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在西伯利亚和北美，有一种特殊的动物被一个族群视为图腾，这群人就是我们所说的萨满人，而这种特殊的动物就是老鹰。正如我们所看到的，老鹰居住在世界之树最顶端的树枝上，而那里即是神灵的国度。 布里亚特人（西伯利亚人）说，起初那儿只有神和恶魔。人类是神创造的，但却被恶魔诅咒要遭受疾病和死亡。因此，神派遣鹰去作苦难人类的巫师。但人类那时愚昧无知，不能理解老鹰，也不能够接受他们的拯救者竟是只鸟这样一个事实。所以老鹰被授权将他的巫师能力授予他遇到的第一个人，事实证明这个人是睡在树下的一个年轻女子。鹰与这位女子交配，女子便生下第一个萨满人——也就是说，我们内心的世界之树顶端存在的混沌初开的意识与其底部沉睡着的女性潜力结合起来，造就了我们的萨满教。 许多美国土著部落也认为鹰是最神圣的鸟。肖肖尼族人把鹰刻在他们跳太阳舞、敬拜太阳的大厅中间的柱子顶端，来隐喻世界之树。由于老鹰飞得最高，他是最纯洁的精神，因此他是最令人信服的，适合帮助萨满人到达神灵的国度，即世界之树的顶端。在许多部落里，老鹰的羽毛都是疗伤仪式中最关键的部分，因为我们从西伯利亚的例子就可以看出，恶魔诅咒我们，让我们得了疾病，老鹰是被派来帮助人类治疗疾病的。 个人也可以有他们自己完全独立于氏族的图腾或力量动物。尽管整体来说，鹰是萨满人的图腾，但每个萨满人通常也有自己的强力动物。正如我们已经看到的，许多萨满人是受来自彼世的神灵的召唤而担当他们的职责的，而通常召唤他们的神灵已经变成了某种动物，曰后这种动物就成了这位萨满人的帮手或指引者。拉科塔著名的巫医拉梅迪尔就是直接受到了鹰的召唤，鹰用翅膀拍拍他的肩膀，告诉他"他们”一直在等他，而现在老鹰一直是附在他身上的一个灵魂。 有时，动物助手所发出的召唤是一个极其丰富而复杂的经历。另一个拉科塔人一“疯狂的马”（他既是一个巫师也是一位勇士）曾有过这样一个幻觉：他的马在他幻想的探险地上蹒跚而行，突然挣脱开去，开始狂奔，就像漂浮在光影中一样。马沿"Z”字形路线奔跑时不断变换着色彩。“疯狂的马”仔细观察了一下那个幻想的骑士，他一只耳朵后面挂着一块石头，脸上画着一个晴天霹雳的图案，头顶上有一只鹰。从那时起，“疯狂的马”总是以同样的行头骑马参战——耳朵后面挂一块石头，脸上画一个晴天霹雳的图案，头发上插一支鹰的羽毛。他骑马沿“Z"字形路线前进，就像他的幻觉一样。有人相信只要他有马、鹰和石头保护，就没有子弹可以碰到他。（事实证明他在整个职业生涯中一直都对子弹免疫，他是在徒步时被刺刀杀死的。） 强力动物可以向诸如“疯狂的马”这样的探索者揭示各种各样复杂的信息和幻觉现象,可以在一个人的一生中产生奇特的压倒性的影响。对于专业的萨满巫师来说，一个强力动物的主要作用就是在他们通往来世的道路上指引方向。 In Siberia and North America, there is one particular animal which serves as a totem for that group of individuals we call shamans. This is the eagle, whom, as we have seen, dwells in1 the top branches of the World Tree, the land of the gods. The Buryat (Siberians) say that in the beginning there were only the gods and the evil spirits. Humankind was created by the gods, but cursed with illness and death by the evil spirits. Therefore, the gods sent the eagle to act as a shaman for suffering humanity. The humans, in their ignorance, did not understand the eagle; nor were they able to accept a mere bird as their savior, so the eagle was given the power to grant shamanic abilities to the first person he encountered. This proved to be a young woman sleeping beneath a tree. The eagle mated with her and she gave birth to the first shaman—which, symbolically, tells us that shamanism is “bom” from the union of the enlightened3 consciousness which dwells at the top of our own internal World Tree with the feminine4 potency5 that sleeps at its base. Many Native American tribes also recognize the eagle as the most sacred of birds. The Shoshoni place him at the top of the central pole in the Sun Dance Lodge, another metaphor for the World Tree. Because the eagle flies the highest, his is the purest spirit; thus he is most admirable suited to help the shaman journey to the land of the gods, the topmost branches of the World Tree. Eagle feathers are a vitally important part of healing ceremonies in many tribes, for, as we have seen in the Siberian example, the eagle was sent to humankind to help heal the diseases with which the demons have cursed us. Individuals may also have their own totem or power animals，quite independently of their birth clan6, and though the eagle serves as the totem of shamans in general，and individual shaman or shamaness typically has an individual power animal as well. As we have already seen, many shamans are called to their vocations by spirits from the Otherworld; often that call comes from a spirit who has taken the form of a particular animal, one which will later become the shaman’s helper or guide. The famous Lakota medicine man Lame Deer received his call directly from the eagle, who tapped him on the shoulder with its wings and told him that “they” had been waiting for him, and that the eagle would now be with him always “as a ghost.” Sometimes the call from an animal helper is an enormously rich and complex experience. Another Lakota, Crazy Horse (who was as much a shaman as he was a warrior), received a vision wherein his horse hobbled7 near the site of his vision quest8, broke free, and began to run as if it were floating through light. It changed colors as it ran in a zigzag pattern, and Crazy Horse carefully watched its phantom9 rider, who wore a stone behind one ear, a lightning bolt painted on his face, and who had a hawk above him. From that time on, Crazy Horse always rode into battle in the same fashion 一 a stone behind his ear, a lightning bolt on his face, and a hawk feather in his hair. He rode his horse in a zigzag pattern, as in his vision. It was believed that no bullet could touch him as long as he was protected by his horse, his hawk and his stone. (In point of fact, he proved immune to bullets throughout his career; he was on foot when he was killed by a bayonet10). A power animal may reveal complex messages and visionary phenomena of various kinds to a seeker such as Crazy Horse; it may play a unique and overwhelming11 influence in one’s life. To the professional shaman, a power animal acts primarily as a guide upon the Otherworld journey. |
