The First Shaman
People who start studying or practising shamanism often ask the question “Who was the first shaman?” We can try to answer this in relation to archaeological evidence, or from mythology. We can of course also journey to the First Shaman to find out about them. Here we look at the main ideas about the archetypal First Shaman.
The archaeological evidence shows shamanic practices occurred during the Paleolithic (the Old Stone Age, about three million years ago) and Neolithic (the New Stone Age, 4,500 to 10,000 years ago) periods. In both rock art and graves we see evidence of shamanic ritual and ritual relationship with power animals and other spirits.
The typical mythological narrative involves a period when humans, animals, and gods communicated and moved between realms freely in a paradise with no death. Then an event, often transgression by humans, led to breakdown in communication between the worlds and a loss of wisdom, with humans now experiencing suffering, illness, and death. The First Shaman appears, a supernatural being who can journey between the worlds, communicate with spirit, shapeshift, prevent evil, heal, and perform divination. The First Shaman provides humans with knowledge about hunting, agriculture, healing, and ritual performance that allowed cultures to develop.
Examples of the First Shaman in mythology:
In Inuit mythology, humans and animals lived together being able to shapeshift into each other’s forms, but this changed, and humans became mortal and enemies with animals. To help people survive the supreme deity sent an eagle to create the First Shaman, who re-established communication with the animals and spirits.
In Buryat culture (southeast Siberia), Kara-Gürgän (or Morgon-Kara) is the First Shaman who creates life and protects people from evil demons. In this mythology, God seals a soul in a bottle, stopping it with his thumb, to test the power of the First Shaman to retrieve it. The person whose soul it is falls ill and their relatives ask the First Shaman to help. The First Shaman found the soul, shapeshifted into a spider or wasp, and bit or stung the forehead of the God, whose thumb jerked away from the bottle, allowing the First Shaman to retrieve the soul.
In the cosmology of the Hmong culture (southwest China and Southeast Asia), evil spirits entered the human world and released disease and illness. Shi Yi (or Siv Yis) is the First Shamanic archetypal figure and healer sent to earth by heaven to help the Hmong people.
The Northern Maga people (Nepal) had a shaman song that tells of the creation of the First Shaman and his pact with nine witch sisters (the culprits for ill health and bad fortune), who demand a blood sacrifice as payment for allowing the shaman to cure the sick.
In the Bwiti religion in Gabon (Africa) the First Shaman was a woman.
Himalayan shamans often consider the Buddhist/shamanic figure of Padmakara (Guru Rinpoche) to be the First Shaman.
Among the Cahuilla Native American people of the San Jacinto Mountains in Southern California, Tahquitz was the First Shaman created by Mukat, the creator of all things. Tahquitz was the guardian spirit of shamans and gave them power to do good.
The Makritare (or Ye’cuana) people of the Guayana Highlands of southern Venezuela lost the ability to intercede with spirit, control disease, or grow plants on the departure of the hero Wanandi from their world. Then, the human Medatia turned himself into a shaman and re-established contact with spirit.
Tsunki is the primordial spirit shaman of the Shuar and Achuar people of the Amazon.
Omai is a creator deity of Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous people, who created their shamans.
The First Shaman takes different forms across cultures, sometimes a supernatural being, sometimes human (being male, female, or androgynous) and sometimes a bird or other animal. Sometimes they are an eagle. According to Siberian peoples, the First Shaman was born of an eagle, or taught his art by an eagle. In Buryat mythology the First Shaman was an eagle in relationship with a Buryat woman who gave birth to the first human shaman. Sometimes the First Shaman is a woman, often an old woman, the grandmother who is the keeper of knowledge. Sometimes the Sun is the First Shaman.
Christina Pratt, in her Encyclopedia of Shamanism, notes that the First Shaman often comes from the sky, or the Upperworld. Evelyn Rysdyk, in her book Norse Shamanism, notes the parallels between the goddess Freyja, who practices healing and divination as well as magic, and the First Shaman archetype.
You can journey to the First Shaman, asking a power animal, ancestral, or other helping spirit to take you to them. You should show them respect, make an offering to them, introduce yourself, and tell them how you wish to help serve others. The First Shaman may provide you with knowledge, wisdom, or healing.