Shamanic boats

[Ishtar]

As there is such interest in shamanic boats, I thought I'd give it its own thread. That way, I can keep the Palaeo shaman thread on topic.

Rich, you asked for some research on shamanic boats. These pages are from Mircea Eliade's Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy.

They are quite big, so I'll put one in each post. There will be four in all:

[Ishtar]

[Ishtar]

[Ishtar]

[rich]

Looks good!
The part about the "boat would carry the dead man's soul back to the original homeland" does look like what I was asking about. Does show, as she said too, a possible memory of an ancient migration. Hmm. Interesting. Thanks.

[Ishtar]

This is an account of a shamanic maritime ceremony of the Siberian Chuckchee in the early 20th century.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/sha/sis/sis10.htm

Bogoras gives a summary account of the ceremonials of the Maritime Chukchee as follows: 'The cycle of the ceremonials with the Maritime Chukchee opens with two short ceremonials in the beginning of the autumn, which are often joined together. One of them is a commemorative sacrifice to the dead. The other is a sacrifice to the sea, in order to ensure good fortune in subsequent sealing on the sea-ice in winter.

'Late in the autumn, or rather in the beginning of the winter, the chief ceremonial of the year is performed. It is consecrated to Keretkim, or is made a thanksgiving ceremonial to the spirits of sea-mammals killed since the fall. Early in spring there follows the ceremonial of boats, which are made ready for the approaching season. In the middle of summer the ceremonial of heads is performed. This is for thanksgiving to the spirits of sea-animals killed since early in the spring.

'These four ceremonials are performed with varying similarity by both the Maritime Chukchee and the Asiatic Eskimo. To these must be added some slight ceremonials effected while moving from the winter lodging to the summer tent.

'Most of the Maritime Chukchee offer sacrifice also in midwinter to the star Pehittin, and perform in the middle of spring a ceremonial analogous to the ceremonial of antlers of the reindeer. breeders, which is called by the same name, Kilvei. The sacrifice to the whale is performed, in addition, each time after a whale has been killed or has drifted ashore.

'Bloody and bloodless sacrifices are offered during these ceremonials. The Maritime Chukchee, of course, can slaughter only dogs for their bloody sacrifices. In comparison with the Koryak, however, they are merciful to their dogs and kill them in no very great numbers. In this, as in other respects, they occupy a middle ground between the American Eskimo, who do not sacrifice dogs, and the Koryak, who often kill almost all the animals of their single team.'[1]

The ceremonial dedicated to Keretkun,[2] the sea-god, is especially important among the Maritime Chukchee. When the seal-gut overcoats for the family (which are said to be similar to those worn by Keretkun and his family), the ceremonial head-dresses and the incantation-paddle, on which there are pictorial representations of prayers, are ready, a net is suspended overhead, and various images of birds and small paddles are hung from it. On each side of the hearth is placed a reindeer-skin, the two skins representing the inner rooms of the house. Keretkun, who is represented by a small wooden image, enters the house and is placed on a lamp, which is put either on one of the skins or in a sleeping-room.

Here he remains until the end of the ceremony. A fire is made before him and kept burning throughout the three days of the ceremonial. Among those people, like the Asiatic Eskimo, who have no wood, a second lamp is kept burning before that on which Keretkun is placed. Puddings made of various roots mixed with oil and liver are sacrificed to the god. On the first day the household enjoys the festival alone, singing and dancing and beating the drum.

[john]

Ishtar -

Although not precisely shamanic, the link I'm supplying here has a number of interesting references to North American Indian funerary practises involving boats. You'll have to read through the whole lot, I'm afraid, to capture it all.

http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Yarrow/00000010.htm

Then, of course, there are the great "Viking" longship burials.

Also, the persistent tradition, which I believe to be a hell of a lot more widespread in the human geographies of both space and time than offeeshally noted by Das Klub, that during the day the sun travelled across the sky - characterized as the "sky river" or "sky ocean" - in a wagon or chariot, and during the night traveled in a boat.

hoka hey,

john

[Ishtar]

Also, the persistent tradition, which I believe to be a hell of a lot more widespread in the human geographies of both space and time than offeeshally noted by Das Klub, that during the day the sun travelled across the sky - characterized as the "sky river" or "sky ocean" - in a wagon or chariot, and during the night traveled in a boat.

Yes, the sun boat - eventually ended up as Isis's barque. I'll look some more into that.

In the meantime, let's remind ourselves of this:



I've just been reading about the Kangaroo Ancestor of the Native Australians. Mythically, he is the ancestor of not just kangaroos but also humans that are in his totem group. He is their common ancestor, so to speak.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=V94e ... =PA226&lpg
=PA226&dq=Kangaroo+ancestor&source=web&ots=hamyTmfMSH&sig=
Jj8vKiaALAbuH2wQlzeaFSAOWu0&hl=en#PPA226,M1

So with that kangaroo rowing away, second from left, that boat's beginning to look distinctly shamanic.

[Ishtar]

Jomon/Ainu + papyrus rafts?

http://www.users.on.net/~mkfenn/page8.htm

Graham Hancock in "Underworld - Kingdoms of the Ice Age" describes very well the aspects of the ancient civilization that once existed in India.... Their interest in astronomy went hand in hand with their ocean navigation and mapping ability.

These people accurately mapped India and the Maldives at a time when sea levels were over 100metres lower. [Sunda Shelf - Ish]

This puts the time of this civilization around 18-20,000 years ago. Their passage to Australia and America was not achieved by floundering in the ocean, clinging to a piece of driftwood, but was most likely done on papyrus rafts, similar to the ones still built by the swamp people of the Indus and Tigris. Paintings done when Matthew Flinders first visited Tasmania, depicted reed rafts used by the natives, a possible legacy of their origins.

If tsunamis played a part in the destruction of this civilization, destroying the coastal seafaring communities, leaving only the people living on upland plateaus. It may explain why many present day Aborigines shun the coast for the drier upland areas, where kangaroos abound.

So if the Australian aborigines shun the coast - why do they paint boats with a land-locked kangaroo among the rowers? My view? It's a shamanic journey. But the fact that they have a boat image to play with means its hard-wired from their race memory.

[Minimalist]

many present day Aborigines shun the coast for the drier upland areas

One wonders if it's because of the convicts which the British Government set loose in Australia and who tended to prefer the coastlines themselves?
Gunfire would be a great inducement to move inland!

[kbs2244]

Could it simply be that boats represent a long journey?
Sailors were often gone for 2 or more years due to having to wait for favorable returning winds.
And due to the dangers in sea travel, sometimes didn’t ever return.
Kangaroos paddling canoes in a desert environment is interesting though!

[Ishtar]

Hi KB

Yeah.. that kangaroo rowing throws a wrench in just about any logical explanation!

But I was wondering? What's your earliest attested boat from an archaeological perspective?

I've seen a couple today in petroglyphs, one in the Tassili mountains of Algeria was dated around 1200 BC, and this one from Canada, called the spirit boat, where the dating couild be anything up to around 3,000 BC.



http://www.sacred-destinations.com/cana ... glyphs.htm

The limestone at Peterborough is generally believed to have been carved by the Algonkian people between 900 and 1400 AD. Today, the First Nations people of Ontario call the carvings Kinomagewapkong, meaning "the rocks that teach."

However, there are several other theories of the date and authors of the remarkable petroglyphs:

Retired Harvard professor Barry Fell believes the petroglyphs are inscriptions by a Norse king named Woden-lithi (Servant of Odin), who was said to have sailed from Norway up the St. Lawrence River in about 1700 BC.

Mayanologist David H. Kelley viewed the petroglyphs and declared that some of the symbols were European, dating perhaps to ca. 1000 BC

According to Andis Kaulins and Megaliths.co.uk, the petroglyphs are a sky map of the heavens from c.3117 BC based on European tradition; they have nothing to do with Native American traditions.

[Manystones]

Regurgitated from the Graham Hancock website:

Less than 50,000 years ago mankind had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no innovative thinking. Then, in a dramatic and electrifying change, described by scientists as ‘the greatest riddle in human history’, all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves appeared already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers.

I guess this is far simpler to understand than a gradual development over hundreds and thousands of years as indicated by the "archaeological record".

[rich]

Ok - so show me a rock carving of a boat from back then! Shouldn't be askin' too much!

[Minimalist]

Regurgitated from the Graham Hancock website:

Less than 50,000 years ago mankind had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no innovative thinking. Then, in a dramatic and electrifying change, described by scientists as ‘the greatest riddle in human history’, all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves appeared already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers.

I guess this is far simpler to understand than a gradual development over hundreds and thousands of years as indicated by the "archaeological record".

When Hancock wrote FOTG in 1991 that was probably the standard line, though. Finds such as this one are much more recent.

http://www.livescience.com/history/0706 ... beads.html

The beads found in Morocco aren't the oldest in existence. That title belongs to two tiny shells discovered in Israel in the 1930s and dated at 100,000 years old. The shells are pierced with holes and were probably also hung as pendants or necklaces, archaeologists say.

Combined, the finds hint at the extent of the culture and symbolism being practiced by the earliest modern humans. Art and decoration like the beads are considered good indicators of how human behavior evolved from Africa to other parts of the globe.

"A major question in evolutionary studies today is 'how early did humans begin to think and behave in ways we would see as fundamentally modern?'," said co-author Nick Barton of Oxford University. "The appearance of ornaments such as these may be linked to a growing sense of self-awareness and identity among humans."

Some researchers have suggested that humans didn't become culturally modern until they reached Europe about 35,000 years ago. But Europe, which doesn't show evidence of similar jewelry or customs until much later, actually lagged behind in cultural development, Stringer said.