Michael Harner

Michael Harner

Michael Harner (born April 27, 1929 in Washington, DC - † February 3, 2018 ) was an American anthropologist . He was the founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies , based in Mill Valley , California .

Life

Harner spent part of his childhood in South America . He first studied archeology and examined the submerged Malpais culture in the area of ​​the Colorado River . During his anthropological fieldwork with the Shuar (also Jivaro) in Ecuador between 1956 and 1957 he was initiated into the local shamanic practices . From 1960 to 1961 he was doing field work with the Conibo , an indigenous people , on the Río Ucayali in Peru .

His dissertation to obtain a Ph.D. in anthropology he wrote in 1963. It deals with the changes in technology in the everyday life of the Shuar. In 1964 he undertook another research trip to Ecuador. On both expeditions there, he collected shrunken heads for the collection of the Hearst Museum at Berkeley University . With The Jivaro - People of the Sacred Waterfalls the first of its published 1972 popular science and esoteric books.

In 1979 he founded the Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS), which is primarily dedicated to the preservation, further research and dissemination of his concept of shamanism.

Teaching

anthropology

The development of mankind, ecological relationships and the scarcity of resources form a focus of Harner's research.
The studies Population Pressure and the Social Evolution of Agriculturalists and Scarcity, the Factors of Production and Social Evolution describe the influence of thin and densely settled populations on the respective classless society using a theoretical model .

In The Ecological Basis for Aztec Sacrifice , Harner sets up a theory to explain the strange changes in human sacrifice by the Aztecs in the Valley of Mexico . He attributes this to bottlenecks in basic services.

Harner's research on shamanism

Harner's anthropological work on shamanism is considered to be a pioneer of esoteric neo-shamanism , which, however, cannot be directly connected with Harner's work itself.

In The Jivaro - People of the Sacred Waterfalls he was the first to describe in detail the spiritual world of the Shuar's non-everyday reality, so named by Carlos Castañeda , justifying their passion for combat and war and describing the practice of their headhunting . Harner traces his fundamental knowledge of the principles of indigenous shamanism back to these insights. In Peru, he learned psychotropic plants know, including ayahuasca , which shamans in the so-called by Harner later shamanic state of consciousness (Engl. Shamanic State of Consciousness , shortly SSC - compare Altered state of consciousness ) can enter.

He summarized his experiences with the Conibo in 1968 in an article The Sound of Rushing Water . The article is contained in the anthology Hallucinogens and Shamanism , in which Harner's article The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in European Witchcraft refers to experiences with plant drugs in different cultures.

Core shamanism

Harner describes the result of his cross- cultural studies as core shamanism , to which he adds his own approach to the practical application of shamanic techniques for everyone. He postulates that core shamanism is the "intersection" of all shamanic practices worldwide, therefore based on universal (or almost universal) principles such as can be found in shamanic cultures, and that there is therefore a "classical way" to get around these principles to integrate into modern culture. He mainly refers to the writings of Castañeda and Eliade and proves the universal applicability through the effect of the drum rhythms, on psychological explanations such as " theta waves " or neurochemical findings on trance . Harner describes his work as a "practical basic work".

Shamanism is not a fixed system of dogmas , but is based on the experiences of the spiritual shamanic journey . According to Harner, this in turn is basically accessible to everyone.

Practical use

With the establishment of the FSS and the beginning of his workshops, Harner changed from an ethnological researcher to a spiritual practitioner; on the FSS website he is referred to as an "authentic white shaman".

A prerequisite for "shamanic experiences" is a changed state of consciousness, as described for the so-called ritual ecstasy . In this state, the shaman has the impression that his soul is leaving the body and is flying into the hereafter in order to come into contact with various spiritual beings . Harner describes this as a “refinement of perception for the otherwise invisible in the non-everyday reality ”. He claims that the test subjects come into contact with spiritual beings in animal form ( power animals ) or human-like beings (teachers). As with shamans in indigenous cultures, the purpose of these contacts is to gain spiritual power, help and healing.

While traditional shamans complete years of apprenticeship, fall back on ancestral knowledge - when, how and where a séance can take place - and sometimes undergo severe physical mortification or take entheogenic hallucinogens , Harner's school advertises that this condition can also be achieved without drugs or deprivation safe, quick and easy to learn. Harner and FSS employees mainly use drums and rattles for this (the typical beat frequency of the drum is around 220 min-1).

criticism

"If you want to maintain shamanic practice, you have to regularly transform yourself into your animal [note: see alter ego ] in order to satisfy the animal so that it stays."

- Michael Harner

The criticism is directed against Harner's person, against his teaching and against its offensive dissemination.

• Harner is accused of the fact that scientists who have entered a cult themselves as initiates or practitioners or who practice trance techniques are no longer taken seriously because they have lost their distance from their research topic. In addition, Harner claims that he is recognized as a "colleague" by shamans of various ethnic groups such as the Conibo, Shuar, Coast Salish, Pomo, Northern Paiute, Inland Inuit, Sami and by the Tuwinians.
• Core shamanism, is often criticized as "spiritual theft" of indigenous cultural assets and as a driving force for the emergence of plastic shamans (Noel / Wallis). Paul Johnson is particularly critical of the fact that Harner did not compare rituals in an indigenous context, but only after he had taken them out of context and assessed them with a Eurocentric “indigenizing” view. The great similarities he found are therefore not present in the form presented by Harner.

All concepts of shamanism that make a universal “supra-cultural” claim - especially with regard to spiritual phenomena, are now considered obsolete in ethnology. Harner's concept reduces shamanism (in Eliade's sense) to an “archaic ecstasy technique” and then elevates it to the universal original religion. Building on this, he claims that there was an original shamanism in Europe that was lost “through the oppressive predominance of religions”, but that core shamanism in particular could enable “Western people to gain access to their rightful spiritual inheritance”.

Some critics question whether Harner's concept should even be called shamanism .

• The dissemination of the “practical application” in courses and workshops is criticized above all because its motives are not to convey traditional knowledge, but to market and consume a “shamanism light” with a broad audience. Statements such as “amazing security”, “quick effect”, “easy to learn” and much more have the character of advertising slogans . Other frequently voiced criticism points out: "[...] Neo-Shamans like Michael Harner are examples of the next wave of popularization of indigenous spirituality from 1960 to 1980. These esoteric entrepreneurs have established a workshop industry, which is predominantly run by whites from the Central and upper classes who are looking for an Indian experience. "

The massive criticism of neo-shamanism with regard to the falsification of indigenous traditions is also closely connected to Harner and his Foundation for Shamanic Studies : They would contribute significantly to retrospectively influencing traditional shamans and thus authentic ideas - the millennia-long process of mythical thought emerged - to be fragmented and replaced by synthetic constructs - which would primarily be based on the ideas and wishes of western people (see also: syncretism and eclecticism ) .

Publications

items

• Thermo facts vs. Artifacts: An Experimental Study of the Malpais Industry In: Papers on California Archeology: 37-43 1956 pp. 39-43.
• Population Pressure and the Social Evolution of Agriculturalists In: Southwestern Journal of Anthropology University of New Mexico 1970 Vol. 26, No. 1 pp. 67-86.
• The Ecological Basis for Aztec Sacrifice . In: American Ethnologist . No. 4, 1977, pp. 117-135.
• Core Shamanism defended . In: Shaman's Drum . Spring issue, 1988, pp. 65-67.
• Shamanic counseling . In: G. Doore (Ed.): The Shaman's Path. Healing, Personal Growth and Empowerment . Shambhala, Boston MA 1988, pp. 179-187.

Monographs

• The Jivaro - People of the Sacred Waterfalls . University of California Press, Berkeley CA 1972, ISBN 0-520-05065-7 .
• Cannibal . Morrow, New York NY 1979, ISBN 0-688-03499-3 .
• The Way of the Shaman . Harper & Row, San Francisco CA 1980, ISBN 0-06-063710-2 . English: The way of the shaman . Ariston, Geneva 1981, ISBN 3-7205-1819-1 .
• Journeys Outside of Time. The Way to Knowledge and Wisdom . Unwin Paperbacks, London 1990, ISBN 0-04-440587-1 .
• Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality . North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, 2013, ISBN 978-1-58394-546-9 .

Editorships

• Hallucinogens and Shamanism . Oxford University Press, London 1972, ISBN 0-19-501649-1 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Michael Harner in the catalog of the German National Library
• Foundation for Shamanic Studies website (English)
• Foundation for Shamanic Studies Europe (German)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary , accessed February 5, 2018
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ecuador: The Michael Harner Collection. (No longer available online.) University of California, Berkeley , archived from the original on April 18, 2012 ; accessed on April 18, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Michael J. Harner: Thermo-Facts vs. Artifacts: An Experimental Study of the Malpais Industry. University of California, Berkeley , 1956, accessed February 3, 2016 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Ira Jacknis: Focus on the Collection: Shrunken Heads: Shuar Collections from Ecuador. (No longer available online.) Hearstmuseum University of California, Berkeley , archived from the original on May 9, 2013 ; accessed on April 19, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ^ About The Foundation for Shamanic Studies. FSS self-description, 2000, accessed on April 18, 2013 (English). 
6. ↑ Abstract of: Preview of Population Pressure and the Social Evolution of Agriculturalists. University of New Mexico, accessed April 20, 2013 . 
7. ^ Abstract of: The Ecological Basis for Aztec Sacrifice. Wiley online library, accessed April 22, 2013 . 
8. ^ ^{A b c d} Daniel C. Noel: Soul Of Shamanism: Western Fantasies, Imaginal Realities (1997), Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-1081-2
9. ^ Joan B. Townsend: Individualist Religious Movements: Core and Neo-shamanism (2004), Anthropology of Consciousness vol. 15 (1), pp. 1-9, doi : 10.1525 / ac.2004.15.1.1 .
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Michael Kleinod: Shamanism and globalization. Essay in the context of the seminar Cultural Globalization and Localization, Ethnology, University of Trier 2005, ISBN, pp. 16-18.
11. ↑ Andrei A. Znamensky: The Beauty of the primitives. Shamanism and The Western Imagination. Oxford University Press, New York (USA) et al. 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-517231-7 . P. 212.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Michael Harner Biography. Founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Anthropologist and author of The Way of the Shaman and Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
13. ↑ Shamanism . Information text with sources in: Glaub-und-irrglaube.de, website of Pastor Gabriele Lademann-Priemer, representative for sect and ideology issues of the North Elbian Ev.-luth. Church from 1992 to 2011, accessed April 12, 2015. p. 2.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Dawne Sanson: Taking the spirits seriously: Neo-Shamanism and contemporary shamanic healing in New Zealand. Massay University, Auckland (NZ) 2012 pdf version . Pp. 45-48.
15. ↑ Klaus E. Müller: Shamanism. Healers, spirits, rituals. 4th edition. CH Beck, Munich 2010 (original edition 1997), ISBN 978-3-406-41872-3 . Pp. 8-9, 19-20.
16. ↑ Kai Funkschmidt: Shamanism and Neo-Shamanism . In: Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauungsfragen ezw-berlin.de, Berlin, 2012, accessed on February 4, 2015.
17. ^ Franziska Baumann: Shamanism and tourism among the Quichua in the Ecuadorian lowlands. Yachac's entry into the tourism business. In: Schweitzer de Palacio, Dagmar / Wörrle, Bernhard (ed.): Healer between the worlds. Transcultural exchange processes in shamanism in Ecuador. (Curupira series, vol. 15) Curupira, Marburg 2003. p. 170.
18. ↑ Kocku von Stuckrad : Shamanism and esotericism: cultural and scientific-historical considerations. (Gnostica, Volume 4) Peeters, Leuven (Belgium) 2003, ISBN 90-429-1253-7 . P. 162ff.
19. ↑ Book Review - Shamans and Religions ( Memento of the original of July 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on June 15, 2015.