The P.U.R.E. Concept of Shamanism and ‘Crafting by Elige Stewart
For many of us, shamanism and witchcraft hold very situated ideas in our mind. Shamanism seems to conjure a Native American medicine man with feathers in his hair, leather pouch of magic stones and herbs, and ceremonial pipe. Witch conjures a different image of a hag with wild hair mixing potions and making ointments. Neither of these are accurate depictions of these practices, which are far more similar than they are different.
Those of us who know a bit more about the craft and shamanism will affiliate these practices with certain spiritual or religious paradigms, such as Wicca. Understand that practitioners of the traditional craft and shamanism alike may see the wisdom in these paradigms, but may also follow a different religious path. As a matter of fact, there are many practitioners who we would call ‘witches’ or ‘shamans’ who consider themselves Christian. The traditional paths are NOT religious paths – they are spiritual traditions and practices that are influenced by religious or philosophical paths of the practitioners. The cunning folk of Britain are an example of this. (See the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunning_folk for more info on this path, as well as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_Witchcraft#Hedge_Witchcraft.)
With this idea in mind, James and I were discussing our respective practices which are mostly different in name only. When we boiled down what was the most important to me as a hedgewitch (a practitioner of a traditional shamanic form of the craft) and to James as a walker of the Dreampath (a blend of concepts from Native and South American practices, empathic development and mindfulness meditation practices), we came up with a powerful concept: P.U.R.E
P.U.R.E is an acronym for Purposeful, Universal, Respectful, and Environmentally Centered. To us, this is what our paths boil down to. Here is a little more about each of these concepts:
Purposeful – Our practices are centered around purpose. Every nuance and detail has a personal significance. Every action is taken with a purpose in mind – whether to celebrate the turning of seasons, to connect with land, spirit helpers or the Fair folk, even to facilitate healing (a huge part of each of our practices).
Universal – Our practices are inclusive, accepting and nurturing. Further, regardless of the faith you follow or the philosophy that you subscribe to, the practices affiliated with these paths should help to strengthen your own experience of the Divine. Many ‘Universal’ standpoints tend to draw from all faiths and then water down the beliefs and practices to make them easier to embrace for all people. Our concept of Universal is also experiential and ecstatic – this means that your spiritual experience is personal and subjective. Your connection to the world of Spirit is your own responsibility.
Respectful – The practices of traditional hedgecraft and Dreampathing are respectful of the views and vantages of our forebears. We are also people of the 21st century. Every path evolves, including spiritual paths. While we respect the ways of the past, we may honor them in a modern form that is more conducive to our modern culture. For example, hedgewitchery was well-known for utilizing ‘flying ointments’ to initiate a journey into the Other Worlds. These ointments frequently contained belladonna, henbane, jimson weed and many other potentially lethal herbs. As a modern hedgewitch, I choose to utilize other traditional practices (such as drumming and rattling) to achieve a trance state to journey into the Other Worlds, along with tools that aren’t necessarily traditional (such as certain forms of breathwork) and more mild herbs (such as mugwort and bay) to aid with jumping the hedge (aka shamanic journeying).
Environmentally Centered – While many of the Earth based spiritual paths are known for their ecofriendly stances, this isn’t the totality of what we are talking about. This is where we see the biggest divergence between our spiritual paths and the paths of religion. Religions (whether Wicca or Catholicism) tend to follow a spiritual ‘calendar’. In Catholicism, this is the observation of Lent, Easter, the feast days of saints, etc. In Wicca, this is seen in the observation of the sabbat festivals which are based around the seasons. While these are both wonderful and vivid practices (which I personally will incorporate into my own practice), James and I both believe that it is much more important to be connected to the land we live on. It has been our collective experience that spiritual experience is much more powerfully connected to PLACE than it is to TIME. By honoring the land in which you live, you also honor the lands that lie behind and beyond the physical land – the Other Worlds. This is the vital link that brings about the personal spiritual experience.
These simple concepts are inherent in shamanic practice – whether the practices of Core Shamanism, Hedgewitchery, or Dreampathing.