I’ve been meaning to write about shamanic perspectives on Ego for sometime. I find it a fascinating topic and a very challenging one. These are my personal thoughts at the moment and I reserve the right to add to, withdraw or change anything I like – especially if it was a stupid thing to say.

Firstly let me start from the point that I think having an Ego is a good thing.  It is the part of humans that separates us from the spiritual realm, it is the part of us that allows for us to be “human” and have the human experience which is very sacred. If there was no Ego we would either be completely spiritual or completely animal / plant. The Ego allows us to sit in between spirit and animal which may be uncomfortable at times but is the place of growth. No Ego means no separation from spirit, means no human life.

Ego provides us with drive and with personal identity. It is very much a part of who we are. This starts to lead us into the downside of Ego. The over powering desires, the domination of others, the shadow aspects of ourselves. This is often easy to see in others but much harder to see in ourselves. I see people making themselves look big, I hear people exaggerating who they are. All to feed Ego. Trying to fill the hole that is caused by the spiritual hole.  These actions are often associated with traumas in life which seem to make the spiritual hole bigger. And yes I see this in myself as well.

So there is then a tension around Ego – it makes us human by the separation and it leaves a big hole due to the separation which it tries to fill. In my view the best way to fill the whole is by spiritual practice – shamanism. Filling the hole with what it is meant to be filled with helps to release the Ego so that it is more in balance. From my own experience of shamanism I’ve found my desires changed and I’ve found the hole feels less big. This suggests to me that my Ego has changed, and I would like to say for the better.

In his book “Awaken the Inner Shaman” Jose Luis Stevens views the ego / spiritual work as a dichotomy.  I paraphrase in saying that his view is that we do spiritual work to lessen the ego, and it becomes a choice between ego or spirit. My personal view is that this is too simplistic. There is the interplay between conscious and  unconscious, alongside the spiritual work.  In my hypnotherapy work, I would work with the unconscious to make change. This would then make changes to the conscious ego. I’ve also seen different methods of working through life traumas   which didn’t have a spiritual basis which impacted on someone’s Ego.

For me there is a complex interplay between conscious / unconscious and spiritual. For me Ego is better balanced when these parts of our selves are working together. This is a dynamic balance which is fluid and changeable, by which I mean that the work is never fully done but comes and goes. I do believe that shamanism aids the balance, it enables us to work with our conscious and unconscious mind. I also believe that it is possible for us to be influenced by a collective spirituality. In other words, by me praying for other people, I can influence their experience. I’ve drawn this all out as a figure to try to explain what I mean.

As an individual by working on my personal spiritual development, I have an affect on the interplay between my own conscious and unconscious mind. This brings together the different parts of me and helps to bring the ego into a better balance. This model also suggests that by working on the collective spiritual there is influence on others. Part of the work of a shaman is on the world around them, healing the land,  healing communities. I find it quite humbling to think that this in some small way can bring healing to those around me.

So to summarise my thoughts on shamanic perspectives on Ego.

• Ego is an important part of us.
• Expression of ego and it’s shadow is complex.
• Working on interaction of the different elements of the mind brings Ego more into balance
• Shamanic work on both the personal and community level helps to bring our own ego and the ego’s of those in our community into better balance.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this complex and fruitful area of work.

Love and Blessings