The word Shamanism is taken from an old tradition of the Manchu-Tungus word šaman - “the one who knows” (around Mongols or Russian territories).
In other descriptions A shaman is a mystical expert (male or female) who, in indijinous or Aboriginal societies functions as a healer, prophet and custodian of cultural tradition.
Shamanism these days is a field that is much more accessible and open for exploration than how it used to be up to twenty years ago.
In the past, the Shaman used to hold several roles in the ancient times of tribal living. He or she used to take care of decisions regarding tribe movement, life, health, hunting and so on. They also were in charge of communicating with spirits, and used different ways to appease the spirits , consult with spirits and receive guidance. Today we can see it as prayers, intention setting and intuitive ability to listen to unseen or unheard voices. Those voices are voices of nature and of reality that exist in parallel to ours where spirits act and guide.
We already know that there are many unknown things in this life.
Many things that happen cannot be controlled, cannot be foreseen or directed, even with the greatest force or the largest amount of money.
Someone wants to buy a building and suddenly it collapses. Another person wants to go for a holiday and a Tsunami takes him “home”. A third person prays all his life for money, fills up a lottery form and becomes a millionaire.
This life is composed of body-mind, matter and Energy, known and unknown, seen and unseen. Once we accept it we can see how humans needed a mediator to bridge the gap between these worlds. Someone who can be brave enough, curious and in service for others. One who can be intuitive and listen to strange voices, follow invisible guidance and have a strong connection to nature and natural forces (Wind, Fire, Water etc) or to animals and plants.
These unique individuals were chosen to hold a role for others to bring wisdom from the unseen worlds, and communicate with spirits to benefit humans in this world.
In the past this role was considered strange, fearful or abnormal, however if we think about it in every village there was a healer or a natural doctor. Male or fFemale, who knew about the healing benefits of plants, certain movements or specific points of Energy in the human body that could make a change and bring healing, restore health and balance or calm the mind. These people were not necessarily called SHamans but they were holding a very important role in the village. They were considered the “Elders”. People used to come and consult them and trust their answers and guidance for their life.
SInce some practices were involved ingesting natural substances that evoke psychic shift (in order to shift the “rational reality” into spiritual realms) those Shamans healers used to take the substance themselves and go on “a Journey” into the other worlds to receive guidance for the individual who requested help.
SHamans were considered also religious people because they used to pray and bless everything they did. Directly communicating with creation and its forces, they recognised the deities and liveliness of helping spirits and dark forces as well.
Since they could communicate and feel or even manipulate energy and spirits, at times they turned the ball and used their powers in a negative way, to influence worse on situations or people. Hence it was seen as “witch-crafts”, “spells” etc…
In every religion there are those who can do that via the power of prayer and the power of the mind and intention. The only difference is the Shamans were so connected to Nature and Spirit world without borders or structure that many times it looked weird or scary.
Nowadays, we see how powerful this ability is, and how we can use the teachings of Shamanism into our daily life.
More so, we learnt that we do not need to ingest or smoke anything in order to shift our reality. We can go on a deep and profound breathing session that will completely take us to lose consciousness or see God creation and angels or prophets. We can meditate so deep that we can lose contact with our body and become nothing (and everything - Nirvana /enlightenment in Buddhism). We can be hypnotized and do things that we don’t even know we are doing.
We can be guided into lucid dreaming and see animals and angels flying around us and talking to us. We can be guided into a past life regression and see our past incarnations and who we were five hundred years ago, and even make a change in unpleasant events.
Today we know several powerful tools from the Shamanic world that can benefit our life immensely.
Modern time Shamanism is a wide range practice that can open doors into the unconscious mind, into connection to spiritualism and higher self. It can bring a person to hear his own inner voice of intuition and learn how to use his angelic guides or spirit animals (that exist in spirit, as energetic beings that support one’s life).
Some of Shamanic practices include pure non-substance rituals yet very potent and powerful , such the “Shamanic Journey”, “Soul Journey” evocation of spirits and intentional prayers.
Other practices include ingestion of a natural compound (i.e) via Smoking (Marijuana), drinking (Ayahuasca) or topical application (Kambo) to evoke a process of openness or release of energetic walls and introduce a connection to the Spirit world.
When we say “Spirit world” I mean the world of spiritual animals, spiritual guides and entities, Angelic beings, God creation or the living source energy of the Earth, Water and so on.
Same as above - So below.
The work with those substances is very detailed and done with cautious, prayers and in a safe container. It is highly recommended to experience it by a facilitator or a shaman that Knows what he is doing, has experience and learnt from other teachers and practices it himself.
The world of Shamanism today is so much more open to experience and exploration and there are many facilitators that went through a shamanic initiation by indijoinous people and now carry the torch and the tools to provide a Shamanic experience.
It is highly recommended to check and receive positive feedback and good feeling before entering any experience or ritual/ceremony that may alter your consciousness.
It is recommended for first timers to do it with a good friend or someone you trust.
It is recommended to be prepared and feel “the call” before any experience, not because it’s a trend or it’s Cool to do it.
One of the most profound non-toxic pure experience I can recommend is the “Shamanic Dream Journey” - which is a guided vivid dreaming experience, where the participant is lying down comfortably and is guided by a facilitator into an Astral journey, that can be called “Lucid dreaming” or “Vivid dream state”. It is supported by specific drumming method and sometimes by other musical instruments. The journey itself can take anything from ten minutes to an hour, and can provoke a very deep and profound experience of mind blowing visions, communications with spirit animals, ancestors, old(past) souls that are directly related to the participants (like a deceased grandfather or such), it can answer any questions that the person has and give clear view of what the person needs to do. Sometimes it even precedes the future and gives hints into a future potential but doesn't reveal completely an answer , since the future is composed of present actions.
This journey can bring instant healing, answers and deep clarity towards one’s life path. It requires nothing but good will, least expectations and strong intentions.
All these are being prepared by the facilitators and participants prior to a journey.