In this article, I will distinguish between people who are called modern shamans and those who are traditional. Traditional shamanic cultures cannot also be modern. Nothing here is a value judgment. Words can carry a lot of baggage, and I choose to use terms here that are, hopefully, nonoffensive and well understood.
I use the term modern shaman here, though I do not refer to myself as a shaman. I call myself a shamanic practitioner or teacher. In the teaching tradition I came from, one does not refer to oneself using the term shaman. It can be used or given by others, but many consider it bragging by giving oneself that title. Again, there is no judgment here for people who come from a different tradition. This difference is like the difference between Jewish people celebrating Hannukah and Christians celebrating Christmas. They're just different traditions, and both are great.
What is the modern shaman?
A modern shaman is a person who has gained the abilities of a shaman through the study and practice of traditional shamanism. This person, however, may not live within a shamanic culture or be a hereditary shaman. Most modern shamans practice what is called Core Shamanism (more on that below).
How did modern shamanism come about?
Anthropologists have been studying shamanism for many years. In the 1970s, anthropologist Michael Harner spent time with traditional Amazonian shamans and went through ayahuasca ceremonies. In 1980, Harner published a highly influential book, The Way of the Shaman: a Guide to Power and Healing. A year before that, he had founded the Center for Shamanic Studies, which is now the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
Michael Harner started teaching what he called Core Shamanism, which is what nearly all modern shamans practice. His students spread his teaching globally. To give you some perspective, Michael Harner is my teacher's teacher's teacher. I guess you might call him my shamanic great-grandparent.
What distinguishes modern shamanism from traditional shamanic practice?
Anyone who practices shamanism has standard methods. The shamanic journey defines shamanic practice everywhere.
All shamans practice within the context of their culture. In shamanic cultures, the shaman is the primary spiritual functionary within a social group. A practitioner may serve as a functionary with modern shamanism, but they're likely many more. For example, I live in a town of 5,000 people. There are seven churches in my town, as well as a religious community.
In every culture, some aspects of spirituality will be different. Each culture has different prayers, rituals, songs, dances, etc. We use the word shaman in English, a loan word, but different cultures have different languages.
So, as far as the practice goes, the journey is the same. Working with helping spirits is the same. Both use altered states of consciousness.
Here are just two of the main differences:
Shamanic selection
Shamanic selection refers to the people who choose shamans and the way they are selected.
Many indigenous cultures select people to undergo shamanic initiation and training based on culturally essential factors. Those factors might be being born with congenital disabilities, hit by lightning, or experiencing a life-threatening illness. The selection might also be hereditary, being passed from parent to child or grandparent to grandchild.
Most traditionally shamanic cultures recognize the shamanic crisis. The shamanic crisis is a life-altering episode related to physical or mental health. The crisis is always traumatic. Healing from the mental and spiritual wounds from trauma is vital to the spiritual makeup of the shaman.
In non-shamanic cultures, people can self-select to become shamans - sort of. While anybody can sign up for courses in shamanic practice, most will not have the desire to continue beyond basic training. Most people who become shamanic practitioners who work on behalf of clients will have gone through a shamanic crisis.
There is no governing body, license, or religious leader in shamanism. Anybody could call themselves a shaman. However, I haven't come across anybody I would consider a charlatan or "plastic shaman" in my years of practice. I think spirit has a way of quickly weeding these folks out.
Use of psychedelic plant medicines
Many indigenous cultures have been using plant medicines for psycho-spiritual purposes for thousands of years. There are healing practices around such substances as ayahuasca, psilocybin, peyote, and fly agaric mushrooms. (yes, technically mushrooms aren’t plants) The use of psychoactive substances for spiritual practice is widespread - from ancient Egypt and Greece to today's Amazon basin.
These powerful psychedelics are sometimes called entheogens. The word entheogen means a substance that creates n experience of god.
While ayahuasca ceremonies have become big business, not without risks and drawbacks, there are still tribes using aya the traditional ways. Most modern practitioners do not use
What does it take to become a modern-day shaman?
Modern shamans are healers, coaches, and advisors. Some may go on to teach.
For me, the path to serving others was quite long. I first came to shamanism to heal from a mental health crisis I now recognize as a shamanic crisis. I got accepted into a year-long apprenticeship. At that point, I had no intention of being a practitioner. But I found II liked working with people.
I went on to complete several more years of training and initiations. I did specialized training in soul retrieval, wound healing, curse unraveling, and other topics. I went on to do a shamanic teacher training program.
Ethically, I think there is a core set of skills and a level of personal development that a person must acquire before hanging up a shingle as a shamanic practitioner. I would treat the training required like a university degree program. It is more intense than that, but the time required is similar.
One thing this does is weed out dabblers. Also, this prevents clients from going to ill-prepared practitioners who don't have some of the many skills required to work one-on-one. I had a lot of fears and insecurities as I went through my training. It's helpful to look back at those times and see that the training prepared me for this work.
I think that some people come to shamanism for the "magic" part of it. I am not a proponent of that and don't think magic is an excellent way to view healing. Some people are motivated by the sense of power they believe the shamanic practice may give them. This viewpoint is all egotism, which initiation will bring to the surface.
To be a good healer, a practitioner works towards becoming a clear channel for spirit to pass through. We refer to this as "becoming the hollow bone."