Marechera's shamanistic development

5 shamanic stages to be found in Marechera’s life

1. THE STABLE “GOOD” WORLD—idealised as such, even if not so in actuality.

2. THE INTERVENTION OF EVIL AS DESTABILISING FORCE (LEADING TO DEPERSONALISATION AND DEREALISATION)

3. THE INTERNAL “TAMING” OF THESE FORCES FOR CREATIVE AND PRODUCTIVE ENDEAVOUR

4. THE ACQUISITION OF POWER (INCLUDING KNOWLEDGE AS POWER), POWERS OF TRANSFORMATION AND INSIGHT INTO HOW THINGS ACTUALLY WORK ‘BENEATH THE SURFACE”

5. THE STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN INTERNAL EQUILIBRIUM “ON THE FENCE” BETWEEN TWO WORLDS.

5 shamanistic features to be found in Marechera’s work:

1. autodestruction and regeneration of the self
2. the use of imagination to supplement reality (tragic sense that life is in need of repair)
3. rebirth through shamanistic initiation to become no longer the child of one’s parent/s
(anti-oedipal/self-generating creativity)
4. the doubling of the self; The shaman's body always projects a double shadow on the ground. A subtle tragic vein seems constantly to underlie every shamanic ritual performance. Just so. Without leaving any way of distinguishing between the faces and the masks. [From "shamanic solitudes" p 87]
5. the sense that one’s being is the tenuous bridge between the ‘here and now’ and ‘the spirit world.’