On Nietzsche

Shamanistic initiation can be understood as entailing a "spiritual crisis", which leads to the expansion of the mind. Whereas there are those who become mad and learn nothing from their madness, a shaman is one who has learned something from his initiatory madness. His powers increase, rather than diminish, through the experience. Instead of identifying oneself with the narrow level of consciousness that is determined by the ego and its needs, the initiate takes into account the whole self in its totality. This includes the forces operating within the unconscious, which strive for power, and facilitate creative openings in the subconscious. One who survives shamanic initiation does not always entirely escape long-term damage caused by an experience that destroys much of his previous way of thinking and being in the world. Yet, he is also for all that – in many ways – a more complete human being than those who have not been so initiated.