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The Shaman will clothe himself in the skin of the animal which he seeks to impersonate and will then lie down and feign death. His fellow tribesmen will bury him, and the animal whose guise he has assumed will come to the spot and, in the form of its earthly representative, carry off the soul of the supposed dead man, thus conferring upon him the power of metamorphosis. -Lewis Spence, The Myths of the North American Indians
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<aside> 📋 Navigate Here 👇🏼 Summary
Study Notes Humans Around the Web Related Concepts
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<aside> 📌 THE IDEA OF SELF TRANSFORMATION
Becoming other by the magic of disguise was originally a way of wresting strength from animals and gods. Imagination is what enables us to have ideas: otherwise, we would be unable to think of anything, unless it was already in our experience or implanted in us from outside. The power of self-transformation might be suggested by drugs or dreams; it might be merely an articulation of envy: taking on guises, appropriating power from nature, working magic. Imitation can be part of a strategy of emulation. By donning the disguise of a powerful beast - or of a demon or a god - you seize its powers.
It is an old idea. Such transformations are among the early subjects of art.
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This 8th century mural from Cacaxtla, Mexico, shows a Mayan female in eagle costume.
This 8th century mural from Cacaxtla, Mexico, shows a Mayan female in eagle costume.
T.D. Price and J.A. Brown’s Prehistoric Hunter Gatherers
J. Dow’s Shamanism