Rabbi Yonassan Gershom examines the shamanistic characteristics of the Jewish religion in his article “Shamanism in the Jewish Tradition.” Immediately, the author grabs my attention by stating a fact that I never considered before:

. . . Others, like Elijah and Elisha, used few words, but are remembered for miracles performed in the name of YH’VH: healings, raising people from the dead, causing an axe head to float, sweetening bitter water, and increasing the volume of food. Still others, like the prophet Ezekiel, combined the two roles, both preaching and receiving messages from spirit beings through visions, dreams, and out-of-body experiences (Nicholson 181).

This statement brought my attention to the fact that shamanism occurs within the Middle-Eastern culture as well. Here was have a specific example of individuals who were, by all accounts shamans within the Jewish tradition. They exhibited the main characteristics of shaman and put their power and knowledge to use.

The author makes parallels with well known Jewish stories in Genesis where a prophet of God performs shamanic acts. He shows the shamanistic characteristics of Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Samuel, Saul, and Joseph. But most interestingly, he goes on to tell stories of Jewish figures who are not in the Bible. For instance, he tells the story of how Honi drew a circle in the dirt and vowed not to leave the circle until God made it rain. However, God only made it drizzle. Upon Honi’s protest, God made it rain so hard that the land flooded. Honi, growing angry with God called upon him to give the people a “nice steady rain.” God did so. This shows how Honi is able to transverse the axis mundi, using his circle apparently, and talks one-on-one with God.

The stories of chapter 11 are quite interesting. I particularly like the rituals revolving around the “name” of God. YHWH is so divine that it is unpronounceable to Jews. However, through meditative techniques, they might secretly learn the pronunciation of the name. In this instance, the person takes on the role of a shaman. Knowing the actually pronunciation of the name of God allows the shaman to control God’s power, calling upon him to heal and to defend himself against evil.

I definitely see how shamanism and Judaism are interconnected, especially portraying some of the speculations I had previously. For instance, I knew that the number seven was divine to the Jews, similarly to the way it is divine to the Buddhist.