Paradise, the Fall, and the Return: A perspective on separation and homecoming

This thesis examines universal themes of Paradise, Separation, and Return and their significance in the emerging globalization of shamanism. It is proposed that the themes exist widely in the general population of the West as tacit knowing (Moustakas) or personal mythology (Krippner) and provide a framework for the successful integration of elements of non-Western shamanic healing modalities into Western psychological traditions. The narrative draws upon the author's extensive clinical experience and his eight-year shamanic internship.; Following an introduction to the prevalence and growing significance of cross-cultural techniques in contemporary psychological practice, the author documents the Western perception of central meanings in the cosmology of human evolution across a diverse cross-section of world cultures, ancient to contemporary. These include: Paradise, the pre-Fallen state of human beings; The Fall (Separation), the result of human transgression and the original sin against God and nature; Shame, the result of feeling or being separate from God and outside of the paradisal experience; and The Return, a redemption into Oneness.; Next, the author develops a portrait of Object Relations psychology from the hermeneutic perspective of Jewish white male psychotherapist from New York City who has survived cancer, was traumatized as a child, has a history of addiction, and has undertaken an eight-year training and internship in shamanic traditions of the Peruvian Andes. Object Relations is proposed to govern the relationship of self to others, and to God, and to exemplify the individual and/or collective attempt to return to a whole or original state of being through ritual or religious practice.; An extensive heuristic narrative documents the author's personal experiences from "exile" to "homecoming;" and a hermeneutic analysis identifies equivalent themes in Peruvian traditions of Ayahuasca and Q'ero shamanism to elucidate their subtle semantic differences from Western interpretations. He concludes that it is through this phenomenon of language that the Paradise mythology bridges between diverse psychological, spiritual, and shamanic traditions---thus providing one reason for the widespread interest in the West in incorporating shamanic and related healing techniques into the more conventional psychological therapeutic arena.