's three main functions are healing, connecting, and sensemaking, with healing relationships of all sorts as the foremost task across cultures and settings. Links health, healing, and wholeness to integrity, and contends that finding purpose requires both intention and attention. |
Abstract
This chapter explores the three main functions of the shaman—healing, connecting, and sensemaking—which are undertaken in the service of a better world. The literal meaning of healing is "to make whole", or to bring about balance in an organism or system that has become unbalanced. The healing process is fundamentally a task of healing relationships of all sorts and is the foremost task of the shaman, no matter what the culture or setting. Notably the idea of health, healing, and wholeness is aligned with another important word for the shaman: integrity, which also means wholeness or soundness, as well as honesty, freedom from corruption, and moral soundness. As with much shamanic experience, achieving and even finding purpose requires both intention and attention. Damage can occur in any number of ways simply because people are living in a complex world.