The Shamanic / Druidic themes in Game of thrones.

Interesting topic if I do say so myself. The shamanic/druidic themes in games of thrones are quite heavy and pertain to winterfell and north of the wall.

The first aspect which has it's roots in real anglo lore is the humanoid tree, druid loosely means one with the trees. You will find that the old gods are in fact trees with human faces. It has reported that these types of faces would be seen on certain hallucinogenic plants such as ergot, as the druids were masters of plant medicine.

Game of thrones "old god"

Druidic greenman

The second spiritual/shamanic/druidic etc, concept is that of Brans shamanic/worg initiation. Bran has dreams of the future, these dreams start to happen after he has a near death experience. He is pushed off a tower whilst climbing. How this relates to real life in fact is that the phenomenon is not fictional at all whatsoever, people have been reporting seeing the future before, after and during near death experiences probably since the beginning of time. Certain shamanic traditions would also induce near death experiences and having a near death experience is considered a shamanic initiation. One of the most famous people that has reported to have seen the future due to a near death experience would be Dannion Brinkley, whose book saved by the light was a ny times best seller. I can also testify to this phenomenon from personal experience.



"Other “wake-up” calls may come to us involuntarily, tearing the fabric ofdaily life. Accidents, illness, loss, and misfortune can all have a spiritual dimension to them. The loss of a career, a serious illness, a near-death experience or the death of someone close may all serve as turning points for rethinking the purpose and meaning of our lives. Feelings of disconnection, disorientation and suffering often accompany the inner call to a spiritual path. "
http://www.shamanicuniverse.com/shamanic-initiation.html

"In the Welsh legend, divination was known as awenyddion or awenithion, which was a power of poetic insight. The insight or divination come from sleeping and dream, where the sleeping person would speak during a rapt ecstasy."
http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/druids.html

Many times I had gone into ecstatic states during my life and accurately predicted the future. Sometimes I think of the people that witnessed it, it must be buried in their consciousness, though the visions were initiated by my NDE(near death experience).

I guess I really just want to share this with people, I hope the realisation that this stuff is real will give you some joy, wonder, mystery and enchant your life. :)