A Shamanic Perspective on Capitalism
I was born a Ayisyen (i.e., Haitian) in Belgium. I acquired my parents' nationality, and, in many ways, I was raised as a Haitian child, too, partly in Belgium and France, partly in Senegal, moving "back" to Ayiti(1) as a young adult. Thus, I am a Third-Culture Kid, or, someone raised in a culture other than his parents' for a significant part of his formative years.
For many years, I considered myself a Rastafarian, and I adopted as much of that philosophy and lifestyle as I could, given my Haitian-Belgian-Senegalese-French background, and acquiring my English knowledge from Reggae songs, many of them written and sung in Jamaican Patois.
My mother had white ivory skin. She could blend into groups of White Europeans. My father had dark brown skin. He and my mother taught us that all of us, the whole family, were Black people, including my mother. She would sometimes tell us that we, the Black people, have such- and-such values, or do things in such-and-such ways.
Something that made a strong impression on my little boy's mind, was that Black people valued community, solidarity, mutual respect and mutually supportive relationships between people. And there was never, in my parents' minds, or in their children's, an inkling of a question about my white skin mom's blackness. Haitians were Black by definition, all of them, as were Congolese, Guineans, or Indians (from India). Belgians, French, and Germans were not Black. In the U.S.A., there were Americans, some Black Americans, and Indians of the Americas, with an implicit understanding that Indians had values in common with Black people, that non-Black people did not share.
My first introduction to blackness as a concept, and as my identity, had little to do with skin color - and though it often coincided with skins of various shades of brown-ish, yellow-ish, red-ish, or black-ish colors - that aspect was almost irrelevant to my understanding of what blackness was, in my childhood. Central to that understanding were certain values, ways of being, and ways to relate to other human beings, such as respect, solidarity and cooperation. It was much more of a cultural and spiritual concept than a physical one.
Since then, I have learned that, in many languages spoken by whom we now call People of Color, there is a term, or an expression, that describes White People, but is also applied to People of Color who are perceived to share significant cultural traits with White People, such as their spiritual beliefs or outlook, how they relate with other human beings, and how they relate to money...(2)
My own formal religious education started with Catholicism, while my inner spiritual development was evolving along a somewhat different route, informed by my informal cultural exposure and immersions. Although I had faithfully gone through all the stages of the Catholic education and commitment in my childhood and adolescence, up to my Confirmation, the morsels of African Shamanism I had been exposed to while living in Senegal, seemed to make more sense to the African aspects of my consciousness and identity, than the European Catholic ideology that was formally dispensed to me.
Before moving "back" to Ayiti in my 20's, I had travelled there a few times, mostly for summer vacation. I would spend about half the time in Port-au-Prince(3), the capital, with my cousins on my mother side. With them, mostly of light, or white, skin, I would speak French, go to the Catholic church, evolve in circles of privilege, and use a fairly modern, Euro-North American perspective and worldview that reminded me of those I was immersed in, in Europe.
“ I also learned that, in the U.S.A., financial wealth is interchangeable with personal worth, and it is the second most important parameter in social ranking and recognition, after race.”
Then, I would spend the second half of my Haitian vacation with my cousins on my father’s side, in marginalized neighborhoods of the city, in Léogâne, a rustic town on the Southern peninsula, where my paternal grandfather's family is from, and in Dessources, Deslandes, and Bernard, isolated and impoverished rural communities of my paternal grandmother's family, in the mountains above Léogâne.
In those times, there were no drivable roads leading up to those communities. From Léogâne, the most common way to get there was to walk, or ride mules for three hours, wading across a few streams on the way. My cousins there, and everyone else in their communities, are dark skinned, and I would speak Kreyòl Ayisyen ( Haitian Creole) with them, go to Vodou ceremonies, live in conditions that, by international standards, would be described as of extreme poverty, and use a mindset that aligned fairly well with the African aspects of my own worldview, which took root in my mind as I was growing up in Senegal. Haitian Vodou felt closer to my own personal experiences and interpretations of the mysteries of life, and awareness of invisible beings and energies, than Catholicism, or Christianity in general.
Later on, as an adult living in Ayiti, it felt natural and easy for me to dive deep into the world of Vodou ceremonies, close encounters and intimate communications with spirits, and to embrace the underlying Shamanic mindset that honors the great mystery through which everything that exists on the visible and invisible dimensions is interconnected. In the late 80's and early 90's, along with many others, I participated in ceremonies and other activities where spirits taught us about aspects of Haitian Vodou that did not come from our African ancestors, but rather from those of Indigenous nations of the Caribbean, including the Taínos, among others. When we learned that, in addition to probably having Indigenous genes in our cells, we also had Indigenous cultural fragments in our culture, some of us began to pay special attention to opportunities of meetings and relationships with Indigenous people, not only in the Caribbean outside of Ayiti, but also in South, Central and North America, which, all together, we call The Americas.
So, these were foundational aspects of my identit(ies), formally schooled as a "civilized" Christian Westerner, and strongly influenced by what I understood as Black, Shamanic and Indigenous outlooks on life. I saw myself and every other human as a particular blend of some "civilized" aspects, as well as some Indigenous ones. I guess this model was preparing me for the White versus People of Color model, which I learned later, when I moved to the U.S.A. But before that move, I understood the model I used as a continuum with "civilized" on one end, and Indigenous on the other end, and I believed that any human was probably somewhere in between, usually leaning more toward one end than the other. And for me, those descriptions mostly had to do with values, mindsets, cultures and spiritualities, and little to do with skin color, social class, or wealth.
Then, I moved to the U.S.A., and things became more complicated, or perhaps, they became simpler. I learned that, here, one could be either a White person, or a Person of Color, exclusively, and that those descriptions were solely based on the color of the outer layer of one's skin, which defines what is called race in this country. I learned, with dismay, that this arbitrary and superficial concept is so central to social identities that it even has legal bearing, like in the days of slavery, or the days of South African Apartheid. I learned that, as a Black person here, I am holding a low social position that competes with that of a Native American person for the lowest ranks in the system, and none of us, Native Americans or Blacks, are really considered fully humans. Still, I am privileged to be a man, because the system places women below men, and Women of Color are at the very bottom of the hierarchy. I also learned that, in the U.S.A., financial wealth is interchangeable with personal worth, and it is the second most important parameter in social ranking and recognition, after race.
That being said, I relate with the White People / People of Color phrasing. People of Color can easily encompass my childhood understanding of Blackness as a cultural and spiritual concept, but it fits better than the term "Black People" to the variety of skin colors to which my little boy's mind applied it. And its essential inclusiveness potentially allows for more and more White People to become considered as People of Color, as they integrate the value of respecting and honoring people who don't share their ancestry, culture, religion, mindset, outlook at life, or financial wealth. But for that type of value to become "mainstream", "ordinary", and "normal" (terms that currently often mean "White"), I feel that it is the responsibility of People of Color who have not completely forgotten our ancestral values, and have not completely bought into the dominant individualism, materialism, and power-money-hunger, to push for values that will work for all. People in privilege and in power will not do it.
“Shamanic worldviews always include spirits. Although spirits dwell in different dimensions than our visible world, they are in constant relationships with it, including with us humans…
Shamanic healing arts and sciences involve an advanced understanding of those relationships, and how to harness them to produce intended outcomes.”
As a Person of Color in the U.S.A., I feel a responsibility toward generations of People of Color and unconventional White People who lived before me, suffered, and died for my wellbeing, and toward generations of yet-to-be-born People of Color and White People for whose wellbeing I am living right now. This means recognizing the degree to which I am emulating "mainstream" values, using them to my own benefit, at the expense of others, mostly other People of Color. It means I must resist and help dismantle the status quo, and help replace its oppressive structures with structures of mutual respect and honor. In order to do this, I must understand what is at the root of the status quo, and what maintains it.
We all have our beliefs and outlooks on life. As I wrote earlier in this post, mine are influenced by Shamanism, both from my exposure to Indigenous cultures and from my direct personal experience. I am aware that my understanding of the current status quo in the U.S.A. may be unconventional, even for many People of Color. For that very reason, I believe that it may hold seeds of transformation, because it is based on a mindset that is different from the one that created and is maintaining the status quo. So, let me shift to my Shamanic self, and tell you how I understand the "civilized" society from that viewpoint.
Let me start with a brief overview of a few common Shamanic concepts. Shamanic worldviews always include spirits. Although spirits dwell in different dimensions than our visible world, they are in constant relationships with it, including with us humans. We, humans, are essentially spirits having a temporary experience of embodiment in the visible world, and our relationships with others - spirits, humans or otherwise - happen both in the visible dimension, and in invisible ones. Shamanic healing arts and sciences involve an advanced understanding of those relationships, and how to harness them to produce intended outcomes.
Western observers who are not familiar with spirits in the Shamanic understanding tend to call them gods and goddesses, or deities. However, in many Shamanic societies, those "deities" are creatures of one, or more, higher form(s) of consciousness; in other words, the Source of life, just like humans, animals, plants, and minerals are. Like humans, those spirits or deities can be in sync and harmony with their Source and with the flow of energies in and around them, or not. When they are out of sync with the Source, spirits experience acute loneliness and existential angst. In their attempts to connect to a comforting source of energy, and alleviate their suffering, they try to syphon energy from other creatures, including humans, and they create more suffering and havoc around them. This happens until they reconnect with their Source, either through healing within the dimension they are in, or through transfer to another dimension. One aspect, among others, of the Shamanic healing arts and sciences has to do with protecting humans from harm done by lost spirits that are disconnected from the Source of Life.
Now, let me apply a Shamanic perspective to the "civilized" way of life. I recognize that other people versed in various types of Shamanism may not necessarily agree with the following statements. As far as I know, they are not based in any particular Shamanic culture, or school of thought. I am sharing them as they are being inspired to me.
Plutocratic capitalism, a pillar of the current status quo in the U.S.A., operates like a religion based on the worship of an omnipotent Money-deity, and the maintenance of a hierarchical caste system that glorifies wealthy White cisgender-heterosexual men (the highest caste and favorite of the deity), and bestows privileges on them at the expense of all other (lower) castes. In this religion, the highest blessings come in the form of power, privilege and money, and common curses are largely dispensed through disempowerment, underprivilege and impoverishment. The deity, represented by the norms and structures of the status quo, is fed by, and pleased with, the concentration and continuous accumulation of blessings in the hands of the highest caste. The deity guarantees this by maintaining and continuously increasing the power, privileges and wealth difference between the highest caste and all lower castes. When it is challenged, or weakened, the deity will rearrange and redefine societal practices, processes, rules, structures, norms, and values to keep blessing the highest caste, while cursing the lower castes.
At the individual level, independently from their caste of origin, people are rewarded, or punished, according to a scale of merit based on their visible closeness to the highest caste (both in physical appearance, in cultural competence and in attitudes), combined with the intensity of their faith in, and worship of the deity, demonstrated by the level of their zeal to defend and strengthen the status quo. On one hand, people who serve the interests and desires of the highest caste are rewarded in relative blessings up to the degree of their merit, as defined above. On the other hand, anyone who commits the sin of differing from, questioning, challenging, resisting, antagonizing or frightening the White cis-hetero male supremacy, will be punished by disempowerment and impoverishment, and, depending on the perceived gravity of the sin, by exclusion (banishment), oppression, incarceration, physical and psycho-emotional harm, or elimination.
Capitalism arguably started in Europe. As capitalists gained more money and power, the system expanded, became globally dominant, and turned itself into plutocracies all around the world. The worldview associated with plutocratic capitalism is now solidly established in the global collective consciousness. In the U.S.A., it is the quasi-undisputed dominant worldview, and it informs a great deal of people's thoughts, words and behaviors, every day, every hour, every minute, whoever and wherever they are. The plutocratic capitalist worldview is strongly present in our individual and collective mindsets, whether we are from the highest caste, or from lower ones.
The Money-deity operates like a spirit that is disconnected from the Source of Life. We all feed it and empower it with our words and deeds, and we are all affected by it, psycho-emotionally and physically - positively or negatively, through the culture that surrounds us. The more zealous people are for the status quo, whatever their caste of origin, the more they are aligned with the deity, and are rewarded by it, according to their “merit”. People from the lower castes who don’t show a zeal to protect the status quo are cursed by the deity, which may punish their allies in the highest caste as well. As long as we keep worshipping, feeding and fattening the Money-deity, which is to say, as long as we all keep playing by the rules of the plutocratic capitalistic religion, the caste system will remain in place.
Shamanic methods to mitigate, or end the harm done to humans by rogue spirits include preventing those spirits from being fed, and binding them, i.e., restricting the scope of their influence on humans. In order to dismantle the caste system, I suggest we stop feeding the Money-deity with our attitudes, words and behaviors, and we bind it (limit the scope of its influence on our society). This may require that we transform the dominant worldview into one where mutual respect, cooperation, community and interconnectedness become foundational values in our way of life, and the concentration of power, privilege and money in the hands of one or more high castes at the expense of the dignity and lives of others is considered socially unhealthy, and is prevented through appropriate systems and structures. I believe that this change will come when People of Color and people from other lower castes stop feeding the Money-god through our deeds, attitudes, words, and thoughts and lead a social transformation and healing by bringing back the sustainable values of our ancestors to our currently unsustainable society, toward a future where people of all walks of life are respected and honored.
NOTES
(1) Ayiti is the spelling of Haiti in Haitian Creole. It is pronounced, I-E-T, which is the way Haitian people refer to their country. The author chooses the local spelling and pronunciation over the conventional "Haiti", in English, out of respect for the energy of this proper name, for the people of Ayiti, and for their language, Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole), and to express his rejection of the association between Haiti and hate, which has been suggested by some people with questionable intentions, notably French colonizers.
(2) Wasicu (Lakota), Gringo-Gringa (Latinx Spanish and Portuguese), Oyinbo (Yoruba), Obroni (Twi), Ferenji (Arabic), Farang (Thai), Mondele (Lingala), Toubab (Wolof), Mzungu (Kiswahili), Blan (Haitian Creole)...
(3) Except for Ayiti (1), for reasons explained above, the proper names of Haitian locations are written with the spelling with which they are most likely to be found on detailed maps, which is usually the French spelling.