Observations placeholder
Mircea Eliade - Meeting a water spirit
Identifier
011432
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Mircea Eliade – Shamanism Archaic techniques of ecstasy
At this time they have their first ecstatic experience; ……………. the novice meets a water spirit (Amana) a woman of great beauty, who urges him to dive into the stream with her. There she imparts charms and magical formulas to him. The novice and his guide land on the farther bank and reach the cross roads of Life and death. The future shaman may choose between going to the Land without Evening or the Land without Dawn. The spirit guiding him now tells him of the destiny of souls after death.
Ref Metraux – Le Shamanisme chez les Indiens de l’Amerique du Sud tropicale