46.
Shamans Are Intellectuals, Translators, and Shrewd Dealers
GERARDO REICHEL- DOLMATOF
( 1975 )
Austrian-born Colombian anthropologist Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff did some of the best fieldwork ever. He dedicated his entire professional life to studying the indigenous people of Colombia. Reichel-Dolmatoff had great respect for shamans, whom he saw as humanists with an interest in knowledge. His reports on shamans are among the most detailed and complete. Here he refers to indigenous shamans in the Vaupes area in the Colombian Amazon.
Shamanism is well developed among the Indians of the Vaupes, and the shaman (or payé, as he is commonly called in that area), is probably the most important specialist within the native culture. It is he who, representing his local group, establishes contact with the supernatural powers and who, to the mind of his people, has the necessary esoteric knowledge to use this contact for the benefit of society.
The principal spheres of action of a payé are the curing of disease, the obtaining of game animals and fish from their supernatural masters, the presiding over the rituals in the individual life cycle, and defensive or aggressive action against personal enemies. In all these aspects the role of the payé is essentially that of a mediator and moderator between superterrestrial forces and society, and between the need for survival of the individual and the forces bent upon his destruction—sickness, hunger, and the ill will of others. In the course of his activities the shaman (we shall use this term interchangeably with payé) must therefore obtain the assistance of a number of spirit-helpers, contact with whom is established through the use of narcotic drugs. Apart from this, the payé must obtain a series of concrete objects of wood, stone, or other substances that contain the essence of certain power concepts and form his instruments of practice.
The office of payé is not hereditary, but it seems to be fairly common for one of the sons of a well-known shaman to follow his father’s calling. More important than family tradition, however, are certain psychological and intellectual qualities that mark a person as a potential payé, and that will be recognized in his youth by those surrounding him. Among these qualities are a deep interest in myth and tribal tradition, a good memory for reciting long sequences of names and events, a good singing voice, and the capacity for enduring hours of incantations during sleepless nights preceded by fasting and sexual abstinence. But these are, perhaps, minor qualities; there are others, more important, that develop only in the course of long training and experience, if not in the course of an entire life. Above all, a payé’s soul should “illuminate”; it should shine with a strong inner light rendering visible all that is in darkness, all that is hidden from ordinary knowledge and reasoning. This supernatural luminescence of the payé is said to manifest itself when he speaks or sings, or when he explains his or other’s hallucinatory experiences. Of a payé whose explanations remain obscure to the listener, it is said that “his soul is not seen, it does not burn; it does not shine.” This powerful emanation is thought to be directly derived from the sun, and to have a marked seminal character. The sun’s fertilizing energy is transmitted to the payé in the sense that he himself becomes a carrier of a force that contains procreative and fortifying components. Closely related to this concept is the ability of the payé to interpret mythical passages, genealogical recitals, incantory formulas, dreams, or any signs and portents a person may have observed. The payé’s interpretations thus “shed light” upon these matters, in the strict sense of the expression. It is of importance, then, that the payé himself be able to have clear and meaningful hallucinations. His vision must not be blurred, his sense of hearing must be acute; that is, he must be able to distinguish clearly the images that appear to his mind while in a state of trance, and to understand the supernatural voices speaking to him. Much of this capacity is, undoubtedly, acquired over the years, the payé developing his own key of interpretation, but some of it is said to be already discernible at an early age. The older people will watch out for any signs a youth may give, and they will discuss them with an experienced payé. . . .
Among the many activities of a Tukano shaman, one of the most important refers to his relationships with Vaí-mahsë, the supernatural Master of Animals. This spirit-being can manifest itself in many guises, but is generally imagined, and seen in hallucinations, as a red dwarf, a small person in the attire of a hunter armed with bow and arrow. He is the owner and protector of all animals—fish, game, and all others that dwell in the forest and the rivers—and success in hunting and fishing depends largely upon his good will. . . .
Contact with the Master of Animals is established during hallucinatory trance and through the intermediation of Vihó-mahsë, the Master of Snuff. The payé, lying in his hammock, will absorb the narcotic powder and, in his trance, will ascend to the Milky Way, the abode of Vaí-mahsë. With the latter’s help he then enters the hill where the Master of Animals dwells, and there they begin to bargain for food or medicinal herbs, for vengeance upon enemies or for a successful hunting season. The representatives of the celestial, subterranean, and underwater dimensions thus meet with the payé and, in a trance combined with songs and dances, will now decide the destiny of men. . . .
In his trance, the payé arrives at the hill and approaches the northern entrance, where he knocks three times with his stick rattle. From inside Vaí-mahsë voice asks: “What is it you want?” “I want food!” is the payé’s reply. Now the door opens before him and he enters the hill. Inside, along the walls and on the rafters and beams, innumerable animals are crouching as if asleep. In a corner several boraro-spirits are sitting, somnolent and with hunched shoulders; jaguars and snakes are lying on the floor, and brightly colored birds sit on the rafters. “Take whatever you need!” says Vaí-mahsë. The payé fills two large baskets with certain species of game animals and carries them to the door. There the animals awaken as if from a stupor and scurry away into the forest, always in pairs, a male and a female. The payé returns for more and, with the help of Vihó-mahsë, carries two more baskets to the door. But, at the same time, when he is taking the baskets out into the open, some noxious animals, too, will escape from the hill and, always in pairs, will stray into the forest—jaguars, snakes, and maybe a couple of bush spirits. . . .
Many of a payé’s activities are concerned with the curing of disease. Tobacco smoke, splashing with water, the sucking out of pathogenic substances, and lengthy incantations are all standard practice and are, in many cases, accompanied by the use of narcotic drugs. It is during his hallucinations that a payé can diagnose a disease, know its cause, discuss its treatment with Vihó-mahsë, and learn the correct formulas he has to pronounce over the patient. Sometimes the patient, too, must take a hallucinogenic drug, and he will then describe his visions to the payé, in search of clues to the causes and adequate treatment of the affliction. . . .
The practice of aggressive sorcery aimed at harming or killing personal adversaries occupies all payés. Not all of them, however, are really so inclined, but often they will yield to pressure, and many consider the practice of aggressive magic to be an unavoidable part of their office. . . .
Hallucinatory trances are used as practical and efficient means of experiencing the presence of what, in the native culture, is taken for the metaphysical. However, this supernatural sphere is not the one of divine or godlike beings, but one of morally ambivalent spirits who are sacralized versions of living beings and whose help has to be obtained for very practical ends. As the Tukano see it, there exist supernatural beings—quite apart from the Sun Father—who have absolute knowledge and absolute power. Any illness has a cure, and any social ill can be redressed if only one can find a channel of communication with the forces that “know” the remedies and solutions. Narcotic drugs provide the key to this sphere of absolute knowledge, and the only problem, then, is to understand the language of these spirit-beings. Herein resides the ability of the payé, to interpret their utterings and signs correctly.
Drug-induced ecstasy seems to have two main objectives in Tukano shamanism: to find cures for diseases and ways to punish one’s enemies. As illness is not taken to be the natural lot of mankind but is always thought to be caused by the ill will of people or their spirit-helpers, the problem of curing a disease is, in all essence, a process of reestablishing workable relationships with others, even in the event some of these “others” are spirit-beings, who, after all, “are people.” The ecstatic emphasis of Tukano shamanism can be seen as a quest for clues and procedures that will allow the user to restore a “dis-ease” produced by tension-fraught interpersonal relationships. Acting as a spokesman and intermediary, the payé is not a mystic, but a practical specialist in communications. . . .
Shamanistic trance provides a mechanism for conflict solution. As has been pointed out already, the payé may discuss the causes of an illness in terms of a social etiology, but he will refrain from making personal judgments or accusations. This pattern, of keeping the solution of social tensions within the bounds of private action, does not diminish the importance of the trance experiences as effective means of settling conflicts arising from social conditions. The aggressive aspects, then, take the character of cathartic rituals of great effectiveness.
In the second place, the concept of spirit-possession seems to be completely lacking in Tukano culture. A payé is always himself; never is he seized or invaded by a spirit; he simply interprets and transmits what this spirit shows him or tells him. He never becomes an instrument of other forces but always remains a translator and interpreter, a shrewd dealer trying to learn as much as possible from the beings that people the world of his visions; he never submits to them as a blind tool of uncontrollable forces. His soul may be wandering, but it is not being replaced by the intrusion of any external agency.
One might ask here: Who are the “enemies” the Tukano make so much of? Revenge is a recurrent theme in Tukano culture, and every man feels constantly threatened by people who wish him ill or by spirits that might be the supernatural helpers of these people. There is endless talk about fighting and killing; about taking violent vengeance on this or that person; about destroying the adversary with illness, lightning, or carefully prepared “accidents” while he is hunting or traveling. And in these matters people bide their time; there is already great satisfaction in long and careful preparations, the learning of spells, and the interpretation of dreams and visions. But, in reality, nothing much ever seems to happen. People hardly ever come to blows, and much less will they readily kill a man or destroy his property; the Tukano are a gentle, friendly people. All aggressiveness, then, is acted out in the hallucinatory dimension, or at least in a state of high excitement induced by the recital of spells and the violent gestures that accompany them. The idea that sorcery has a delayed action is, of course, important because of its essentially realistic aspect. Magical aggression has a good chance of bringing results if given time; thus, it is geared to probability. Given sufficient time, the individual can expect to see his enemy fall ill or die. Obviously, if more immediate effects were expected, the aggressor would often be disappointed.
To act “as if” is a common attitude underlying much of Tukano thought and behavioral patterns. Everyone knows that, in this world, a hill is a hill, and fish are just animals that can be caught and eaten; but everyone also knows that there is “another” world where the hills appear as if they were houses, and fish behave as if they were people. The conditional as if is explicit in spells and incantations in which nature is perceived as imbued with human motivations and possibilities of action. The hunter approaches his prey as if it were human; lightning strikes as if it had been cast by someone. . . .
A final word must be said here about the practitioner himself. As far as we were able to judge, there is nothing psychologically abnormal about a payé. Hysteroid or epileptoid symptoms seem to be wholly absent, and anything resembling fits or seizures is simply the consequence of intoxication, not a trait of a psychotic personality. On the contrary, the payés we have known always gave us the impression of being sober, level-headed people, quite normal members of their society.
What distinguishes a payé from others is that he is an intellectual. As such, he is not much given to small talk and the simple pleasures of the home. He often has a tendency to keep apart from others, to be silent, and to abstain from noisy conversation and ribald joking. He may take lonely walks, mumble spells, or sit staring into the dark. But he is immensely curious; he is always interested in animals and plants, the weather, the stars, diseases—anything that to others is unpredictable. He is a humanist, in the sense that he is interested in the “pagan” antiquities of his own cultural tradition: in myths of origin, in archaelogical sites, in long-forgotten place names, and in stories of legendary migrations. And he will enjoy the company of other, like-minded men. When a few friends gather he will talk and sing all night long. He will recall past events, speak of some special “cases” in his practice, and will be a great raconteur.
A Tukano payé does not receive a sudden call to office, in an overwhelming traumatic experience, but develops his personality slowly and steadily, the driving force being a truly intellectual interest in the unknown; and that not so much for the purpose of acquiring power over his fellow men as for the personal satisfaction of “knowing” things which others are unable to grasp.