As a storyteller, the shaman leads listeners back into the primordial chaos, or perhaps to the brink of that chaos, to the edge of twilight, where the original unity existed.Here the shaman and his or her patient/listener get a glimpse of the supernatural state in which opposites are reconciled and the anguish of life can be alleviated by magic. The storyteller who can induce even a slight trance in his or her audience often achieves the same shamanic trick. And when we consider that it was not unusual for some Irish storytellers to tell unbelievably lengthy tales, some lasting for six hours or more, we should probably assume that the tales did indeed put audiences into some type of trance state.
Mythopoetic language, specifically
metaphor, has the ability to heal mental and emotional pain because the
metaphor mediates the contradictions of life, thus providing a solution that
appeals to our deepest hope that it is possible to transcend the human
condition. Shamans use mythopoetic language to relate their exploits into
non-ordinary realms. We have seen that the shaman is a Trickster who often
tricks the mind of a patient into healing itself by costumes, songs, dances,
drama, sleight of hand, and not the least of which is the ability to spin
fantastical tales of magic and mystery.
No comments:
Post a Comment