Awakening the Shamanic Drum

When you make or acquire a new drum for shamanic work, it needs to be ritually awakened so that it can be used more effectively. The ritual that I present here is a form of embodiment trance and should not be undertaken without helping spirits for protection from malevolent spirits that may cause you harm. As Mongolian shaman Sarangerel Odigon points out, "Opening yourself up in order to allow your shamanic spirits to work through you is not dangerous if you do so with the specific intention of embodying them and no other spirits besides them. Your helper spirits will bar the way to any foreign spirits that may try to enter your body."

Embodiment trance is a core shamanic practice. It is essential for the safe practice of many methods of shamanic healing. By embodying a helping spirit, the practitioner is protected from the ill effects of removing spiritual intrusions from a patient during extraction healings. Through embodiment trance, the spirits are able to make their thoughts known or empower the practitioner to do the work at hand.

To prepare for this ritual, it is useful to smudge the drum and dedicate it to your work. Create sacred space and ask each of the six powers or directions to bless your drum. Thank the animal spirit for giving its hide for your drumhead. Thank the trees for your drum's wooden rim and ask that the drum's hoop be connected to the World Tree, which enables all trees to sing your prayers while drumming. If your drum has synthetic parts, thank the organisms that provided the essence for the chemicals that the substance is made of.

Once you have invoked the spirits you normally work with, be sure to call upon the spirit of the drum and ask it to come to you and become your spirit helper. Convey your intention and willingness to allow it to enter your body and merge with your being. Visualize yourself as a clean hollow bone or tube, ready to be filled with hope, possibilities and power.

Now begin to gently play a heartbeat rhythm on your drum. Focus your attention on the sound of the drum, thereby stilling the chatter in your mind. Allow the drum to empty you. Become one with the drum. Remember that drumming opens portals to the spirit world, draws spirit in, and opens you up to receive it.

Imagine the energy of your drum's spirit entering your hollow bone and filling you with power and possibility. You may feel it, see it, sense it or simply imagine it. Allow the spirit of the drum to merge with you so that your playing comes under its control. When embodying spirits, they will essentially dictate the rhythm, tempo, volume and timbre until you reach something that is appropriate for them. Just relax, release all expectation and follow the urges the spirits give you. The amount of time spent drumming before the spirits actually enter the body varies from practitioner to practitioner and even from session to session.

Once the spirits come in, they will empower you to continue drumming, sometimes for hours. As Tuvan shaman Sailyk-ool Kanchyyp-ool describes it, "I am not myself. But, I am being maneuvered by the spirits. They tell me. 'Beat hard, beat fast, beat a long beat.' And they also tell me when to stop." While the spirits are in your body, they will protect you from any harm. Even if you do something dangerous, such as walking through fire, they will not allow any harm to come to you.

As the drum journey evolves, you will become more ecstatic and spirit will perhaps create new rhythms or inspire you to sing. You are now shifting into a higher state of consciousness and developing a new shamanic skill. At the higher levels, a healer becomes adept at detaching all sense of self, fully present in the moment, as a hollow bone or living conduit for healing energy to move through. At some point in your journey, you will sense that all of your helping spirits and power animals are traveling with you. They are at your side, helping you become a living conduit for the spirit of the drum.

When it feels appropriate, gradually slow the tempo of your drumming to a regular heartbeat rhythm to draw your consciousness back into your body. Do not rush the transformation. Visualize yourself fully grounded in your body, and then slowly open your eyes.

Merging with the spirit of your drum is an important breakthrough in becoming a shamanic practitioner. This is a truly sacred time to hold with reverence, for the spirits have brought the blessing of greater power to you for the benefit of the community. Your shamanic initiation has truly begun!

Finding True Power at Home

In this time of global crisis, one truth has become crystal clear -- coming home is powerful. This is also an essential aspect of shamanism, which provides us with effective, time-tested ways to achieve personal and collective transformation. We have reoriented our lives around our home spaces, alone and in groups. Keeping balance in close quarters takes coordinated and consistent effort. Our relationships with nature, spirit, and our inner selves dwell in this core space too. In this time of coming home, nourishing these relationships is a powerful prescription for improving our health, the health of our family and our community.

Finding our true power at home begins with the creation of effective rituals. Ritual is a universal way to address the spirit world and provide some kind of fundamental change in an individual's consciousness or in the ambience of a gathering. It may involve prayers, chanting, drumming, dancing, anointing, as well as rites of passage. Ritual is designed to engage the spirit world in helping us to do what we are unable to do for ourselves. By creating effective rituals, we can skillfully engage spirit in the processes we are involved in like healing, therapy or actualizing our goals. Potent rituals have similar foundational elements. Key elements of this foundation include:

1. Intention is the first element of an effective home ritual. You should have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. Without a clear intention or desired outcome, the energy created in the ritual is poorly structured with little or no direction. Articulating your desired outcome is how you channel the energy of the performance toward the intended objective. One good way to think about it is by asking yourself what you want to happen as a result of the ritual. What effect do you want it to have on individuals, community and the world?

2. The creation of sacred space. Sacred space is that territory that we enter for spiritual and inner work. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, having a special place in your home reserved for quiet introspection, reflection and spiritual connection can nourish your soul. A sacred space can be any location in your home where you can be by yourself and be fully self-expressed. Be creative with this, but find a special place for you to go at least once a day.

Consider setting up an altar that is appropriate for the purpose of your ritual. Although an altar is not essential, it provides us with a focus to pray, meditate and listen. An altar is any structure upon which we place offerings and sacred objects that have spiritual or cosmological significance. It represents the center and axis of your sacred space. A simple altar can be created with a cloth, a candle and other symbols that mean something to you. Fresh cut herbs, cedar boughs or flowers can also be placed upon the altar as offering to the spirits.

It is important to cleanse your sacred space before starting any spiritual work. Preparing a purified sacred space shifts our awareness from ordinary waking consciousness to a more centered, meditative state. Ritual preparation awakens our connection to the web of life and structures a boundary that separates the sacred from the ordinary and profane. Ritually cleanse the space by smudging, which is a method of using smoke from burning herbs to dispel negative energy. Sage, cedar and sweetgrass are traditionally used for smudging. To smudge, light the dried herbs in a fire-resistant receptacle, and then blow out the flames. Then use a feather or your hands to fan the smoke around your body and home. I recommend cracking a window or door for ventilation and for releasing unwanted energies.

3. The opening of sacred space. After preparing a purified sacred space, you may wish to ritually open the space. The opening of sacred space is essentially an invocation; calling in the spiritual energies of the seven directions: East, South, West, North, Up, Down and Within. Calling in the directions not only aligns you with their power, but is a spiritual activity in and of itself. The orientation embeds you in the living web of life, yielding greater awareness and perspective. It imparts a comprehensive recollection of the basic experience of being fully human. The ritual grounds you completely in the present moment to begin your day or to begin a specific spiritual practice.

Though there are no rules or restrictions, on most occasions a sacred circle is cast in a sun-wise direction. I would suggest you start in the East where the sun rises. If you have a rattle, shake it four times to open a portal in the East to the spirit world. Rattles are used to invoke the assistance of benevolent helping spirits. The rattle draws the spirit world and its inhabitants into the material world. Using words, chanting or song, invite the benevolent spirit powers associated with that direction to participate and assist in the ritual or ceremony. Welcome the spirits with an open heart and mind. Some people will whistle or make animal sounds to call in spirit helpers. Trust your instincts and intuition in this process.

Next, pivot around clockwise and repeat the same procedure to invoke the spirits of the South, the West and the North. After that, invoke Father Sky above and Mother Earth below. When invoking Father Sky, reach to the heavens; when invoking Mother Earth, reach down and touch the ground where you stand.

Finally, face the center of the circle and bring your hands to your heart to invite the spirit of Within. Call upon the spirit of divine unity that flows from within the center of your being where the six directions meet. Welcome the gifts of balance, oneness and connection with all things, for all things are one and all things are related.

4. The induction of altered states. Altered states of consciousness are induced through intense rhythmic stimulation such as drumming, chanting and dancing. An altered state of consciousness is any state of mind that is significantly different from normal waking consciousness. Altered states produce deeper self-awareness; allow us to connect with the power of the universe, to externalize our own knowledge and to internalize our answers.

5. The closure of sacred space. When you have finished your ritual, sacred space should be closed. Follow the same procedure as for the opening, but in reverse order. Begin by thanking the spiritual energies of Within, Mother Earth and Father Sky, and then the North, West, South and East in a counterclockwise movement. Shake your rattle to say farewell to the spirits. As you rattle, give thanks to all your relations for the needs met. The phrase "all my relations" is used at the end of a prayer in many shamanic traditions, for all living things share in the relationships of life on Earth. Express your gratitude to the helping spirits for assisting you and send them off, releasing their energies to the seven directions.

Effective home ritual makes us more fluent in the language of the inner life, which is where meaningful healing, transformation and insight arise. Being mindfully present with our thoughts, feelings and sensations is a journey into deeper self-awareness. Regardless of what you call it -- personal growth, personal development, self-actualization, or finding yourself -- this journey is you exploring and developing who you truly are.

Soul Flight: A Spiritual Prescription for Coronavirus

I am not a medical professional or an expert on epidemics. I leave the critical information in those important fields for the experts who have the appropriate training to help us get through the coronavirus pandemic. Even though I do not possess medical knowledge, as a shamanic practitioner, I believe I can try to humbly prescribe a vaccine that can heal the spirit -- the soul flight or shamanic journey. In the shamanic world, all healing begins with the spirit.

Shamanism is based on the principle that innate wisdom and guidance can be accessed through the inner senses in ecstatic trance. Basically, shamanic journeying is a way of communicating with your inner or true self and retrieving information. Your inner self is in constant communication with all aspects of your environment, seen and unseen. You need only journey within to find answers to your questions. You should have a question or objective in mind from the start. Shamanic journeying may be undertaken for purposes of divination, for personal healing, or for any number of other reasons. After the journey, you must then interpret the meaning of your trance experience.

Drumming (or listening to a shamanic drumming recording) is a simple and effective way to induce this ecstatic trance state. When a drum is played at an even tempo of three to four beats per second for at least fifteen minutes, most novices report that they can journey successfully even on their first attempt. Transported by the driving beat of the drum; the shamanic traveler journeys to the inner planes of consciousness: the Upper, Middle, and Lower Worlds. You should always journey with a purpose, question or intention. Some good reasons to take a shamanic journey at this challenging time are….

1. To reconnect with your inner or spirit self: Shamanic journeying heightens the ability of perception and enables you to see into the deeper realms of the self. The moment you bond with your spirit is the moment your heart opens. The first time you glimpse your spirit self, you gasp and cry. You know who you are. That is the moment you begin to heal. Journey work reconnects us to our core, enhancing our sense of empowerment and stimulating our creative expression.

2. To clarify life purpose: When we are unaware of our soul's true purpose or simply not aligned in our actions, we often experience a malaise of the spirit. We can engage the blueprint of our soul path through the vehicle of journeying. Shamanic journeying is a time-tested medium for individual self-realization. We can journey within to access wisdom and energies that can help awaken our soul calling and restore us to wholeness. Journey work reconnects us with our deepest core values and our highest vision of who we are and why we are here. It heightens our sense of mission and purpose, empowering our personal evolution.

3. To access a higher power: Shamanism provides a secular approach to accessing a higher power. Shamanic methodology directly supports the introduction of spiritual factors found significant in the healing process. According to the American Journal of Public Health, "Shamanic activities bring people efficiently and directly into immediate encounters with spiritual forces, focusing the client on the whole body and integrating healing at physical and spiritual levels. This process allows them to connect with the power of the universe, to externalize their own knowledge, and to internalize their answers; it also enhances their sense of empowerment and responsibility. These experiences are healing, bringing the restorative powers of nature to clinical settings."

4. To divine information: You can journey within to obtain information about personal and community issues. Your helping spirits are a good resource when it comes to answering questions pertaining to relationships, health issues, or any issue. To divine information in a journey, begin with a clear question that you would like to ask of your helping spirits. Decide which of your helping spirits you would like to answer your question, and then journey to the place where you normally meet them in non-ordinary reality. Of course you can ask your question to as many of your helping spirits as you wish. When divining or healing on behalf of others, it is vital that you have their permission.

5. To develop relationships with the helping spirits who dwell in the three inner planes of consciousness -- the Upper, Middle, and Lower Worlds: Shamanism is a sacred call to build relationship with the caretakers in the unseen world who want to support the earth and her inhabitants at this time. These helping spirits might be the spirits of nature, animals, plants, the elements, or ancestors. The reason for developing personal relationships with spirit helpers is to gain wisdom, healing techniques, and other vital information that can benefit the community. Similar to the way friendships develop gradually, our relationships with spirits grow and deepen based on repeated interaction and building trust over time.

6. To reconnect with benevolent ancestors: Your ancestors and the collective spiritual power of all those who went before you reside in the spirit world. When your own time comes to pass on, you will become part of this vast collective unconscious. If you embark on a journey with the intention of connecting with those who have passed, they may come to meet you. Keep in mind that spirits choose to come into relationship with the person seeking. You can seek ancestral spirits, but the spirits must choose.

7. To prepare for death: Shamans believe that learning to leave the physical body is important, for without this experience, the soul may become confused after death and remain stuck in the Middle World. When a person dies, there is usually a smooth transition into the afterlife, but when a person suffers a traumatic death, they may not have an awareness of who and where they are. This makes it difficult for them to make their journey to the afterlife. Other souls linger in the space between life and the afterlife for fear of going to hell. Sadly, most of the psychopomp rites of passage that once helped prepare a person for death have disappeared. Hence, journeying is one of the most important shamanic skills that we can develop. By journeying to the Lower World, the place to which human souls travel upon physical death, we can prepare for our own death. That said, perhaps the most compelling reason to journey is...

8. To find ways to restore balance in the world: As anthropologist and author Felicitas Goodman points out, "One of the most pervasive traditions of shamanic cultures is the insight that there exists a patterned cosmological order, which can be disturbed by human activity." When harmony between the human realm and the original intended pattern is disturbed, the shaman makes a spirit journey to the Upper World to bring back the balance. Shamans also go there to acquire archetypal knowledge, to bring a vision into being, or to influence events in the material world. By interacting with the archetypes, the shaman interacts with their counterparts in the outer world.

Try a Shamanic Journey

To enter a trance state and support your journey, click here to listen to a track from my CD "Shamanic Journey Drumming." Reflect for a moment on the purpose of your journey, and then close your eyes. Focus your attention on the sound of the drum and feel yourself being carried away by the sound. If for any reason you want to return, just retrace your steps back. You will hear a call back signal near the end of the video, followed by a short period of slow heartbeat drumming to assist you in refocusing your awareness back to your physical body. Sit quietly for a few moments, and then open your eyes.

After the journey, you must then interpret the meaning of your trance experience.  In some cases, your journey experiences will be clear and easy to understand. At other times, your journey may be dreamlike and full of symbolism. Interpret such journeys as you would any dream. Look for possible associations related to each symbol or image. The key is to observe whatever happens without trying to analyze the experience. Like developing any skill, journeying takes practice. Nothing may happen on your first journeys. You may only experience darkness. When this happens, simply try again at a different time. To learn more, read my article Shamanic Journeying.

Five Groundbreaking Books on Shamanism

1. Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing by Michael Winkelman (2010): Michael Winkelman's volume on shamanism has replaced Mircea Eliade's classic text as the most authoritative and innovative book on the topic. This book examines shamanism from evolutionary and biological perspectives to identify the origins of shamanic healing in rituals that enhance individual and group function. Winkelman presents the shamanic paradigm within a biopsychosocial framework for explaining successful human evolution through group rituals. According to Winkelman, shamanism is rooted in innate functions of the brain, mind, and consciousness. As Winkelman puts it, "The cross-cultural manifestations of basic experiences related to shamanism (e.g., soul flight, death-and-rebirth, animal identities) illustrates that these practices are not strictly cultural but are structured by underlying, biologically inherent structures. These are neurobiological structures of knowing that provide the universal aspects of the human brain/mind." Winkelman's Shamanism is essential reading for anyone interested in shamanism, human evolution, the origin of religion, and traditional healing practice.

2. An Encyclopedia of Shamanism by Christina Pratt (2007): Christina Pratt's outstanding two-volume encyclopedia combines the philosophy, concepts, and practical elements that make up shamanism. Pratt has compiled a potentially useful -- although rather expensive -- reference tool that bears testimony to how far shamanism has come in the last few decades. Thirty years ago, shamanism was rarely discussed outside of scholarly anthropological circles. Today, we find this two-volume encyclopedia set offered by a mainstream academic press that specializes in educational books for young readers. Moreover, the set's contents are rich enough to provide shamanic practitioners with some stimulating windows into the transformative worlds of both traditional and contemporary shamanism. Unlike many cross-cultural overviews on shamanism, the essays and many of the entries in these volumes are enriched by the author's personal background in several experiential shamanic traditions.

3. Ecstatic Body Postures: An Alternate Reality Workbook by Belinda Gore (1995): Anthropologist Felicitas Goodman discovered that specific yoga-like poses recur in the art and artifacts of world cultures, even societies widely separated by time and space. Goodman's hypothesis, therefore, was that these postures represented coded instructions on how to produce consistent trance-like effects. Goodman researched and explored ritual body postures as a means to achieve a bodily induced trance experience. She discovered that people who assume these body postures report strikingly similar trance experiences irrespective of their worldview or belief systems. With clear instructions and illustrations, Belinda Gore, one of Dr. Goodman's prominent students, demonstrates these shamanic postures and how to work with them. There are different postures that facilitate divination, shapeshifting, spirit journeys, and more.

4. Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self by Sandra Ingerman (1991): Ingerman's visionary book revives the ancient shamanic tradition of soul retrieval for healing emotional and physical illness. Most shamanic cultures around the world believe that whenever we suffer an emotional or physical trauma a part of our soul flees the body in order to survive the experience. By soul I mean our spiritual essence, life force, the part of our vitality that keeps us alive and thriving. It has always been the role of the shaman to go into an altered state of consciousness and track down where the soul fled to in the alternate realities and restore it. The loss of life force is known as soul loss. It is important to understand that soul loss is a natural thing that happens to us. It is how we survive pain. Our psyche cannot endure the kind of pain associated with a severe emotional or physical trauma. So our psyches have this self protect mechanism where a part of our essence or soul leaves the body so that we do not feel the full impact of a painful experience. In psychology we call this disassociation. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality. It isn't hard to recognize that there is a lot of planetary soul loss today based on how we behave towards each other and the web of life.

5. The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing by Michael Harner (1980): Founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Harner blazed the trail for the worldwide revival of shamanism and shamanic drumming with his 1980 seminal classic. This informative guide to core shamanic practice set me on a new course in life. From this guide, I learned to hone my skills of shamanic journeying. Harner teaches core shamanism, the universal and common methods of the shaman to enter "non-ordinary reality" for problem solving and healing. Particular emphasis is on the classic shamanic journey; one of the most remarkable visionary methods used by humankind to access inner wisdom and guidance by the teachers within. Learning to journey is the first step in becoming a shamanic practitioner.

Why Did Shamanism Evolve Around the World?

Shamanism is universal and not bound by social or cultural conditions. It is the most ancient and most enduring spiritual tradition known to humanity. Shamanism predates and constitutes the foundation of all known religions, psychologies and philosophies. It originated among nomadic hunting and gathering societies. These ancient shamanic ways have withstood the tests of time, varying little from culture to culture. Over thousands of years of trial and error, primal peoples the world over developed the same basic principles and techniques of shamanic power and healing. Shamanic practice is so widespread that it can be deemed a human universal.

So why did shamanism evolve in cultures all around the world? A recent study by one of the foremost scholars on shamanism today reveals that shamanism evolved all around the globe because the shamanic narrative is hard-wired in us all. In his book, Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing, Michael Winkelman presents the shamanic paradigm within a biopsychosocial framework for explaining successful human evolution through group rituals. According to Winkelman, shamanism is rooted in innate functions of the brain, mind, and consciousness. As Winkelman puts it, "The cross-cultural manifestations of basic experiences related to shamanism (e.g., soul flight, death-and-rebirth, animal identities) illustrates that these practices are not strictly cultural but are structured by underlying, biologically inherent structures. These are neurobiological structures of knowing that provide the universal aspects of the human brain/mind"

Winkelman's groundbreaking book extends our understanding of the evolutionary origins of humanity's first spiritual, healing and consciousness tradition. Though shamanism has been conventionally considered a spiritual practice, it has ancient biological, social and psychological roots. Shamanism has its bases in innate aspects of human cognition, engaging the use of altered states of consciousness to integrate information across several levels of the brain to produce visual symbolism exemplified in visionary experiences. This explains why shamanism evolved cross-culturally and is still relevant to the modern world.

8 Core Beliefs of Shamanism

Shamanism is the most ancient and most enduring spiritual tradition known to humanity. It predates and constitutes the foundation of all known religions or religious philosophies. One could view shamanism as the universal spiritual wisdom inherent to all indigenous peoples. It originated among nomadic hunting and gathering societies. These ancient shamanic ways have withstood the tests of time, varying little from culture to culture. Over thousands of years of trial and error, primal peoples the world over developed the same basic principles and techniques of shamanic power and healing. A whole way of life evolved that was based on everything being in right relationship. At the heart of shamanism are the following core beliefs:

1. Everything is interrelated and interdependent. If one species suffers, all others are affected. The health and well-being of humanity is, therefore, dependent upon the overall health of the sentient web of life. The shamanic practitioner is sensitive to this sacred interrelationship and serves as a bridge, linking the human and natural realms. The practitioner's prayerful communion with the natural elements and powers preserves an orderly, harmonious universe.

2. The natural world has two aspects: ordinary everyday awareness, formed by our habitual behaviors, patterns of belief, social norms, and cultural conditioning, and a second non-ordinary awareness accessed through altered states, or trance, induced by shamanic practices such as repetitive drumming. In a non-ordinary state of consciousness, the universe can appear fluid and nonlinear, moral absolutes vanish, death is but a transition and life exists in a variety of forms. Ordinary reality is matter-oriented, while non-ordinary reality is spirit-oriented.

3. Everything is alive and has a spirit. Shamanism is a way of perceiving the nature of the universe in a way that incorporates the normally invisible world where the spirits of all material things dwell. Shamans have different terms and phrases for the unseen world, but most of them clearly imply that it is the realm where the spirits of the land, animals, ancestors, and other spiritual entities dwell. Spirit encompasses all the immaterial forms of life energy that surround us. We are woven together into a net of life energies that are all around us. These energies can appear to us in different forms, such as spirits of nature, animals, or ancestors. The spirit world is the web of life itself.

4. Shamanic practitioners can access other realms of reality. Practitioners employ methods for altering consciousness so that they can send their souls into non-ordinary reality. The act of sending one's soul into non-ordinary reality is called the soul flight or shamanic journey, and it allows the journeyer to view life and life's problems from a detached, spiritual perspective not easily achieved in a state of ordinary consciousness. One of the most universal methods for altering consciousness for this spirit journey is a persistent, mesmerizing drumbeat.

5. Non-ordinary reality is more real than ordinary reality. When a shamanic practitioner enters non-ordinary reality, it is to obtain clarity and understanding about something in the everyday world that is not understood (e.g., Why am I sick? Why did this misfortune happen to me? How can I bring healing to myself and others? What is my mission and purpose in life?). Consequently, that is why shamanic journeying is sometimes called "going to the source." And that makes non-ordinary reality more authentic or real.

6. There are three inner planes of consciousness: the Upper, Middle, and Lower Worlds. The three realms are linked together by a vertical axis that is commonly referred to as the cosmic axis or World Tree. The roots of the World Tree touch the Lower World. Its trunk is the Middle World and its branches hold up the Upper World. This central axis exists within each of us. Through the sound of the drum, which is invariably made of wood from the World Tree, the shamanic practitioner is transported to the axis within and conveyed from plane to plane.

7. The purpose of shamanic ritual is to engage the spirit world to effect specific changes in the physical world. The ordinary and non-ordinary worlds interact continuously, and a shamanic practitioner can gain knowledge about how to alter ordinary reality by taking direct action in the non-ordinary aspect of the world. From a shamanic perspective, all human experience is self-generated. Experience is shaped from within since the three realms or resonant fields that define our experience of reality exist within each of us. Each human being is a hologram of the universe. Essentially, we are the universe experiencing itself in human form.

8. Shamanism is based on the principle that innate wisdom and guidance can be accessed through the inner senses in ecstatic trance. The essence of shamanism is the experience of direct revelation from within. Shamanism is about remembering, exploring, and developing the true self. Shamanism places emphasis on the individual, of breaking free and discovering your own uniqueness in order to bring something new back to the group. Shamanic practice heightens the ability of perception and enables you to see into the deeper realms of the self. Once connected with your inner self you can find help, healing, and a continual source of guidance. To practice shamanism is to reconnect with your deepest core values and your highest vision of who you are and why you are here.

Creative Commons photo of Mongol Darkhad shaman performing shamanic ritual by Munkhbayar.B.

Interview with Michael Drake

The Barcelona-based magazine La Senda del Corazón (The Path of the Heart) interviewed me in September 2019. The interview was conducted by writer, composer and musician Josep Mateo. You can read part of the interview below and the entire interview online at La Senda del Corazón.

Josep: Hi Michael it's a pleasure to interview you for La Senda del Corazón. When did you discover shamanism? How did it change your life?

Michael: I discovered shamanism in 1988 when a friend of mine recommended that I read The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner. Founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Harner is widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on experiential and practical shamanism. This informative guide to core shamanic practice set me on a new course in life. From this guide, I learned to hone my skills of shamanic journeying. I have always had a vivid imagination, so journeying comes easily for me. I close my eyes as if to sleep, and my inner world awakens.

For six months, I journeyed virtually every day. My trance experiences were healing and empowering. They often triggered the release of suppressed emotions, producing feelings of peace and well-being. The process restores emotional health through expression and integration of emotions.

Once I learned to journey, my shamanic training began. I sought out and met my spirit helpers and guardian spirit, the bear. I communed with the archetypal realms of the collective soul. The spirit world became my classroom and the spirits became my teachers. This was a period of rapid inner growth for me. I was changing from the inside out. A shift in consciousness heightened my awareness and redefined my core values.

I was also tested. We are always tested by the spirits from time to time to see if we have a clear and open heart. You must show the spirit world that you have passion and heart. You must be willing to take risks. It never really ends. You must prove yourself again and again. A meaningful path must have heart. You must surrender the ego. You must give up the need for control.

Over the years, I learned to just go with the flow. The how and why of my circumstances became less important to me than the lessons that I was learning along the way. As time passed, I began to see how my life experiences honed me into the artist I am today. 

Josep: What main elements do you think should be given back to our society to unlock our true human potential?

Michael: We are entering an epic time of change in humanity's evolutionary journey into higher consciousness. I believe that core shamanic beliefs can help us navigate the shift from an old paradigm into a new one. Shamanism represents a universal conceptual framework found among indigenous tribal humans. It includes the belief that the natural world has two aspects: ordinary everyday awareness, formed by our habitual behaviors, patterns of belief, social norms, and cultural conditioning, and a second non-ordinary awareness accessed through altered states, or ecstatic trance, induced by shamanic practices such as repetitive drumming. The act of entering an ecstatic trance state is called the soul flight or shamanic journey, and it allows the journeyer to view life and life's problems from a detached, spiritual perspective, not easily achieved in a state of ordinary consciousness.

The essence of shamanism is the experience of direct revelation from within. Shamanism is about remembering, exploring and developing the true self. Shamanism places emphasis on the individual, of breaking free and discovering one's own uniqueness in order to bring something new back to the community. Shamanic practice heightens the ability of perception and enables you to see into the deeper realms of the self. Once connected with your inner self, you can find help, healing, and a continual source of guidance. To practice shamanism is to reconnect with your deepest core values and your highest vision of who you are and why you are here.

Shamanism is a way of living in harmony with nature, rather than an adherence to a religious doctrine. By practicing this way of being, we awaken our soul calling and our connection to nature. Shamanism is ultimately about consciousness, about learning through attunement to nature. It provides a myriad of responses to the spiritual quest of self-discovery. It emphasizes establishing a personal relationship with the powers of creation. It is a way that embeds us in the living web of life, yielding greater awareness and perspective. Shamanic practice is easily integrated into contemporary life and provides a means of navigating the turbulent times in which we live. 

Read the entire interview at La Senda del Corazón.

Five Books for Connecting With Power Animals

Shamanism is the endeavor to cultivate ongoing relationships with power animals to gain insight, healing methods, and other vital information that can benefit the community. Power animals are also called guardian spirits, spirit allies, totem animals, and tutelary animals. A power animal is the archetypal oversoul that represents the entire species of that animal. It is actually the spirit of one of the First People, as they are called, who at the end of mythic times turned into the animals as we know them today. The following books will help connect you with the collective strength and wisdom of power animals:

1. Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals by Jamie Sams: Jamie Sams is a best-selling author and medicine teacher of Iroquois and Cherokee descent. I have used her unique and innovative divination tool since its publication in 1988 for guidance, insight, and help in finding answers to life's questions. The messages always clearly reflect whatever life situation I am going through at the time. This card-based divination system draws upon ancient wisdom and tradition to teach the healing medicine of animals. The deck of cards and book connect the natural attributes and behaviors of the animal with the native lore relating to each creature in a way that is both sensible and spiritual. The suggestions for introspection are evocative, and I find myself returning to them again and again.

2. Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small by Ted Andrews: Easy-to-read and understand, Ted Andrews's bestselling Animal Speak shows readers how to identify his or her animal totem and learn how to invoke its energy and use it for personal growth and inner discovery. Nature lovers will love this insightful compendium filled with touching stories about animals, natural history, and animal folklore. Readers will also learn magical animal rites and how to read omens of nature. Animal Speak includes a dictionary of bird, animal, reptile, and insect totems, which describe each creature's meaning. This bestselling guide has become a classic reference for anyone wishing to forge a spiritual connection with the power and wisdom of the animal world. 

3. Bird Medicine: The Sacred Power of Bird Shamanism by Evan T. Pritchard: Evan T. Pritchard is a descendant of the Mi'kmaq people (part of the Algonquin nation) and the founder of The Center for Algonquin Culture. Pritchard's scholarly and illuminating book is based on his field interviews with people in the Native community on birds as teachers, guardians, role models, counselors, healers, clowns, peacemakers, and meteorologists. They carry messages and warnings from loved ones and the spirit world, report deaths and injuries, and channel divine intelligence to answer our questions. Bird Medicine is a treasure trove of ornithological insight and indigenous wisdom. It provides numerous examples of everyday bird sign interpretations that can be applied in your own encounters with birds as well as ways we can help protect birds and encourage them to communicate with us.

4. Power Animals: How to Connect with Your Animal Spirit Guide by Steven D Farmer: Dr. Steven Farmer is a psychotherapist, shamanic healer, and the author of several best-selling books. In Power Animals, Dr. Farmer guides you through a journey on the accompanying audio download to connect with your power animal. Once you meet your power animal, you can refer to the text to learn what this says about you and read a channeled message for you from that animal spirit. This is an easy-to-read introduction to the concept of power animals, and provides descriptions on 40 different animals. It's clear, insightful, fully developed but not overly wordy, and all of it is helpful.

5. Animal Spirit Guides: An Easy-to-Use Handbook for Identifying and Understanding Your Power Animals and Animal Spirit Helpers by Steven D Farmer: After the publication of his book Power Animals, many readers inquired about the meaning of power animals that were not contained in that work. In Animal Spirit Guides, Dr. Farmer provides concise, relevant details about the significance of more than 200 animals that may come to you in physical or symbolic form as guides and teachers. He lists three things for each animal: 1) if the animal shows up, what does it mean, 2) when you should call on the particular animal that you are reading about, and 3) if the animal is your power animal what does it mean. This makes the information very concise and easy to find and understand. It is an excellent reference book to have on the shelf.

"An Appreciation of Precipitation"

In Appreciation of Precipitation: A Call to Action
by Jade Grigori

I awoke with the Earth Mother speaking a request of me... of us: Call for an Appreciation of Precipitation.

"Bring the people together in appreciation of the rain", she said. "Speak directly to the people, that they may awaken to their responsibilities of acknowledging the rain." The intense heat has parched our land. The fires surround us around the world. Here is one thing we can do...

Gather. Gather in Appreciation of the Rain. When? Now. Anytime is the right time to be in Appreciation of Precipitation.

How?

While holding a glass of water in your hands, lift the water to your heart and reside within Appreciation. Appreciation of the rain, of water and all its values and blessings it brings in our lives and upon this planet. Water, the primary constituent of Life.

Rain, the replenishment of fresh water upon all the planet. In that inward place, from Appreciation, feel the rain falling upon your face, head tilted back, mouth open to receive the drops of water falling from the sky. Smell the rain, the crisp smell of ozone. Hear the rain drops hitting the ground as thunder rolls through the air.

Be in fullest Appreciation of Rain! Pour the first bit of water upon the Earth (Yes, a potted plant will suffice. Or even your lap, if need be), extending to the Earth and all her Creatures the blessings of the rain. Then drink the water down, experiencing it slide into your body, carrying with it all the blessings of Appreciation that you have evoked.

The water carries these blessings with it, seeping into every cell of your body, transmitting the blessing into your Being, which then acts as a command at a cellular level for you to live, act and express yourself in accord with those blessings of Appreciation called forth.

There is nothing to DO, beyond participating. There is only to BE... to BE in Appreciation of Precipitation!

What? You say you would love to join in but...
Your favorite TV show is on? - Turn it off!
You are getting your children ready for bed at that time? - Place a glass of water in their hands and let them participate.
It is your meditation time? - Then let this BE your meditation for this one evening.
You are flying on a plane? - Ask the aisle assistant for a glass of water.
You are just too busy? - What is of more importance than the reestablishment of our innate relationship with the Waters of Life?!
-----------------------------------------------
This is NOT a call to pray for rain! Far too often folks will jump up and say "We gotta pray for rain!" while just a few months ago they were cursing the snow, or the ruination of a picnic, saying that it is 'bad weather' when it rains or snows inconveniently. STOP! Breathe... this is a call to be in appreciation. We are not, here, setting out to make it rain, forcing our will once again upon Mother Nature. This is a call to simply be in appreciation of precipitation.

Copyright © 2019 by Jade Grigori, a Curator of the Sacred: a compendium of knowledge, storytelling, ceremonies, dances, healing practices, meditations, methods, and ways of Myth as an approach to Spirit.

The Sacred Power of Nature

"In the absence of the sacred, nothing is sacred. Everything is for sale."
--Oren R. Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Turtle Clan

One of the most important teachings from indigenous people who are still rooted in shamanic and earth-based traditions is that being embedded in nature means being close to creation, the creator and the divine -- that the sacred is directly experienced through creation and can be understood through observation and communication with the spirit(s) of nature. While we modern people have been led to believe that the divine is somewhere 'out there', indigenous shamanic people remind us that the sacred and divine is 'right here.' We are a part of nature; not separate from it or 'above' it.

Shamans have always immersed themselves in nature because they knew that the only way to recharge was to connect with nature's healing energy. The longer the immersion; the more transformational the experience. What better way to reenergize than to sit in a deep forest, or next to a waterfall for a few days and nights? Shamans knew that some of that natural power could be gathered and stored using shamanic techniques and then applied later to their active endeavors. There is no reason why an ordinary person cannot learn and apply similar techniques to recharge, gather, store, and apply the renewed vitality gained from time in nature.

Shamanism is a way of living in harmony with nature, rather than an adherence to a religious doctrine. By practicing these ways of being, we awaken our soul calling and our connection to nature. The spirits of nature are here to teach us to be better humans. They come to assist us in doing the principal unique thing we have come here to do in a way that benefits all living things. The shamanic way is good medicine for a world that needs to experience the divine in nature in order to become whole.

Shamanism is ultimately about consciousness, about learning through attunement to nature. It provides a myriad of responses to the spiritual quest of self-discovery. It is a path that emphasizes establishing a personal relationship with the powers of creation. It is a way that embeds us in the living web of life, yielding greater awareness and perspective. Shamanic practices are easily integrated into contemporary life and provide a means of navigating the turbulent times in which we live. To learn more, look inside my book The Great Shift: And How To Navigate It.

Book Review: "The Shamanic Journey"

Shamanism represents a universal conceptual framework found among indigenous tribal humans. It includes the belief that the natural world has two aspects: ordinary everyday awareness, formed by our habitual behaviors, patterns of belief, social norms, and cultural conditioning, and a second non-ordinary awareness accessed through altered states, or ecstatic trance, induced by shamanic practices such as repetitive drumming. The act of entering an ecstatic trance state is called the soul flight or shamanic journey, and it allows the journeyer to once again communicate with animals, plants and all living things. Shamans believe that this direct communication is possible because the entire universe exists within human consciousness. The capacity to enter a range of trance states is a natural manifestation of human consciousness. Our journeying ability is part of our human heritage.

In his book, The Shamanic Journey: A Practical Guide to Therapeutic Shamanism, shamanic practitioner, teacher and psychotherapist Paul Francis has created a practical step-by-step guide to experiencing your first shamanic journey, developing a relationship with your power animal, and interpreting trance experiences. Shamanic journeying is not an exceptional skill reserved for certain people, but knowing what to do with intuition, how to respond to it, and how to integrate it into day-to-day life is an exceptional skill that can, and should, be learned. Building on the core shamanism developed by Michael Harner, author of The Way of the Shaman, Francis has written a common sense guide for beginners interested in shamanism and looking for a place to start practical application of its practices for themselves. At once both practical and deeply thought-provoking, this book examines how to make shamanic practice relevant and central to our modern-day lives. This useful guidebook is recommended to anyone seeking to experience the shamanic journey -- a core practice common to all shamanic cultures.

5 Good Reasons to Harness the Power of Drumming

1. To ground you in the present moment: Drumming helps alleviate stress that is created from holding on to the past or worrying about the future. When one plays a drum, one is placed squarely in the here and now. The drumbeat somehow manages to anchor you while simultaneously creating a sensation of movement. Another paradox of rhythm is that it has both the capacity to move your awareness out of your body into realms beyond time and space and to ground you firmly in the present moment. It allows you to maintain a portion of ordinary awareness while experiencing non-ordinary awareness. This permits full recall later of the visionary experience.

2. To become a vessel of healing: When you drum, close your eyes and focus your attention on the sound of the drum. Become one with the beat of the drum. Allow the drum to empty your mind of all but the rhythm you are playing. You must empty yourself to be filled up by the healing power of the divine. Emptiness is the true nature of reality and the goal of all meditative practice. When you get out of your own way to allow spirit to work through you, you become a vessel of healing for others.

3. To build community through drum circles: In a society in which traditional family and community-based systems of support have become increasingly fragmented, drum circles provide a sense of connectedness with others and interpersonal support. A drum circle provides an opportunity to connect with your own spirit at a deeper level, and also to connect with a group of other like-minded people. Shamanic circles provide an authentic experience of unity and interconnectedness. Group drumming alleviates self-centeredness, isolation and alienation.

4. To access a higher power: Recent studies demonstrate that the drumming provides a secular approach to accessing a higher power and applying spiritual perspectives. According to research published in the American Journal of Public Health, "shamanic drumming directly supports the introduction of spiritual factors found significant in the healing process. Shamanic activities bring people efficiently and directly into immediate encounters with spiritual forces, focusing the client on the whole body and integrating healing at physical and spiritual levels. This process allows them to connect with the power of the universe, to externalize their own knowledge, and to internalize their answers; it also enhances their sense of empowerment and responsibility. These experiences are healing, bringing the restorative powers of nature to clinical settings."

5. To achieve self-realization: Drumming facilitates the realization or fulfillment of one's own potential. As Ute-Tiwa holy man Joseph Rael points out in his book, Being and Vibration, "Drumming opens up three basic vibrations. Drumming awakens the self. Drumming heightens the ability of perception, and drumming enables the person to see into the deeper realms of the self." Drumming connects us to our true self -- to our soul. Once connected to our soul, we can discover and actualize our true potential.

"The Shamanic Drum" Book Sale

Amazon is now offering a 16% discount on the paperback edition of my book "The Shamanic Drum: A Guide to Sacred Drumming." The paperback sale price is $11.69. Shamanic drumming is an ancient approach that uses rhythm to promote healing and self-expression. Based on my studies and personal shamanic experience, I present the first practical guide to applying this ancient healing art to our modern lives. Through a series of simple exercises and lessons, I teach the basic shamanic methods of drumming. The focus is on creating sacred space, journeying, power practice, power animals, drum therapy, drum circles and the therapeutic effects of drumming. Whether you are an accomplished percussionist or a total beginner, this user-friendly book will help you harness the power of drumming. Recent studies demonstrate that drumming is a valuable treatment for stress, chronic pain, cancer, stroke, trauma, addictions, mental illness, emotional disorders and a wide range of physical disabilities. The benefits include relaxation, healing, more energy, greater mental clarity, enhanced creativity and deeper self-awareness. Look inside "The Shamanic Drum."

Indie Shaman: The Shamanism Magazine

Indie Shaman is a leading shamanism magazine published in the United Kingdom and distributed internationally for those interested in shamanism, animism and all things shamanic. With pages packed full of informative illustrated articles by established authors in the field of shamanism, this magazine is aimed at people interested in living ethically according to shamanic principles. The 'Indie' in Indie Shaman stands for independent, meaning all inclusive regardless of tradition or area of shamanic interest. Indie also means independent people who thinks for themselves as in their slogan 'For Independent Spirits', a very shamanic trait found in both indigenous and contemporary shamans. Indie Shaman seeks to provide a supportive network for those interested in shamanism or a shamanic way of life, as well as for shamanic practitioners from all cultures. In doing this they endeavor to help people answer questions about life, promote self-discovery and self-development, and encourage respect for the self, the community and the land. To learn more visit Indie Shaman.

"The Shamanic Drum" Audiobook Release

I am pleased to announce the release of my audiobook "The Shamanic Drum: A Guide to Sacred Drumming." Shamanic drumming is an ancient approach that uses rhythm to promote healing and self-expression. Based on my studies and personal shamanic experience, I present the first practical guide to applying this ancient healing art to our modern lives. Through a series of simple exercises and lessons, I teach the basic shamanic methods of drumming. The focus is on creating sacred space, journeying, power practice, power animals, drum therapy, drum circles and the therapeutic effects of drumming. Whether you are an accomplished percussionist or a total beginner, this user-friendly audiobook will help you harness the power of drumming. Recent studies demonstrate that drumming is a valuable treatment for stress, chronic pain, cancer, stroke, trauma, addictions, mental illness, emotional disorders and a wide range of physical disabilities. The benefits include relaxation, healing, more energy, greater mental clarity, enhanced creativity and deeper self-awareness. 

 

Conveniently listen to the book on your phone, computer, tablet or in the car. Available on Amazon and iTunes. I invite you to listen to the Introduction on YouTube.

Contents (1994 Revised Edition)
Introduction
Chapter 1 - The Role of the Drum
Chapter 2 - The Fundamentals of Shamanic Drumming
Chapter 3 - Power Practice
Chapter 4 - Drumbeat of the Rainbow Fire
Chapter 5 - Healing the Earth
Afterword
Appendix A - Drums
Appendix B - Journeys

Understanding Trance Journeys

Shamanic journeying is not an exceptional skill reserved for certain people, but knowing what to do with intuition, how to respond to it, and how to integrate it into day-to-day life is an exceptional skill that can, and should, be learned. It is important to release any expectations you may have about what a journey should be like. Too often people reject what they are legitimately experiencing because it does not fit their expectations of what should be happening. The key is to trust that what is happening is exactly what is meant to occur at that moment in time.

Like the shaman, you will find the spirit world to be a fountain of wisdom and power. It is understood that what takes place in the journey world will follow in ordinary reality. Insights gained there shift thinking and behavior here. Healing which transpires there creates healing here. The most empowering gift shamanic journeying offers each of us is direct revelation that manifests as visions, inner voices or experiences with our own spirit helpers.

To better understand your journeys, I recommend recording your experiences in a journal as soon as you have returned to ordinary reality. Trance experiences, like dreams, tend to fade quickly from conscious awareness. Journaling is a contemplative practice that can help you become more aware of your inner life and feel more connected to your experiences and the world around you. Keeping a journal provides a record of your spiritual growth and allows you to reflect upon and better interpret journeys. In some cases, your journey experiences will be clear and easy to understand. At other times, your journey may be dreamlike and full of symbolism. Interpret such journeys as you would any dream. Look for possible associations related to each symbol or image. Do not overanalyze the journey, for its meaning will become clear at the appropriate time.

Not every journey you undertake will necessarily be coherent, vivid or powerful. Still, no matter how esoteric or random the experience may seem, it augments your shamanic skill and knowledge. Seemingly insignificant events in a journey or vision may manifest in a powerful way in your ordinary state of awareness. Be on the lookout for synchronicities, for they confirm that your shamanic work is producing effects beyond the bounds of probability or coincidence.

The more you practice shamanic journeying, the better you will get at it. Nothing may happen on your first journeys. You may not be able to turn off the mind chatter or go anywhere. When this happens, simply try again at a different time. Eventually you will be able to take a rapid inner journey anywhere or anytime the need arises. The regular practice of journeying into the spirit world changes you. It broadens your viewpoint, helps you to let go of judgment, encourages you to value yourself more and makes living your life more manageable. It gives you equilibrium. Try a shamanic journey.

The Book of Ceremony

Ceremony is essential for a healthy and balanced personal and communal life. Many persistent personal and social problems can be linked to the lack of ceremony. Ceremonies reduce tension, anxiety and stress, produce deeper self-awareness, and connect us to our community. They connect us with our deepest core values and our highest vision of who we are and why we are here. That's why shamanic teacher Sandra Ingerman wrote The Book of Ceremony -- to help us recover the sense of deeper meaning and sacred connection that makes ceremony a powerful tool for transformation and healing. "Ceremonies have always been used to create transformation," writes Ingerman. "Performing ceremonies creates a bridge between the material world we live in and the world of the unseen, the divine, the power of the universe." This practical guidebook is recommended to anyone seeking to engage the powers of the unseen world. Look inside The Book of Ceremony: Shamanic Wisdom for Invoking the Sacred in Everyday Life.

Shamanic Synchronicity

Carl Jung, the eminent psychologist, defined synchronicity as "meaningful coincidence," one that involves an internal psychological event that corresponds to an external observable event. Jung's premise is based upon the synchronicity of the universe. This is the proposition that the human experience is a microcosm and reflection of universal law and order. Humanity is the universe, occurring in every moment. Each human being is a hologram of the Cosmos, a weaving together of universal information from a particular point of view. As American author and human potentialist George Leonard put it: "Each human being consists of pure information expressed as rhythmic waves that start as infinitesimal vibrations of subatomic particles and build outward as ever-widening resonant hierarchies of atoms, molecules, cells, organs, organisms, families, bands, tribes, nations, civilizations, and beyond." At every phase of unfoldment, every entity is interwoven through the resonant web of information that is the universe.

Jung held that synchronicities mirror deep psychological processes, convey messages the way dreams do, and impart meaning and guidance to the degree they correspond to emotional states and inner experiences. A synchronicity is a coincidence that has an analog in the psyche, and depending on how you comprehend it, it can inform you through intuition and emotion. As anthropologist Michael Harner put it in his book The Way of the Shaman, synchronicities are considered "a kind of homing beacon analogous to a radio directional signal indicating that the right procedures and methods are being employed." So be on the lookout for synchronicities, for they confirm that your shamanic work is producing effects beyond the bounds of probability or coincidence.

The Suppressed History of Woman Shamanism

Max Dashu founded the Suppressed Histories Archives in 1970 to research women's history internationally and understand how systems of domination established and perpetuate themselves. Her goal is to restore women to cultural memory, to restore awareness of the full range of female experience and contributions, power and oppressions, all that has been omitted and edited out from textbooks and mass media. Throughout history the majority of writings and teachings known worldwide on shamanism have been from the masculine perspective.

From Buryat Mongolia to Gabon Africa, it was well known that the first shaman was a woman. According to a Chukchee (people inhabiting the northeasternmost part of Siberia) proverb, "Woman is by nature a shaman." Yet the female dimension of this realm of spiritual experience has often been slighted. Mircea Eliade (author of the authoritative "Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy") believed that women shamans represented a degeneration of an originally masculine profession, yet was hard put to explain why so many male shamans customarily dressed in women's clothing and assumed other female-gendered behaviors.

In fact, women have been at the forefront of this field worldwide, and in some cultures, they predominate. This was true in ancient China and Japan, as it still is in modern Korea and Okinawa, as well as among many South African peoples and northern Californians such as the Karok and Yurok. There are countless other examples, including the machi of the Mapuche in southern Chile and the babaylan and catalonan of the Philippines. Read more.

Is Shamanism the World's Oldest Profession?

A new study published in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences suggests shamans acted as the first professional class in human society. Manvir Singh, a graduate student in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University argues in a new paper that shamanism develops as specialists compete to provide magical services to their community. Those services could range from healing disease to exorcising evil spirits to telling fortunes, or even changing the weather. According to Singh, "The theory is that there are important things we really want to have control over -- calling rain, summoning animals, healing illness. All around the world, people believe that these important, uncertain outcomes are influenced by invisible forces -- gods, witches, their ancestors, fairies, and more. But a shaman says, 'I can control that. I can talk to fairies. I can see signs of witches. I can be possessed by a god or speak to them.'" The key to the community's trust that a shaman has those abilities, Singh said, comes from the belief that the shaman is transformed into something more than human, and able to interact with supernatural forces. This helps explain how shamans became the first professional class in human societies. Read more.