Caelum is correct re: shamanic training and compensation in many indigenous traditions not being a free ride. In most of these cases, shamanic training works as an apprenticeship, with the trainee assisting the shaman for a period of years, in some cases living with him/her, in exchange for receiving training. So shamans are compensated with labor. Since shamanism is characteristic especially of foraging societies (though it continues to exist alongside other religious and spiritual traditions in agricultural and pastoral societies), this works well with their typically pre-market economic structures.

In African and Afro-Caribbean esoteric traditions, which developed in agricultural societies with markets, initiation can cost a great deal of money, as well as compensation in kind. Initiates often live at or near the initiator's Ile (temple-house) and contribute in labor as well.

Modern Western society has often considered any financial link between spiritual/ religious practice and financial compensation unethical, as though it somehow taints the spirituality of the instruction; but in world religions this is the exception rather than the rule. Perhaps we ought to be asking ourselves two questions:

1) Why and how did the prejudice towards money/ spirituality develop in the West? and

2) How is instruction in contemporary spiritual and esoteric practices inserted into our current economic structures, and with what consequences?

As a coda, Reclaiming Witch Camps are relatively expensive as Pagan camps go, but the fee covers a week's accomodation in cabins plus full board, as well as training and materials. Organizers must cover the costs of renting camp facilities, purchasing food and paying for cooks, as well as insurance and other overhead expenses. So the money does not all go directly to salaries for teachers.

BB,
Sabina


Sabina Magliocco
Professor
Department of Anthropology
California State University
18111 Nordhoff St.
Northridge, CA 91330-8244


---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2006 07:50:47 -0700
>From: Caelum Rainieri <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Selling Shamanic Training to Survive
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Barbara Tedlock and her husband Dennis, both
> anthropologists, have not only written extensively
> on the shamanic traditions of the Maya and Mongolian
> people, but they each claim to be initiates of those
> traditions as well. A year ago, I sent Dr. Tedlock
> (Barbara) a letter congratulating her on the
> publication of "TheWoman in the Shaman's Body", and
> asking (as politely as I could muster) how a person
> not of Mayan descent could not only be trained as,
> but become a shaman of the Quiche Maya?
>
> The answer, I discovered, is that while this is a
> sacred thing to them, the Elders understand both the
> level of interest in learning their spiritual ways,
> and that the money they receive for their knowledge
> helps alleviate some of the intense poverty that
> exists in Guatemala. An organization has been set up
> (Saq Be) to act as intermediary between Westerners
> thirsty for indigenous shamanic training, and the
> Elders of the Quiche Maya. A similar system of
> shamanic training for Westerners exists in Mongolia.
>
> Then there is Michael Harner's Foundation for
> Shamanic Studies. A non-profit organization that has
> harvested shamanic teachings from around the world,
> distilled them down to what Dr. Harner has named
> "core shamanism", and teaches it to interested
> Westerner's for a fee. A portion of the income
> derived from these seminars is distributed among the
> various indigenous tribes that have signed on to
> provide their wisdom teachings to Harner's
> foundation.
>
> For me, as a practitioner, this raises a lot of
> questions. Is there a relevant precedent here for
> teachers of esoteric traditions to charge a fee?
> Are spiritual teachers expected to live a life of
> poverty or is it simply due to the harsh economic
> realities of the modern world? The norm among these
> indigneous cultures, and others like them, is for
> the shaman of a tribe to receive gifts in exchange
> for his or her work on behalf of the members of the
> tribe.
>
> So while precedents exist for compensation to the
> shaman, I'm not aware of any precedent for the
> theory that the shaman takes no compensation for his
> or her work.
>
> Caelum Rainieri
>
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