From Mircea Eliade: Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy ....
"It is ... probable that the pre-ecstatic euphoria [of shamans] constituted one of the universal sources of lyric poetry. Poetic creation still remains an act of perfect spiritual freedom. Poetry remakes and prolongs language; every poetic language begins by being a secret language, that is, the creation of a personal universe, of a completely closed world. The purest poetic act seems to re-create language from an inner experience that, like the ecstasy of the religious inspiration of 'primitives,' reveals the essence of things. It is from such linguistic creations, made possible by pre-ecstatic 'inspiration,' that the 'secret languages' of the mystics and the traditional allegorical languages later crystallize . . . What a magnificent book remains to be written on the ecstatic 'sources' of epic and lyric poetry, on the prehistory of dramatic spectacles, and, in general, on the fabulous worlds discovered, explored and described by the ancient shamans . . . "
Penguin Arkana, 1989 /copyright Bollingen Foundation
