.jpg)
Perhaps the strangest way a person can be called to be a shaman is when they are abducted and taught by Ban Jhankri the shaman spirit of the forest, a being half human and half animal.
In Nepal, a shaman is called a dhami or a jhankri, two terms which are used interchangeably. The shamanism found in Nepal is both animistic and polydeistic. By this I mean it sees everything in nature as being alive, and also sees that there are many larger spirits which are responsible for different aspects of creation, such as the weather.
The traditions teach how we should embrace the spiritual life force that is to be found within all the natural phenomena of the world around us. Because of this, the shamans work a lot with the five gross elements of creation: ‘earth, water, fire, air and ether,’ and they always bear these in mind while they are preparing a sacred space for healing rituals etc
The shamans sing the songs of these elements and their qualities, as they understand that these elements make the whole universe as well as our bodies and all aspects of us. They understand that the earth element is related to the solid physical body; the water is emotions; fire is the vital body energy force. The shamans identify the cause of a person’s problem, whether elemental spirits or other problems, and they concentrate on whatever level they have to work to do the healing. The direct use of these elements and their spiritual essences in healing practices is a unique part of Nepali shamanism.
I became a shaman because the spirits chose me, but there are several ways someone can become a shaman but the most important way is because they are ‘chosen’ by the spirits. Other ways can be by ‘hereditary transmission’ if you have shamans in your family you might receive direct transmissions and teachings from these ancestral powers, but remember a human teacher is still a must. Sometimes spontaneous selection happens too. We say this is a ‘call’ or an ‘election.’ When this happens the person destined to be a future shaman is spontaneously possessed by the spirits, they go into trance and the spirits come really close to them and effect them greatly.
In most cases the first spirit to come is the spirit of an animal, which slowly opens up ways of contacts for other shamanic guides and spirits. Sometimes people become shamans through personal choice. When this happenes the student undertakes a sort of quest, they are interested in shamanism, and a dedicated person will look for a teacher and seek to apprentice with them. Proper shamanic apprenticeships take a long time, and during them students learn how to explore the levels of spiritual existence, as well as find out about the spirits and learn all the mantras, shamanic songs, drum rhythms, dances, mythology and healing techniques etc.
Perhaps the strangest way a person can be called to be a shaman is when they are abducted and taught by Ban Jhankri. Ban Jhankri is the shaman spirit of the forest, he is a being half human and half animal. He appears as a small creature about a metre high, with his whole body covered by fur. His legs are turned backwards, and he has a pointed nose. In his left hand he holds a special wooden container to take cows milk and a drum and holds a curved drum stick in his right hand. Sometimes he takes physical form, but most of the time he does not physically manifest. He takes young boys or girls from the villages and keeps them in his cave, which is behind a waterfall.
There he makes them stay for a period of time, teaching them all they need to learn. When he feels that their teaching is complete, he brings the student back to the village and leaves them there. Then the student comes back to their normal senses, but falls into what we call a ‘divine illness’ and is helped by a local master shaman, who cures them and helps them become a shaman themselves. Divine illess is not a physical body ailment but is the spiritual manifestations of being called to be a shaman.
The master shamans either journey or make divination, or by looking at the person can find out what spirit or ancestral deity is trying to manifest through them. The person in the process of this manifestation seems to have a double personality: his own and that of the manifesting spirit. You just imagine what one feels when the dual personalities work together in one body.
