( Achterberg 21) The man then proceeds to chop up the rest of his shaman's body, which he then boils in a pot for three years. After three years the body is reassembled by the spirits and covered with flesh. This means that in effect the ordinary man is now, through the process of initiation and dismemberment, resurrected as a shaman who has the capability to communicate with the spiritual world and who can acquire the knowledge to help and heal numerous illnesses. As the research by Achterberg notes, he now has the ability to, "…read inside his head…" (Achterberg 22) In other words, he now has the ability to see in a mystical sense without the use of his ordinary vision. (Achterberg 22) The initiation process also refers to the view that the shaman acts and perceives in a way that is different to ordinary human beings.

The world...
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