Native American Shamanism and Mysticism

Native American Shamanism and Mysticism

Theme: Mystical Union with Nature, Spirit Worlds, and Visionary Transformation


Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, students should be able to:

  • Understand core elements of Native American spirituality and mystical worldview.
  • Describe the role of shamans, vision quests, and spiritual ceremonies in mediating contact with the sacred.
  • Analyze the symbolic meaning of nature, animal spirits, dreams, and altered states in Native mysticism.
  • Compare indigenous mystical experience with traditions like Sufism or Taoism, especially in terms of immanence and transformation.

Topics Covered

  1. Core Concepts of Native Spirituality
    • Sacred interconnectedness of all life (animism, panentheism)
    • The Great Spirit (Wakan Tanka, Manitou, etc.)
    • Cycles of nature and the medicine wheel
  2. Shamanism as Mystical Practice
    • Role of the shaman: healer, mediator, guide
    • Use of drumming, chanting, sweat lodges, fasting, and entheogens
    • Transformation through journeys to the spirit world
  3. Vision Quests and Personal Revelation
    • Solitude, fasting, and contact with spirit guides
    • Rites of passage and mystical insight into personal purpose
    • Case study: Black Elk’s great vision (Lakota tradition)
  4. Dreams, Symbols, and Sacred Stories
    • Oral tradition and myth as vehicles for mystical truths
    • Animals, dreams, and nature as spiritual teachers
    • Example: The spider woman, coyote, eagle as symbols of power and mystery
  5. Mysticism and Community
    • Spiritual ceremonies: sun dance, ghost dance, sweat lodge
    • Ethical teachings rooted in harmony, humility, and reciprocity

Primary Readings

  • Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt (as told by Black Elk)
  • The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux (edited by Joseph Epes Brown)
  • Excerpts from The Soul of the Indian by Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)
  • Selected tribal myths and vision quest narratives (e.g., from Hopi, Lakota, Navajo)

Secondary Readings / Recommended

  • Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (selected chapters)
  • Joseph Epes Brown, The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian
  • Vine Deloria Jr., God Is Red
  • Barbara Tedlock, The Woman in the Shaman’s Body

Activities

  • Textual Reflection: Analyze Black Elk’s vision in the context of mystical transformation and compare it with Christian or Hindu visionary experiences.
  • Discussion: How does the land itself become sacred in Native mysticism? How does this differ from transcendental conceptions of divinity?
  • Experiential Exercise: Guided reflection using symbolic elements of the medicine wheel or animal totems (non-appropriative, educational focus).