Application of the northern belt Shamanic method in contemporary art

The post-war society of the mid-20th century, longing for change and transformation after having lost faith in the then-current politics and systems, found solace in the Eastern Philosophy and mystical teachings. One of the teachings they discovered during their quest was Shamanism, which had deep historical roots, as well as a unique cosmologic/symbolic background. This extensive resource has influenced not only the social sciences (history, sociology, archaeology, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, etc.) but also arts. This study aims to characterise Shamanism by eliminating any fallacy or controversial facts, and in the context of the Northern Belt, where it appears in its simplest and purest form; study the centre point of the teaching, the shaman; the language he/she adopts; contemporary artists' interpretation of this language as an instrument of artistic production, and identify the parallelisms between the language and its interpretation in consideration of the common resource, the 'Collective Unconscious'. Taking as reference the artists (Jackson Pollock, Joseph Beuys, Nil Yalter, Andy Goldsworthy, Marina Abramovic, Semi Ryu) and works from a variety of cultures and periods, it identifies and examines the new dimensions of function added to the artistic expression by the Shamanic Methodological Practices.