Authored by, Master Himala Pahadi
In prehistory there were many languages that were birthed and then died. However, in every language they referred to a master with direct knowing as “one who knows”. The words Ahpay Amah were forgotten as over time authorities came to forbid the public from learning this direct knowing. However, the “one who knows” title was quietly passed down through history.
In more recent times, the word we came to use is “shaman”. The word shaman derived from the word šaman, meaning “one who knows” in the language of Tungusic spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria by Tungusic peoples. Today, shamanism is used to describe or refer to anybody who contacts a spirit world while in an altered state of consciousness. The word is also used to describe other magico-religious specialists who people believe can contact spirits. Alternatively, they may be called “mediums”, “witch doctors”, “spiritual healers” or “prophets”. Shamans are also medicine men stemming from a connection to nature. Many have expert knowledge of medicinal plants native to their area. When a sick person from their communities comes to them, they will often prescribe herbal treatments or perform rituals of healing. Around the world, shamans learn from the plants. After obtaining permission from the patron spirits, they harness their effects and healing properties. It is a wide dome we place shamans under because, given its origin, we have no choice.
So, what is a shaman? This question may become a trap. Biases towards a label and the expected meaning create traps. Arguments over words show how those words are conveniences only. A word is like a finger pointing to an object far off in the distance. You hope people understand which object you’re pointing towards, but you cannot put their eyes directly onto the object for them. In this regard with words, some will misunderstand what it is you are pointing toward. Some will disagree that your choice of words is appropriate. That will be the downfall of any good that could come from pointing toward something. So one must focus on the meaning, not the word. One must let go of biases to awaken to a broader reality.
All things imagined already exist. There is much more that has yet to be imagined, however; what is yet to be imagined still already exists. We cannot imagine the whole. That is how dim an argument of a word—and its meaning—is. It is therefore best to know Ahpay Amah with no bias.
So what is Ahpay Amah? While records are scarce, there is the real possibility that Ahpay Amah is the oldest esoteric spiritual system in the world. One that is not necessarily based on faith in a particular god but, rather, based on animism; the belief that everything is living and has a spirit, or consciousness.
Shamanism has persisted and spread all over the world since its inception in ancient indigenous cultures. All modern and ancient forms of shamanism are similar to each other suggesting that a single source gave birth to them all. If you are to believe the origin story passed down by the masters of Ahpay Amah, then this Direct Knowing is what spawned the ways of what has come to be known as shamanism.