What is Shamanism?
Shamanism has become a popular buzzword lately, with people using the term in all kinds of ways. So what are we talking about? What does the word really mean?
From the Wikipedia entry on Shamanism:
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner who is believed to interact with a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct these spirits or spiritual energies into the physical world, for healing or another purpose
This, to me, is a good start, describing shamanism as a practice or a set of practices. And this is definitely one way to look at what shamans do. I will explore the techniques or practices of shamanism. Still, I will also explore different aspects and ways of looking at shamanism.
Shamanism is a practice.
In practice, we say that someone is “shamanizing” or doing shamanism when they are undertaking a spiritual practice that contains three criteria:
An altered state of consciousness (trance)
Travel in spiritual or non-ordinary reality
Working with helping spirits
I will cover each of these in more detail below. Still, these three components, working together, differentiate shamanism from other spiritual practice forms. For example, in prayer, one might work with a particular spirit or deity. Still, there may not be trance or spirit travel. The astral projection practice involves altered states of consciousness and spirit travel but not contact with helping spirits.
Further, the practice of “journeying” is usually done with the intention of healing or bringing back information. It’s less about seeking “divine intervention” than with some forms of prayer. This is a sometimes subtle difference.
There can be some confusion because the role of shaman often fits into a cultural context where the shaman does not just journey but fill a role as a religious functionary and elder. In some cultures, shamans bless babies, tell ancestral stories, etc.
Shamanism as a world view
Shamanism is not a religion, per se, and there is no doctrine, dogma, or hierarchy. As a form of spiritual belief, it is very matriarchal. Shamanism also is always practiced through the lens of the culture of the practitioner. A Mongolian shaman will do things somewhat differently than an Andean shaman. So, it can be difficult to say that “shaman’s believe X.”
However, there are some commonalities among shamanic people that come out of the practice:
Animism - Shamans see a world of spirits around them and recognize the spirits of place and the world. In this study of hunter-gatherer tribes, 100% had animistic beliefs while nearly 80% had shamanism. The two go hand in hand.
Interconnectedness - Shamans recognize that, spiritually, everything and everybody is connected in a giant
Relationship - A shaman acts in relation to the tribe, to nature, to spirit. Shamanism is both Earth-based and extra-dimensional. The recognition of all beings as conscious spirits leads a practitioner to be concerned width the environment.
Shamanism as an archetypal impulse
Archeological evidence points to shamanic practice as far back as anything created by man. We have cave art showing images seen in a shamanic trance across cultures over tens of thousands of years. In fact, we see “shamanic people” and techniques in almost every culture we look at throughout time.
How could these practices, images, and beliefs go back so far and be shared by cultures with no contact?
The answer is that the shaman is an archetype. There is a shamanic impulse in the collective unconscious of human beings. This impulse awakens every culture as a response to a crisis, physical, spiritual, or otherwise. Shamanic initiations frequently mimic or create these crises to “force” the awakening.
What is Core Shamanism?
Core shamanism is a modern term sometimes used to represent shamanic practices that do not contain elements from specific cultures. During the 20th century, some academics looked at the common practices across shamanic cultures and called these practices “Core Shamanism.”
What is a Shaman?
When you think of the word “shaman,” What do you imagine? Do you imagine someone in a yurt in Central Asia dancing, drumming, and chanting? Do you picture someone in the Andes leading a ceremony? How about a Native American elder leading a peyote ceremony?
We could apply the label “shaman” to any of these people - though that word may not exist in their language. This label applies everywhere, from Africa and Asia to the Americas and Europe, to the Pacific Islands. Other than performing or facilitating journeys, these people might fulfill other spiritually functional duties - depending on their culture.
Note: In my training tradition, I would not apply the label of the shaman to myself. One might call me a shaman or not, but I would use the term “shamanic practitioner” when referring to myself. Other synonyms might be shamanic healer or teacher or simply “shamanic person.”
origin of the word Shaman
The word “shaman” is a loanword in English, and we get it from Russian and German. Before that, the word came from the Tungus tribe of Siberia. In their language, the word means “one who knows.” Before the Tungus people, the origin of the word is a bit murky. We see similar words with similar meanings in Pali (Buddha), Sanskrit, and some Chinese languages.
Since shamanic practice appears to be pre-historic, it seems likely the word originated in a language that no longer exists.
Where does Shamanism come from?
Though the word shaman has a known path into English, the history of shamanism as a practice is not easy to discern. We can find shamanism all over the world, throughout time, including some prehistoric evidence of shamanic practice via cave art tens of thousands of years old.
Nearly every culture on the planet passes through a shamanic phase. The current thought among some anthropologists is that cultures first develop animism, then shamanism, then a belief in high gods. Shamanic practice definitely persists in some cultures even after the advent of religions recognizing high gods.
For example, the ancient Greeks used a hallucinogenic brew called Soma in the temple at Elussis to create a journey experience that was said to be life-changing. We don’t know what they did exactly, but there are hints of journeys to the underworld. It seems that Soma may have been a type of beer infested with Ergot - a hallucinogenic fungus with chemical compounds on which LSD was based.
So, we see shamanic practices all over the globe, through recorded history, even into prehistory. I like to think of it as the very core human spiritual practice. As mentioned above - there seems to be an archetypal impulse towards shamanic awakening that springs up cross-culturally.
What is a Shamanic Journey?
A shamanic journey is the main practice that distinguishes shamanism from other forms of spirituality. During a shamanic journey, a shaman enters into an altered state of consciousness. Another word for this state might be “trance.” Looking at a practitioner’s brainwaves via EEG, this is a similar state to deeper dreaming sleep. There are many ways that a shaman might enter into a trance, but one of the most common is to use rhythmic drumming.
Once in a trance, a shaman can split off part of his or her consciousness. The shaman then takes flight and visits any number of spiritual realms. Collectively, we refer to these realms as nonordinary reality (or NOR for short). These realms are called nonordinary because we don’t usually experience them in our day-to-day waking state.
While in non-ordinary reality, a shamanic practitioner will work with one or more helping spirits - usually to conduct healing or retrieve information.
Is Shamanism a religion?
Shamanism, as we know it, is not religion. At least, it is not when viewed through the lens of traditional organized religion. Shamanism does not have any of these trappings:
There is no doctrine. While there are many books about shamanism, there are no central religious texts.
There is no dogma. There are no rules set out by a central authority or expressed as divine directives.
There is no organization or central authority. While there are some organizations for the study of shamanism, there is no central organizing body, and they do not serve to assert authority over practitioners.
Is Shamanism cultural appropriation?
This is a huge question. To simplify, no - the practice of shamanism itself is not cultural appropriation. This is because shamanism does not belong to a single culture. There are Native American shamans, Scandinavian and Celtic shamans, African, and Australian shamans. Something like 79% of hunter-gatherer tribes studied have someone who fulfills the role of shaman.
Shamanism belongs to no single culture and seems to spring up archetypally everywhere. It is part of the human fabric of symbolic and spiritual thought. Shamanism is part of what makes us human, and it most likely predates any existing culture.
Cultural appropriation becomes problematic when a person imitates, disrespects, or steals from a culture that is not theirs. If I were to, for example, imitate Native American rituals from tribes I have no connection to, I would be cheapening and stealing.
There is a bit of a grey area here because some cultures openly share and welcome others to share their cultural knowledge. They may view spiritual truths belonging to all of humanity regardless of their parents, ethnicity, or birth location.
Do Shamans take drugs?
Some, but certainly not all, shamanic cultures use “plant medicines” such as ayahuasca, peyote, iboga, psilocybin, or others. In most places, these medicines have been legally categorized as drugs and are illegal under most circumstances. These plant medicines are sometimes called entheogens - or substances that give their users an experience of the divine.
Plant medicines are powerful, and using them recreationally, out of context, or not under the supervision of a well-trained practitioner can be dangerous. Unfortunately, psychedelic tourism has become a popular way for people to try to take shortcuts to spiritual development. Many people have been harmed, killed, or hospitalized from reactions to plant medicines - particularly those that affect serotonin.
There are a couple of pieces of good news.
Almost anybody can learn to journey without the use of entheogens. You can have profound, controlled, and safe journeys that end as soon as you want them to. With plant medicines, once you buy the ticket, you’re on the ride until it stops. Some chemicals - like psilocybin, remain active for as long as 6 hours.
Medical science is starting to catch up. Psychedelic medicine has become a popular study area with promising results in battling pernicious issues such as depression, drug addiction, and PTSD in clinical settings.
What are helping spirits?
Shamans always work with what they may refer to as helping spirits. Helping spirits is a generic term that refers to non-physical entities that the practitioner has a beneficent relationship. While everybody has numerous helping spirits, those without shamanic training may not know their existence.
There are many types of helping spirits, but I will outline some of the most common.
Power Animals
Some people confuse power animals with spirit animals or totems, but there is a difference. A power animal is the spirit of a specific animal that usually lived on Earth but has crossed over. This animal spirit has decided to work with a specific individual while incarnated on Earth.
A shamanic practitioner may conduct a power animal retrieval for a client during a healing ceremony. This can help restore a person's power and bolster one’s ability to heal.
Upper world helping spirits
Upper-world helping spirits are spirits that a shaman meets on a journey to the upper world. These spirits are sometimes referred to as teachers or upper-world teachers. They are frequently human or human-like beings that might include gods or goddesses from different pantheons, deceased historical figures, and even archetypal spirits.
Ancestral Helping Spirits
One’s ancestors, after they have crossed, may become helping spirits. A lot of wisdom can come from our ancestors, and most shamans have ancestral healing spirits or at least call on their ancestors for help, protection, and guidance.
