Therapeutic Shamanism and paganism can share love of the living world, respect for nature and attention to the seasons, but they are not interchangeable. Animism, as Therapeutic Shamanism teaches it, is non-hierarchical and rooted in the experience of the three shamanic realmsThree realms. The Upper-World, the middle-world and the Lower-World: the cosmological map of shamanic reality. Rooted first in the Lower-World, then the Upper-World, and only then the middle-world. Read the full answer. The differences concern how we relate and where the work takes place, rather than whether we care about nature.
What does ‘paganism’ mean in this comparison? #
Paganism is a broad family of paths, rather than one practice with a single set of beliefs. In the forthcoming book Soul Roots, Spirit Branches, the term means contemporary nature-based paths that include Wicca, Druidry, Heathenry and Goddess spirituality, amongst others. Their variety is part of why the comparison cannot be answered by assigning one belief or practice to all pagans.
Many of these paths love the living world, honour the seasons and recognise the spirits of nature. Some are consciously egalitarian, whilst others organise their teaching and practice through spiritual ranks. Some worship gods and goddesses, whilst others have little interest in them.
Therapeutic Shamanism therefore distinguishes the paths through their particular relationships and practices.
What do paganism and animism share? #
They can share an understanding of the living world as sacred here and now, rather than sacredness belonging only to a remote heaven. The soil, the seasons and particular places can be part of spiritual life. Both may involve developing working relationships with the landscapes in which people live.
They can also share an egalitarian approach. There are pagan circles and gatherings where no one is placed above anyone else. Earth-based spirituality, non-hierarchy and action in the world are not exclusive possessions of animism.
These overlaps are part of the comparison, rather than exceptions to be dismissed. Someone practising an egalitarian pagan path may find much that is familiar in animist teaching. The paths are kindred, though still distinct.
Why does the relationship to worship matter? #
In Therapeutic Shamanism, beings are related to as members of a community of equals. They can be respected, honoured and learned from without being worshipped.
Some branches of paganism worship named gods and goddesses through rites and ceremonies. The distinction is about the relationship, rather than simply the presence of beings called gods. The animist question is whether one being is placed above another and whether people become subordinate to them.
This is why belief in gods is not required. Someone can be an animist without believing in gods at all, and without performing rites or ceremonies. What cannot be removed is non-hierarchical relationship.
The comparison does not say that every pagan worships in this way. It identifies a difference where worship and hierarchy are part of the particular path being considered. See Do animists believe in God, or in gods and goddesses? What is the Great Mystery?
Are grades and initiation the same as animist learning? #
Animism has no such grades or initiations, and is fiercely egalitarian. Some pagan paths have degrees of initiation, inner and outer orders, priests or priestesses and named grades. Such structures can place people within a continuing hierarchy.
Therapeutic Shamanism’s non-hierarchical approach does not make everyone equally experienced. People learn, develop skills and take on different responsibilities. The difference is that greater experience does not make someone a more valuable being or give them a general right to have power over others.
The question is therefore what the grade establishes in practice. A difference in knowledge can support teaching and learning between equals. A spiritual rank that places one person above another changes that relationship. See How can I tell whether a spiritual teacher, group or practice is healthy?
What distinguishes animism from non-hierarchical pagan paths? #
The remaining distinction concerns cosmology and the realms in which the work is done. The Lower-WorldLower-World. The realm of Mother Earth: pure, unspoilt, wild nature, with no technology and no agriculture. Home of the Peoples and of our own Soul, and completely safe: feeling threatened in a journey is a reliable sign of not having reached it. Read the full answer, middle-worldMiddle-world. Ordinary physical reality together with its energetic layers: the realm of individuality, separation and mixed intentions, and the only realm where harm is possible. “If there is a hell, then it is the middle-world.” Read the full answer and Upper-WorldUpper-World. The realm of Father Sky and of Spirit: spacious, rarefied and clear, layered in tiers, offering not escape but perspective. Not better than the Lower-World: we ascend rooted, and bring the gifts back down. Read the full answer are fundamental to Therapeutic Shamanism, and these differences lead to a very different focus, very different practices and very different outcomes.
The Lower-World is the realm of Soul and our relationship with the more-than-human community. The Upper-World is the realm of Spirit and perspective. The middle-world is the world of everyday life, with its human-created stories, concerns and conditions.
From this animist perspective, most pagan practice is focused on the middle-world and middle-world outcomes. That is an account of orientation. It does not mean that caring for the everyday world is unimportant, since bringing healing and understanding back into everyday life is part of shamanic practice too.
The difference is that the shamanic work deliberately involves the other realms as well. Their presence is not an optional decoration added to an otherwise identical practice. See What are the three shamanic realms?
Are astral travel and shamanic journeying the same thing? #
Not automatically. Some pagans do travel to other realms, but not every out-of-body experience is the same as a shamanic journey, and the astral realms are not simply another name for the shamanic realms.
Soul Roots, Spirit Branches leaves the detail of how they differ until it looks closely at the shamanic realms themselves. See Is an out-of-body experience the same as a shamanic journey?
This is one reason the paths can share words and still involve different practices. ‘Spirit’, ‘journey’ or ‘another realm’ needs to be understood within the particular approach using it. A common vocabulary does not settle the cosmology.
Does this mean that paganism has to be rejected? #
No. The comparison recognises what the paths share and distinguishes what Therapeutic Shamanism means by animism. It does not require dismissing every pagan path or treating paganism as one uniform religion.
An egalitarian, earth-based pagan practice may share much of the approach’s ethics. A path built around worship or spiritual rank differs in those respects. And where the ethics are close, the orientation towards the shamanic realms may still differ.
