SHAMANS/NEO-SHAMANS Shamans and shamanisms are in vogue at present. In popular culture, such diversecharactersasoccultistAleisterCrowley,DoorsmusicianJimMorrison andperformanceartistJosephBeuyshavebeentermedshamans.Theanthro- pological construct ‘shamanism’, on the other hand, has associations with sorcery, witchcraft and healing, and archaeologists have suggested the meaningofprehistoriccaveartlieswithshamansandalteredconsciousness. Robert J. Wallis explores the interface between ‘new’ (modern Western), indigenous and prehistoric shamans, and assesses the implications for archaeol- ogists, anthropologists, indigenous communities, heritage managers, and neo-Shamanic practitioners. Identifying key figures in neo-Shamanisms, including Mircea Eliade, Carlos Castaneda and Michael Harner, Wallis assesses the way in which ‘traditional’ practices have been transformed into ‘Western’ ones, such as Castaneda’s Don Juan teachings and Harner’s core shamanism. The book draws on interviews and self-reflective insider ethnography with a variety of practitioners, particularly contemporary Pagans in Britain and North America from Druid and Heathen traditions, to elucidate what neo-Shamans do. Wallis looks at historical and archaeological sources to elucidate whether ‘Celtic’ and ‘Northern’ shamanisms may have existed, he explores contemporary Pagan engagements with prehistoric sacred sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury, and discusses the controversial use by neo- Shamans of indigenous (particularly Native American) shamanisms. Rather than discuss neo-Shamans as, simply, inauthentic, invalid culture- stealers, Wallis offers a more detailed and complex appraisal. He makes it clear that scholars must be prepared to give up some of their hold over knowledge, and not only be aware of these neo-Shamanic approaches but also engage in a serious dialogue with such ‘alternative’ histories. Robert J. Wallis is Associate Director of the MA in Art History at Richmond, the American International University in London, and a Research Fellow in Archaeology at the University of Southampton. He has published extensively on the archaeology and anthropology of art, shaman- isms and neo-Shamans. SHAMANS/ NEO-SHAMANS Ecstasy, alternative archaeologies and contemporary Pagans Robert J. Wallis First published 2003 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. © 2003 Robert J. Wallis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wallis, Robert J. Shamans/neo-Shamans: ecstasy, alternative archaeologies and contemporary Pagans/Robert J. Wallis. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Shamanism. 2. New Age movement. I. Title. BF1611 .W33 2003 291.1'44–dc21 2002068282 ISBN 0-203-41757-7 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-41907-3 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0–415–30202–1 (hbk) ISBN 0–415–30203–X (pbk) FOR MY GRANDMOTHER GLADYS ROSA PRESS 1912–2002 WAES THU HAEL [T]he Pagan renaissance is obvious. Bookstores are full of books on the ancient native religions. In Great Britain, you cannot avoid the Pagan network. They even have university professors who are openly Pagan. In Iceland, Paganism became an official religion in 1973. Everywhere in Europe … [w]itness the return of the Druids, the shamans and the priests of the Gods. (Christopher Gerard, Belgian neo-Shaman, cited by Henry 1999: 3) [W]e moderns have nothing whatsoever of our own; only by replenishing and cramming ourselves with the ages, customs, arts, philosophies, religions, discoveries of others do we become anything worthy of notice. (Nietzsche 1983 [1893]: 89) [W]hy shamanism, why magic? We need them both. (Drury 1982: 100) CONTENTS List of illustrations ix Preface – autoarchaeology: what have neo-Shamanisms got to do with me? xi Acknowledgements xvii Introduction: a native at home – producing ethnographic fragments of neo-Shamanisms 1 Towards an ‘autoarchaeology’ 2 Challenging the insider–outsider divide 4 ‘Alternative’ archaeologies and anthropologies 9 Queering theory 12 Autoarchaeology and post-processualism 14 Post-colonial/neo-colonial concerns 16 Autoarchaeological ‘ethnographic fragments’ 18 Multi-sited ethnography and neo-Shamanist pluralities 22 1 ‘White shamans’: sources for neo-Shamanisms 24 Mircea Eliade: ‘forefather’ of neo-Shamanisms 35 Carlos Castaneda: literal or literary shaman? 39 Michael Harner: disseminating ‘core-shamanism’ 45 2 Plastic medicine men? Appraising the ‘Great Pretenders’ 49 Decontextualising and universalising 50 Individualising and psychologising 58 Cultural primitivism and archaism 61 Romanticism 64 A ‘Humpty Dumpty word’: seeing to ‘extra pay’ 67 3 Taliesin’s trip, Wyrd Woden: Druid and Heathen neo-Shamans 79 Celtic shamanism and Druidic shamans 81 Ethnographic fragments: Philip ‘Greywolf’ Shallcrass, a Druid shaman 85 vii CONTENTS Heathenry and seidr 90 Ethnographic fragments: Hrafnar community (San Francisco) seidr and possession 93 Comments on the ethnographic fragments 97 4 ‘Celtic’ and ‘Northern’ shamanisms? Contesting the past 107 Celtic shamanisms 107 Academic approaches to Celtic shamanisms 109 Neo-Shamanic interpretations of Celtic shamanisms 113 Northern shamanisms 124 Did Celtic and Northern shamanisms exist? 137 5 ‘Sacred’ sites? Neo-Shamans and prehistoric heritage 142 Problematising the ‘sacred’ 143 Neo-Shamanic engagements with ‘sacred’ sites 146 Neo-Shamanic interpretations of ‘sacred’ sites 149 ‘The temple of the nation’ aka ‘that site’: Stonehenge 153 6 Waking Neolithic ancestors: further controversies and ‘reburial’ 168 ‘Desecration’ at Avebury 168 Hands-on resolutions 172 Unpacking the preservation ethic 175 Contests to the preservation ethic 179 Buster and bulldozers: ‘Seahenge’ 180 A British reburial issue? 188 7 Invading Anthros, thieving Archos, Wannabe Indians: academics, neo-Shamans and indigenous communities 195 An ‘Anthros’ dilemma 198 The ‘Wannabes’ 200 Neo-Shamans and the capitalist ethic 206 Native Americans, ‘Anthros’ and ‘Archos’ 208 Ancient Pueblos and neo-Shamans 214 Neo-Shamanic neo-colonialism? 218 8 Conclusion: neo-Shamanisms in post-modernity 227 Appendix: Resolution of the 5th Annual meeting of the Tradition Elders Circle and AIM resolution 235 Notes 239 Bibliography 253 Index 295 viii ILLUSTRATIONS i Two Wiccans complete a ritual at Avebury’s 1996 graffiti to elucidate who was responsible xii 1.1 The Self in Ecstasy(1913) by occultist and trance artist Austin Osman Spare 26 1.2 Nightmareby Rosaleen Norton, ‘a clear indication of the artist’s trance technique’ (Drury 1993: 27) 27 1.3 Leaflet advertising neo-Shamanic workshops in 1998 with Leslie Kenton and Sandra Ingerman 47 2.1 Flyer advertising neo-Shamanic workshops, illustrating how some neo-Shamanisms romanticise shamans 65 2.2 Leaflet advertising neo-Shamanic workshops for women 66 3.1 ‘Runic’ John, Heathen neo-Shaman, completing a shamanic healing 91 3.2 ‘Runic’ John is possessed by the shaman-god Woden in a public ritual, 1998 92 3.3 A ritual procession of Druids around Avebury henge at Beltane in 1998 104 3.4 Druid ceremony at Beltane, the Devil’s Chair, Avebury 104 4.1 Basketry compass-work on the Latchmere Heath mirror compared with inset of the ‘fortification’ imagery often seen during migraine experiences 111 4.2 Leaflet advertising Caitlín Matthews’s neo-Shamanic practice in Oxford 114 4.3 Base of the Gundestrup Cauldron 121 4.4 Silver ‘cups’ from a burial, Agighiol, Romania 122 4.5 Effigies of the Anglo-Saxon runes Ingand Daeg are burnt in a ceremony celebrating Beltane 136 5.1 Contemporary rock art on Ilkley Moor, Yorkshire 150 5.2 The mobile Stonehenge Belongs to You and Meexhibition, produced by Barbara Bender (UCL) and the Stonehenge Campaign 155 5.3 Flyer advertising a Summer Solstice ‘party’ at Stonehenge for the year 2000 162 ix