Avatar : A Shamanic Journey

Is Hollywood capitalizing from Shamanism?

The story takes place on a dis­tant world called Pan­dora where an evil cor­po­rate min­ing inter­ests protected by Blackwater mercenaries comes face to face with miraculous 10-​foot-​tall crea­tures called the Na’vi. The Na’vi are highly rem­i­nis­cent of Earth’s own indige­nous cul­tures. They share a deep and  inti­mate con­nection to the land, the sky, the ani­mals, the energetic universal web and the ances­tors.

Cameron has taken the foundation of his story from the great Shamanic Traditions of the world and has done so respectfully in my opinion. The Na’vi wor­ship a mother god­dess called Eywa. In contrast, in the Haitian Shamanic tradition, Vodouists revere a supreme God (Bondye) and a world of powerful spirits, called the Lwa, who link the human with the divine. There are hundreds of lwa in the Vodou religion, and each has its own personality, strengths, weaknesses, and favorite objects.

Although this isn’t the first time Hollywood blockbusters have capitalized on the teachings and storytelling traditions of shamanic cultures, Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar is anything but the typ­i­cal super­sized block­buster.

Firstly Cameron has created a new viewing experience which in an of itself can be seen as nothing short of a high tech modern day Shamanic experience for the viewer. When watched in 3D and in the IMAX theatre, this film delivers a new sensory experience that is the closest that any of us have ever seen on screen to a true psychedelic experience. I for one have never seen the essence of a hallucinogenic journey captured on film where I could say “yeah, that is exactly what it was like”. In that respect Avatar delivers.

Taking cues from a selection of shamanic traditions including the West African Vodou traditions, the Maasai, The Native American traditions, The Aztecs, The Mayans and more it’s sub­text is pure shamanic jour­ney.

The world tree is used as a symbol of our interconnectedness with the universe. It is a sign of rev­er­ence for the uni­ver­sal mother. I can’t say I have ever seen a better visual demonstration of this. The use of power animals and ani­mal guides, the sacred initiations and rites of pas­sage are common to all shamanic traditions. Watching them in the film really made old concepts come to life in an exceptional way.

Toward the end, the film does have elements of the overdone typical Hollywood “diehard” battles. Despite the usual “all too obvious” and subversive anti-government, anti-corporation, anti-war message wrapped into one scene, the ending was overkill at best. The ending fell victim to an onslaught of senseless violence, rage, non-stop gunfire, big budget explosions and gratuitous “meet Mr. Evil and battle him one to one, then get the girl and save the day”. This is the biggest disappointment of the film and I am not sure why Cameron would change directions at the end of the film. However, the sheer depth and beauty that this film is makes even that element (which may very well have been put in place to keep studio execs and investors happy) excusable.

Is Hollywood capitalizing from Shamanism? Avatar is a far cry from the usual sci-fi slop that is thrown on our plates. It is a revolutionary piece of film making that is unparalleled not only in the way it is made but in it’s content and it’s message. So long as the lessons of reverence, respect, conservation, tolerance, and patience can be learned then I couldn’t think of a better way for to let them make money. In this way, Avatar honors the shamanic traditions and we should hope that they make more films like this one.

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