Odin was taught shamanism by the goddess Freya.
It's from a Voluspa section of the Elder Eddas. It describes Odin's shamanic self initiation/transformation and his first meeting with the Runes. Note that the account describes the Runes as if they already exist in the void before Odin becomes aware of them. Or at least their potential existed. Obviously this account describes what you might refer to as a "traditional" shamanic experience of suffering and death for the purpose of transformation and illumination. Crossing the bridge so to speak. But it is of course also of interest to modern intellectual shamanism as well. This account is meant for human inspiration and use. Odin is a real being in avery literal sense. He is an inter-dimensional being of pure energy, so obviously he doesn't really have an actual physical body. The account describes three sources of purposeful shamanic pain; first the self wounding by his spear, then hanging (upside down?) from the "World Tree" Yggdrasil and the fasting-going without food or drink. It's said that this continued for 9 days and nights before Odin finally had the full experience he was seeking. I believe that he *did* actually go through some kind of death-rebirth ritual, but since he doesn't actually have a physical body it was probably an event beyond our comprehension. The only way for us humans to understand it was to humanize him for the account.
9 is a very important number in Heathen religion. There are nine distinct but interconnected "worlds" or realities. Our world is "midgard" or "middle Earth"-the physical realm of material form. Odin hails from "Asgard" which is a spirit realm of pure energy. These realms are seen as quite literal and not metaphoric. There are of course numerous internal realms within our psyches, and these function in specific parallel ways with the nine worlds of the Yggdrasil Tree. A different part of your internal self travels to each different world. The Germanic shaman is a fearless and intrepid adventurer into the void, where he/she finds Being and the nature of Becoming.
Tonight on Ask Ape my favorite things I read or viewed, were the part about " doubling", the part about the social castration of raw experience , and the part about being trapped by the idea of perfecting perceptions. Very good insights! Doubling is frequently employed and very important in the Germanic tradition and probably in all traditional shamanism. We have two kinds of doubling. In one instance the shaman separates into two different beings. He/she splits into two halves. One self (the original self)remains more in control and conscious, the other new self is almost like a doppelganger , but not that separate or creepy. The new self which emerges is called the "Flygia". Though it flies off and sort of does it's own thing, the original self is totally connected to it and sees , hears and feels all that it does as if in first hand experience. It is in fact part of you, so that makes sense that there's no disconnect. The other type of doubling is the creating of an animal "Fetch". Obviously the name for this phenomena is related to the modern English word fetch, as in to bring something back. And that's just what it does.
The shaman is more in control of the animistic Fetch than they are of the more complex Flygia, which sort of seems to almost have a mind of it's own, even though it's part of you. The Fetch is sort of like your shamanic totem animal. Interestingly you don't get to experience all that the Fetch does while it's away on journeys the way you do with the Flygia. It fully separates from you and goes on missions. Despite having more direct control over it than you do over the Flygia you are also more detached from it. It's intriguing. I'm not sure why this is the case, but I have my theories.
By your definitions (and mine too) I aught to be considered a "traditional" shaman. My approach isn't very modern. But that obviously doesn't mean that "intellectual shamanism" holds no interest or value for me. I am after all a human being living in the modern world. I think that traditional shamanism and intellectual shamanism are mostly parallel and compatible. The biggest and most obvious difference is the tendency in modern intellectual shamanism to perceive the parallel realms as metaphoric, while traditional shamanism perceives them as quite literal. But this difference is more a matter of terminology and perspective than anything else. The fact is that both views are correct. The shamanic realms are both internal and external, metaphoric *and* literal at the same time.
It's from a Voluspa section of the Elder Eddas. It describes Odin's shamanic self initiation/transformation and his first meeting with the Runes. Note that the account describes the Runes as if they already exist in the void before Odin becomes aware of them. Or at least their potential existed. Obviously this account describes what you might refer to as a "traditional" shamanic experience of suffering and death for the purpose of transformation and illumination. Crossing the bridge so to speak. But it is of course also of interest to modern intellectual shamanism as well. This account is meant for human inspiration and use. Odin is a real being in avery literal sense. He is an inter-dimensional being of pure energy, so obviously he doesn't really have an actual physical body. The account describes three sources of purposeful shamanic pain; first the self wounding by his spear, then hanging (upside down?) from the "World Tree" Yggdrasil and the fasting-going without food or drink. It's said that this continued for 9 days and nights before Odin finally had the full experience he was seeking. I believe that he *did* actually go through some kind of death-rebirth ritual, but since he doesn't actually have a physical body it was probably an event beyond our comprehension. The only way for us humans to understand it was to humanize him for the account.
9 is a very important number in Heathen religion. There are nine distinct but interconnected "worlds" or realities. Our world is "midgard" or "middle Earth"-the physical realm of material form. Odin hails from "Asgard" which is a spirit realm of pure energy. These realms are seen as quite literal and not metaphoric. There are of course numerous internal realms within our psyches, and these function in specific parallel ways with the nine worlds of the Yggdrasil Tree. A different part of your internal self travels to each different world. The Germanic shaman is a fearless and intrepid adventurer into the void, where he/she finds Being and the nature of Becoming.
Tonight on Ask Ape my favorite things I read or viewed, were the part about " doubling", the part about the social castration of raw experience , and the part about being trapped by the idea of perfecting perceptions. Very good insights! Doubling is frequently employed and very important in the Germanic tradition and probably in all traditional shamanism. We have two kinds of doubling. In one instance the shaman separates into two different beings. He/she splits into two halves. One self (the original self)remains more in control and conscious, the other new self is almost like a doppelganger , but not that separate or creepy. The new self which emerges is called the "Flygia". Though it flies off and sort of does it's own thing, the original self is totally connected to it and sees , hears and feels all that it does as if in first hand experience. It is in fact part of you, so that makes sense that there's no disconnect. The other type of doubling is the creating of an animal "Fetch". Obviously the name for this phenomena is related to the modern English word fetch, as in to bring something back. And that's just what it does.
The shaman is more in control of the animistic Fetch than they are of the more complex Flygia, which sort of seems to almost have a mind of it's own, even though it's part of you. The Fetch is sort of like your shamanic totem animal. Interestingly you don't get to experience all that the Fetch does while it's away on journeys the way you do with the Flygia. It fully separates from you and goes on missions. Despite having more direct control over it than you do over the Flygia you are also more detached from it. It's intriguing. I'm not sure why this is the case, but I have my theories.
By your definitions (and mine too) I aught to be considered a "traditional" shaman. My approach isn't very modern. But that obviously doesn't mean that "intellectual shamanism" holds no interest or value for me. I am after all a human being living in the modern world. I think that traditional shamanism and intellectual shamanism are mostly parallel and compatible. The biggest and most obvious difference is the tendency in modern intellectual shamanism to perceive the parallel realms as metaphoric, while traditional shamanism perceives them as quite literal. But this difference is more a matter of terminology and perspective than anything else. The fact is that both views are correct. The shamanic realms are both internal and external, metaphoric *and* literal at the same time.
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