So, what is the world’s oldest profession? If you need a second guess, it’s the subject of this new (2002) video from Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

"Shamanism, an Ancient Tradition" is a solid attempt to introduce to the general public what is, after all, a difficult subject. For me, the shaman, or shamaness, was always that solitary individual in isolated cultures who through any of a variety of fashions had achieved insight into mysteries, and found methods to meet deeply felt needs in his or her community.

A video about shamans thus becomes problematic, if for no other reason than that of distance. The job of the filmmaker was made easier in this case, because an international congress of shamans was held in Western Europe in the late 1990s. Healers, curanderas, and medicine men came from Peru and Burkina Faso and the Navajo Nation, and they showed up from Korea and South Africa and Mexico. Some of "those who walk through the world feeling reality" gave interviews, and thus a variety of perspectives are available, and illustrated, in this 39-minute color film.

The European congress motif was less-than-appealing to my need for the real stuff, since there are too many new-agers lapping it up in the background; but when I’m willing to step back, I’m forced to ask the question why late 20th century affluent moderns are not allowed to learn from traditions that do not necessarily come from their own land. And I don’t have a good answer for that. The shamans featured looked the part, played their roles, and generally presented themselves well.

The interviews with individual men and women who practice shamanism, and an occasional scene of them treating patients, is what’s best about this film. And I like the variety of ways the interviewees presented their work. One Mongolian woman, for example, says that she often treats the parents of the afflicted patient, since "only when the parents have been treated can the children be cured." Others work more on the physical level, while still others delve into the psyche.

For quality education, this video should be a supplement to textual material—a scholarly introduction to the field, even if the introduction is a short one. But "Shamanism, an Ancient Tradition" certainly has enough in it to make it an interesting, usable supplement for courses that look at the smaller—and sometimes most fascinating--of the world’s spiritual traditions.

review ©2002 by David Streight and RSiSS