If a person is called to take on the responsibility of a shaman they usually fall very ill mentally, emotionally or physically. If this is the role you have been gifted by great spirit, I will help heal and guide you on how to cure your shaman sickness.

The spirits torment the shaman-to-be. Known as “shaman sickness”, “shamanic illness”, “shamanic disease”, or “shamanic crisis”, these torments will anguish the person for months, or years.

The torment is about pushing the mind over the edge, losing sense of reality. It’s meant to break you.

The process of shaman sickness and being initiated into becoming a shamanic healer can “help you cultivate the compassion and awareness you’ll need as a healer (and experience…the worse you’ve felt, the easier it is to handle hard things your clients are facing).” (Morgan) Also it shows you this is your calling.

It is portrayed as tantamount to initiation by the spirits; that is, a situation when the spirits are deemed to have selected an individual and inflicted pain and prolonged suffering on them in order to force them to become a shaman. Shamans who are called seem to go through many bizarre psychological and psycho-spiritual crises. These can include vivid dreams and visions, sometimes about death, but also about renewal.

The shaman sickness can also be manifested in a form of prolonged illness and unusual behavioral changes ranging from absent mindedness, withdrawal, psychological distress, and general malaise to increased nervous sensitivity, accompanied by hysterical attacks.

While the shaman sickness is not necessarily always on 100% intensity it doesn’t stop until the shaman accepts the calling. “The shamans’ advice is that the only way the person can be cured of shaman sickness is by being initiated as a shaman.” (Jokic, 2008, p. 28) Or they never complete their initiation due to rejecting the calling and they live with a degree of mental, emotional or physical illness.

Anthropologists have considered shamans to be “wounded healers” (Grof, 2006) because of the series of trials and tribulations a shaman typically experiences throughout her or his life. This calling or initiation is typically not blissful, fun, nor healing. The shamanic calling is usually filled with terrifying and nightmarish experiences.

A future shaman can be initiated by an elder shaman who believes a person is called to take on the responsibility and lifestyle. This could be because of the family lineage or if another shaman believes the person is being asked to take on the role. It’s a type of apprenticeship, where the shaman will have a sacred connection to their guides, and be properly guided and trained by them and the elder shaman.

The shaman heals his or herself from what the spirits have inflicted on them and what they carry anyway and shares the wisdom with their community, and carry on learning how to heal others of emotional, mental, physical, or psychosomatic disorders. They are able to gain deep insight into the nature and diagnosis of disease and other problems.

There is a difference between a shamanic crisis and someone actually suffering from a mental health disorder. From the anthropological or psychological viewpoint, many shamans could be labeled or diagnosed with schizophrenia, borderline psychosis, hysteria, or epilepsy because of the strange or bizarre behavior that they exhibit (Grof, 2006). Grof mentions that the shamanic crisis is different than schizophrenia because the crisis involves some sort of mystical dimension. This does not produce a progressive deterioration of personality or functioning within one’s culture (Grof, 2006). The shaman shows his or her ability to integrate their extraordinary experience back into their lives to help better serve the community at large.

In my experience shaman sickness is not only cured with acceptance of the role, but by many other factors too. For example completing assignments that the spirits have set for them.

References:
Grof, Stanislav. (2006). The ultimate journey: Consciousness and the mystery of death. Sarasota, FL: MAPS
https://www.settingsunwellness.com/blog/2016/3/18/6f164jnxntdx7gnnwx66uanmtfnlgc
https://www.abigailmorgancoaching.com/blog/sick-of-shaman-sickness

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