Mystery of the Shamans

Ever since Mira was crafted of stone and clay, ever since Jamaa's awakening into the big, bright world, there have been shamanic animals helping Jamaa grow and protecting it from danger.

But who exactly are these "extraordinary animals from a faraway land?"

The intro video to AJ sheds some light on these mysterious animals, but not enough to draw any conclusions.

First, lets go back to the beginning of Jamaa, when these guardians were still called shamans.

But what IS a shaman, exactly?

A shaman is a type of healer who has abilities to tap into the big world of spirits to help people. In this case with the shamans of Jamaa, the evil spirits they deal with are phantoms, and the good spirits they work with are Zios and Mira.

Some people confuse the word "shaman" with black magic and automatically think shamans are evil. The truth is, while there may be some forms of shamanic Wicca, shamanism isn't specific to black magic practicers. In fact, Wicca has so many branches and only a few are directly involved with black magic. 

Very few (and I mean almost none) religions and forms of belief of the world are inherently evil. They're just different, and while they may go against other religious beliefs, there are no "good guys" or "bad guys." There's only acceptance or prejudice.

In order to make even the slightest judgement about a group of people, do some research first.

Brave and powerful Liza is the panda Shaman (alpha). She values exploration and intellectual pursuits, and has personally mapped a great majority of Jamaa. She is proud and determined in her manner, and she lets nothing stand in the way of her latest expedition to a far off land. Liza doesn't stand still for long, and never has much time to talk before having to dash off. She created most of the exploration-based challenges in Animal Jam and she presses all animals in the world to document Jamaa. She has a kind, motherly manner about her; very encouraging and very gentle. She believes that anyone can do better, and reach higher.

In the intro to Jamaa video, it says something important and crucial to Jamaa's history that everyone seems to ignore:

The fact that the shamans weren't born in Jamaa. They came from a different place.

This makes it even more difficult to say WHY they protect Jamaa and HOW they were given the powers to do it. 

In some Jamaa legends from the beta period, it says that Mira and Zios created the shamans to defend Jamaa. But they were born in a faraway land, which means that somehow they were guided to Jamaa and told to protect Jamaa.

Or did they undergo training in their own land, and somehow stumble upon Jamaa, vowing to protect it ever since?

And where exactly did they go on their travels?

This idea brings up more questions than answers, but maybe you can answer some of them on your own...

And if you're wondering, the reason I've been saying "shaman" instead of "alpha" is simply because "shaman" is more fun to say. :P

Thanks for reading, 

Jam on!