A shaman doesn't regress because he or she is intrinsically "sick". They are more likely to be those of intrinsically strong minds if they do turn out to be shamans after all (ie. if they recover).
It is the element of social or political oppression that causes their regression. It can also be the result of an accident that causes the wounding (as per Frieda Kahlo), but generally shamanism is associated with the lower classes of society who may be subject to systematic oppression (see Michael Taussig and the situation of the Colombian indians). It must be an inbuilt mechanism of the human mind that when put under a state of extreme stress it aims to return to the safety of the womb. (The post-Kleinians make much of this, although not in terms of shamanism).
Forces of oppression can be seen to be responsible for keeping some members of society in a state of immaturity in relation to the dominant classes (and gender). This would give them automatic closer access to the magical pre-oedipal level of consciousness. But the intrinsic strength of the minds of some of the oppressed classes would result in the strange occurrence that these individuals do not descend into madness never to return, but do return after this baptism, with all sorts of things like an insightful social critique, an enhanced imagination, and enhanced survival skills. That is because their "madness" was never intrinsic to them, but was caused by direct pressures from the outside. Such pressures turn the otherwise healthy and vibrant mind inwards for a while, so as to get to know itself in all of its imaginative complexity, thus releasing blockages and repressions that would otherwise cause neurosis. That is why the shaman's "wounding" is often so beneficial to himself as well as to his community. Insight into the nature of oppression seems intrinsically linked to shamanic insight in general.
It is the element of social or political oppression that causes their regression. It can also be the result of an accident that causes the wounding (as per Frieda Kahlo), but generally shamanism is associated with the lower classes of society who may be subject to systematic oppression (see Michael Taussig and the situation of the Colombian indians). It must be an inbuilt mechanism of the human mind that when put under a state of extreme stress it aims to return to the safety of the womb. (The post-Kleinians make much of this, although not in terms of shamanism).
Forces of oppression can be seen to be responsible for keeping some members of society in a state of immaturity in relation to the dominant classes (and gender). This would give them automatic closer access to the magical pre-oedipal level of consciousness. But the intrinsic strength of the minds of some of the oppressed classes would result in the strange occurrence that these individuals do not descend into madness never to return, but do return after this baptism, with all sorts of things like an insightful social critique, an enhanced imagination, and enhanced survival skills. That is because their "madness" was never intrinsic to them, but was caused by direct pressures from the outside. Such pressures turn the otherwise healthy and vibrant mind inwards for a while, so as to get to know itself in all of its imaginative complexity, thus releasing blockages and repressions that would otherwise cause neurosis. That is why the shaman's "wounding" is often so beneficial to himself as well as to his community. Insight into the nature of oppression seems intrinsically linked to shamanic insight in general.
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