Shamanism at the Ballot Box

"a lot of people...say, 'I’m not into politics.' They just can’t see that that, in itself, is an incredibly political statement."

- shamanic teacher Jonathan Horwitz

We in the United States are in an interesting moment of our political history.

Highly-controversial conservative former president Donald Trump and progressive current Vice President Kamala Harris are embroiled in a charged fight for the presidency in November - an election that will have a ripple effect beyond the States, and has been said could define the future of American democracy.

And shamans and shamanic practitioners are taking notice.

While politics and spirituality may seem incompatible to some at first glance, it is important to note that shamans across the world have and do engage in political matters - after all, they are human beings, whose lives are directly affected by policies made by those in (legislative) power - and that engaging in politics may actually be an expression of one's shamanism.

Defining the Complex

While there are various useful definitions of politics (such as "the activities of the government, members of law-making organizations, or people who try to influence the way a country is governed," or simply, "the art or science of government"), here, the operational definition of politics may be better expressed as "preferences in legislative policy." 

As for shamanism, this over-100,000-year-old worldwide tradition may be too difficult to succinctly define here. Suffice it to say that shamanism is a path of direct connection with transpersonal forces (spirits) and of living well in the world.

In their firsthand contact with spirits, commonly done in a journey into the spirit world, shamans retrieve invaluable knowledge, guidance, and healing support for themselves, others, and their communities. Shamans also perform healing and balancing work involving the brilliant transpersonal forces of nature. As a way of life, shamanism teaches us that everything that is, is alive, and interconnected in what some Indigenous people call "the web of life." Various shamanic practices open us up to the profound experience of our essential oneness - not just with other human beings, but with all of life. (A brief but longer introduction to shamanism is available here). 

The Shaman as Political Voice

There are notable examples of shamans from cultures outside of the United States acting in perhaps more-overtly political contexts.

For example, the Buryat believed or believe that shamans were the original political leaders (G. Sandschejew, “Weltanschauung und Schamanismus der Alaren-Burjaten”). When shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomami visited Princeton University early last year to discuss the human and environmental impacts - even beyond the Amazon - of illegal gold mining, he asked the students to write directly to President Joe Biden to help his people. Kopenawa has a history of political activism beyond this, as well. 

Other shamans have spoken out against biopiracy in Brazil, and while discussing in 2002 shaman's relationships to Amazonian biopiracy, Conklin noted that in "the decade since [June 1992, the time of the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio], shamans and other healers have become increasingly prominent figures in [I]ndigenous rights movements, forming organizations and speaking out on an array of national and international political issues in countries around the globe.”

Kalaallit shaman Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq of Greenland, delegated in his younger years as a "runner" by his elders to carry the message about the Big Ice melting to the wider world, has now spoken internationally on the subjects of climate change and Indigenous affairs, voiced concern regarding the creation and use of nuclear weapons, and has represented the Arctic people at the United Nations General Assembly. He offers thought-provoking wisdom on these subjects that I feel can "melt the ice in the heart of man" - the spiritual task given to him by his mother.

And of course, there are shamans and shamanic practitioners here in the West, too, engaging in political discussion and activism in their interviews, workshops, writings, and beyond - connected to their shamanism.

One great example of this comes from the book Death Walkers: Shamanic Psychopomps, Earthbound Ghosts, and Helping Spirits in the Afterlife Realm by two-time Fulbright Scholar David Kowalewski, PhD. One of the major roles of the shaman is psychopomp work - "conducting" or aiding dying and deceased souls in that transition. Kowalewski points out that in "the current and coming global crises, we need policies that better prevent the deaths that keep souls earthbound [as ghosts]." In this vein, he advocates, among other interventions, "simple maintenance of public infrastructure," a 55-mile-per-hour speed limit in the United States, "better suicide prevention methods," "controlling the production, storage, and spread of weapons of mass destruction," and "strict citizen constrains on the governmental tools of violence [connected to genocide, ethnic cleansing, and so on] everywhere." 

He poignantly concludes his discussion by stating, "Unless we adopt [such] policy measures, our foolishness will literally haunt us for a long, long time." 

In conversation with the above-quoted Jonathan Horwitz, who had just said that "if you’re going to work with the spirits to engage as an activist, you have to go into the activism from their point of view, and not from your personal point of view," my teaching colleague Lenore Norrgard stated, "One of the most powerful things shamanism can bring to activism is exactly this...We need to continually ask our spirits how to enter into these crucial conflicts in ways that reduce separation, and in ways that bring about the sense of interconnection." Norrgard, who has a rich history of bringing shamanic practices into social healing, continued on by sharing about a public peacemaking ritual that she was invited to facilitate for a Portland, Oregon neighborhood damaged by gentrification and her ideas for specific ways shamanic practitioners can become involved in activism.

Another example is the subject of abortion. Many receive messages that abortions are quote-unquote "perfect," as the fetus never wanted to be born; it just needed to be in a womb briefly for a karmic reason. I, not too long ago, psychically saw an individual's aborted daughter, who only wanted to incarnate quickly to work out karma. Some souls will seek out those not going full-term. It is from this orientation that I rushed to protest at the United States Supreme Court in the hours following the overturn of Roe v. Wade; that I teach in my Shamanism, Dying, and Life After Life training about the personal healing potential of journeying to aborted and miscarried fetuses; and that I continue to support reproductive freedom.

In their conversation, Horwitz said to Norrgard that "the role of the shamanic activist [is] to bring healing to our world with the help of the spirits, living the teachings they give us, following the path they show us."

This principle can be seen in my abortion example above; if I knew that everything that is, is alive, but did not dive deeper into what could be the nuances of this shamanic teaching through my own experiences, I may feel very inclined to protect the unborn!

But the shaman is simply, as the literature states, a hollow bone or empty reed for these spirits. The “30,000-foot-view" of our helping spirits, accessed by someone who has received quality training in shamanic journeying and has a grasp on issues of ethics and the nuances of interpreting the wisdom of the spirits, illuminates for us what is really going on in a given situation on a spiritual level. And in my case, I realized that even the unborn, alive on one level, play a role in their own aliveness on the physical level.

The incredible brilliance of the shamanic worldview, coupled with our own shamanic spirit experiences, can open our hearts and guide our political and social healing activities - including how we vote.

Shamanism at the Ballot Box

Recently, world-renowned shamanic teacher and psychotherapist Sandra Ingerman, MA issued a strong statement advocating for voting.

When asked by physician Dr. Lotte Valentin for her view on those saying that they will not vote in relation to the upcoming presidential election, Ingerman replied, "for the people who came in here to do spiritual work, don't sit down in the dark by not going out to vote. You can be changing history forever. Don't think about yourself; think about the children...the baby animals...the plants and the trees. Stop thinking about yourself." 

Soon after, she continued, "nobody's really safe here [on Earth]. So, what do you want to see for your descendants? What do you want to see for the planet? And know there might not be a good choice, but what's the best choice that's gonna not create the most destruction that our descendants are gonna be so hurt that we were not willing to help them - that we weren't willing to just get up, vote, even though it didn't feel like exactly the right thing, we might change the entire future for the planet."

"I'm voting," Ingerman concluded. "It's too late for me. But it's not too late for the future."

Throughout this article, we have seen examples that illustrate that shamanism and politics are not such strange bedfellows after all - and that one's spiritual practice of shamanism can appropriately inform their political healing activities in the physical world. But some may wonder why we cannot simply work on the spiritual level to cultivate social healing and change.

If your helping spirits are calling you to exclusively work spiritually to address social ills, that is one discussion. Otherwise, perhaps until enough of us abstain from the need to engage in any physical-world ways of living well - such as exercising, paying taxes, obtaining food to eat, receiving dental, vision, and other forms of healthcare, maintaining a safe and livable home, and so on - we ought to be willing to create change and healing on both the material and spiritual levels. A materially-important and responsible way of creating such change is voting.

And voting in the presidential election, despite the oft-used American aphorism, “My vote doesn’t count,” does actually mean something tangible. Perhaps counterintuitive, it is not the national popular vote that elects United States presidents; these votes tell the members of the Electoral College how to vote (this is how Trump won the presidency in 2016). This can be quite confusing and feel both disempowering and discouraging. Yet, if one refrains from voting in a presidential election, during which time "dozens or hundreds of congressional, state, and local offices," such as "your state senators and representatives, for sheriff, your local judges, your school board," are on the ballot, they ignore the "inordinately larger effect on your life and your family and your community" than the President.

And, “[Even] if your one vote isn’t going to sway an election, what it is doing is contributing to the number of your demographic...So ‘x number of Latinx voters between the ages of 18 and 25 turn out in x county in Wisconsin.’ You are adding yourself to that number, and the larger that demographic turnout ends up being, that is who those politicians are going to cater to.” Ballotpedia is a great way to discover what those candidates closer to your community support - and what you'd like to vote for on behalf of yourself and your community. 

Similar to what Ingerman asked, which candidate - in either the upcoming presidential election, or any other election - will create the least amount of destruction?

I consider: Whose policies support the shamanic experience that everything (including the natural world) is alive and interconnected? That dying a good (or at least non-traumatic) death matters? That reproductive freedom does not necessarily equate to thoughtless murder? That social injustices can be acknowledged and addressed with the Great Love? And that, despite the very-convincing illusion of separation or personal superiority, we are all the One Light, experiencing this world in individual forms, all deserving of equitable care, honest attempts at genuine understanding, and a chance to live this short life as fully as we can?

Reflect on this. If you are well-versed in the discipline of shamanic journeying, connect with a trusted helping spirit on political matters, such as by asking them to show you a social issue through their eyes. And then, take those insights and your shamanic wish for greater unity consciousness straight to the polls.