12-08-2011, 12:00 AM
Many of the traditions we see across the world that are tied to the
Christmas holidays have a surprising similarity to the ancient traditions
of Siberian Shamans. Through the description below, you can easily see
the role of Santa Claus being filled by the local shaman. His gift to
everyone on Chistmas (Winter Solsitice)... dried out mushrooms that were
hung by the fire with care.
From SagaciousMama:
It all begins with a mushroom. Yes. A
mushroom. Did you expect it to begin with something man made? Then
you’re not thinking far back enough. Humanity’s first interactions were
with earthly things.
The name of the mushroom is Amanita
muscaria, also called Fly Agaric. Muscaria is a psychotropic, causing
visions and altered states. It is also toxic, and must be handled in a
particular manner so as to get the psychedelic effects without the toxic
ones. You may have heard of the word “shaman”, which is a word from the
Tungus-speaking people of Siberia, to connote a religious
specialist.(1) The Tungusic are Russian indigenous people who live in
the arctic circle (north pole) and they are reindeer herders. A shaman dealt with the mushrooms, as both a safety practice and as part of the spirituality of the people.
-----
The shaman would collect the mushrooms in a bag and deliver them to families, who would then often hang them in socks around the fireplace to dry – the mushrooms would be ready to share their revelatory gifts in the morning of the solstice.
Amanita Muscaria grows only beneath a Christmas tree
(coniferous/pine tree) in a symbiotic, non-parasitic relationship with
the roots of the tree. (6) It used to be thought to be the fruit of the
tree.
And what about Santa's outfit and Christmas tree ornaments? Well... from JungleApocalypse:
To this day Siberian shamans dress in ceremonial red and white fur-trimmed jackets to
gather the magic mushrooms. First they pick and place the mushrooms to
partially dry on nearby pine boughs which prepares them for ingestion
and makes the load lighter. This is why we decorate our
Christmas trees with ornaments and bulbs, because the gatherers would
always adorn trees with drying mushrooms.
And of course, the final touch is how the shaman would enter homes to distribute the "gifts":
The tradition of the Shaman,[...], was to
go into the forests and collect these shrooms that grow under pine
trees or evergreen trees. The Shaman would collect enough for the entire
tribe and then go to each of the houses, sometimes due to heavy snow the doors would be snowed in and the Shaman would have to enter through the smoke hole in the roof!
And then there's the flying reindeer. How did they fly? Mushrooms of course.
http://www.shamanswell.org/shaman/siber ... 5.facebook
Christmas holidays have a surprising similarity to the ancient traditions
of Siberian Shamans. Through the description below, you can easily see
the role of Santa Claus being filled by the local shaman. His gift to
everyone on Chistmas (Winter Solsitice)... dried out mushrooms that were
hung by the fire with care.
From SagaciousMama:
It all begins with a mushroom. Yes. A
mushroom. Did you expect it to begin with something man made? Then
you’re not thinking far back enough. Humanity’s first interactions were
with earthly things.
The name of the mushroom is Amanita
muscaria, also called Fly Agaric. Muscaria is a psychotropic, causing
visions and altered states. It is also toxic, and must be handled in a
particular manner so as to get the psychedelic effects without the toxic
ones. You may have heard of the word “shaman”, which is a word from the
Tungus-speaking people of Siberia, to connote a religious
specialist.(1) The Tungusic are Russian indigenous people who live in
the arctic circle (north pole) and they are reindeer herders. A shaman dealt with the mushrooms, as both a safety practice and as part of the spirituality of the people.
-----
The shaman would collect the mushrooms in a bag and deliver them to families, who would then often hang them in socks around the fireplace to dry – the mushrooms would be ready to share their revelatory gifts in the morning of the solstice.
Amanita Muscaria grows only beneath a Christmas tree
(coniferous/pine tree) in a symbiotic, non-parasitic relationship with
the roots of the tree. (6) It used to be thought to be the fruit of the
tree.
And what about Santa's outfit and Christmas tree ornaments? Well... from JungleApocalypse:
To this day Siberian shamans dress in ceremonial red and white fur-trimmed jackets to
gather the magic mushrooms. First they pick and place the mushrooms to
partially dry on nearby pine boughs which prepares them for ingestion
and makes the load lighter. This is why we decorate our
Christmas trees with ornaments and bulbs, because the gatherers would
always adorn trees with drying mushrooms.
And of course, the final touch is how the shaman would enter homes to distribute the "gifts":
The tradition of the Shaman,[...], was to
go into the forests and collect these shrooms that grow under pine
trees or evergreen trees. The Shaman would collect enough for the entire
tribe and then go to each of the houses, sometimes due to heavy snow the doors would be snowed in and the Shaman would have to enter through the smoke hole in the roof!
And then there's the flying reindeer. How did they fly? Mushrooms of course.
http://www.shamanswell.org/shaman/siber ... 5.facebook