"Awaken the Inner Shaman"

Dr. José Luis Stevens, a psychotherapist and leading shamanic teacher, has published a new book, Awaken the Inner Shaman: A Guide to the Power Path of the Heart. According to Dr. Stevens, "the inner shaman is the wise one within each one of us....shamanically speaking, it's the one that's plugged into spirit." In this practical and informative guide, Dr. Stevens describes the human heart as the best place to access the inner shaman. The heart is a portal to the greater wisdom and knowing within -- and stepping into the power and responsibility we possess to shape and serve our world. In Awaken the Inner Shaman, Dr. Stevens challenges us to reclaim our lost power to heal, see truly, and fulfill our purpose in life. As Dr. Stevens writes: "The Inner Shaman, suppressed and ignored for centuries, can be discovered in the most obvious place possible -- within your own heart."

I also recommend Dr. Stevens's informative book Secrets of Shamanism: Tapping the Spirit Power Within You (1988), which was among the first books I read about shamanism. It is a useful introductory guide to personal shamanic practice. It is very easy to read and has lots of information. I keep a copy of this on my bookshelf for reference and recommend it to anyone interested in learning core shamanic techniques.

The Shaman's Rattle

The shaman's rattle is used to invoke the assistance of power animals and helping spirits. It is also possible to direct energy with rattles, much like a magician with a magic wand. Healing energy can be mentally transmitted through the rattle and out into the environment or into a patient's body. Prayer and intention can be broadcast to the spirit world. Moreover, you can create sacred space by describing a circle with the rattle while shaking it.

Among Iroquois medicine societies of present-day central and upstate New York, the gourd rattle is described as the sound of Creation. The creation stories tell of the first sound, a shimmering sound, which went out in all directions; this was the sound of "the Creator's thoughts." The seeds of the gourd rattle embody the voice of the Creator, since they are the source of newly created life. The seeds within the rattle scatter the illusions of the conscious mind, planting seeds of pure and clear mind.

In South America, the shaman's rattle is a most sacred instrument. The rattle is believed to embody the sacred forces of the cosmos through its sounds, structural features, contents, and connection to shamanic trance. The various parts of the rattle also symbolize the structures of the world. The handle is the vertical axis that ascends into the Celestial Realm. The Upper World is represented by the rattle's great head-gourd, which contains spirits. Joining the head of the rattle to the handle symbolizes the joining of masculine and feminine elements in the universe, an act of fertilization that bestows the sound of the instruments creative shamanic power. From a shamanic perspective, caretaking the rattle and playing it properly during ritual fulfills the destiny of the human spirit -- to sustain the order of existence.

Rattles and drums work well together. The repetitive sound of the rattle, like that of the drum, helps induce trance states. The shaking of rattles creates high-pitched frequencies that complement the low frequencies of drumbeats. The high tones of rattles resonate in the upper parts of the body and head. The low tones of drums act primarily on the abdomen, chest, and organs of balance, while stimulating an impulse toward movement. Rattles stimulate higher frequency nerve pathways in the cerebral cortex than do drums. This higher frequency input supplements the low frequency drumbeats, thereby boosting the total sonic effect. Try a rattle and drum shamanic journey.

The Shaman's Drumstick

Drums are an essential part of shamanic work; we use them for journeying, healing and celebration, both for ourselves and for the community. Additionally, the shamanic techniques of divination, extraction and soul retrieval and can all be performed with the drum. It can be used as a spirit boat and carry souls inside it during soul retrievals. The drum may serve as a purifying tool, a spirit-catcher or the shaman's mount.

The drumstick or beater is also a significant shamanic tool and has a powerful spirit and sound of its own. The best drumsticks are made of strong hardwood with a padded, leather covered head. They are usually decorated with fur, feathers, bead work or engraved with sacred symbols. Different beaters work better with different drums to bring out the tone qualities. By using different parts of the drumstick to play on different parts of the drum, different timbres can be produced for transmitting different meanings. There are hard beaters, semi-hard beaters, soft beaters, and rattle beaters, which are simply beaters with a rawhide or gourd rattle attached to the base of the handle opposite the head. The clicking of the rattle adds not only an interesting sound effect, but also produces an offbeat, which adds a new dimension to the sonic experience.

Furthermore, the shaman's drumstick has certain uses independent of the drum. In Tuva (southern Siberia), the rattle beater or orba, with its spoon-shaped head covered with animal fur and metal rings attached for rattling, is in part for practicing divination and drawing the attention of the spirits. The snare sounds associated with metal, stone and bone rattlers attached to beaters and drum frames are described as "spirit voices." When Tuvan drums were being confiscated and destroyed during the times of Soviet repression, some shamans used only their orba for rituals.

Among the Altaians of Siberia, shamans use the orba to invoke helping spirits, collect them into the drum and purify sacred space for ritual. According to M. A. Czaplicka, author of Shamanism in Siberia (2007, p. 171), when the shaman summons the spirits, "His tambourine sounds louder and louder, and he staggers under the burden of the vast number of spirit-protectors collected in it. Now he purifies the host, hostess, their children, and relatives by embracing them in such a way that the tambourine with the spirits collected in it touches the breast and the drumstick the back of each. This is done after he has scraped from the back of the host with the drum-stick all that is unclean, for the back is the seat of the soul."

Thus, drumsticks and drums are used in a variety of ways in shamanic rituals. The first step in learning how to work with these shamanic tools is to connect with the spirits of the instruments. By journeying to connect with the spirits, each shamanic practitioner can find out what a particular drum or drumstick is best suited for, such as divination, journeying, extracting, etc. When you meet the spirit of the instrument, it may teach you some special ways you can use it for your shamanic work that you did not know before. It may have a specific name, purpose or type of energy. Be open to the possibilities.

If the initial communication with the spirit of the instrument is not very clear, that's OK. Journeys like this can be repeated a number of times, in fact it is a good thing to do just to develop an ongoing relationship. You can journey to connect with the spirits of your instruments as often as you like. To learn more, read "Waking the Drum."

The Landscape of Shamanic Knowledge

Anthropologist Benedikte Møller Kristensen lived among the Duha Tuvan reindeer nomads in Northern Mongolia, researching the relation between landscape and shamanic knowledge in post-communist Tuvan society. Duha Tuvans conceive their clan histories and their current problems through the landscape, and they continually create and re-invent the landscape through cosmological symbols, narratives and ritualized experience of space. In spite of violent repression during communist rule, shamanism among Tuvan people has survived up until today, and is now increasing in the Mongolian forests and in the Tuvan cities. The key to its viability seems to be the flexibility inherent in shamanism, where knowledge gained through ritual engagement with spirits in the landscape, rather than a strict cosmological doctrine, is seen as the core of shamanism. Shamanic knowledge of the landscape is used to confront, understand and challenge the turbulent changes which are taking place in this corner of the post-Soviet world. Read more.

Drum Circle Etiquette

I cannot emphasize enough the responsibility you take on as a drummer in a shamanic drumming circle. Your drum's voice at the circle touches the heart and soul of every person present and spirals out into the resonating circle of life. That is no small responsibility, and it's one that should be taken very seriously. There are three basic rules of etiquette in shamanic drumming circles: honor, respect and gratitude. Each circle is different, but the following is some basic protocol:

1. Come with the intention to serve each other through love;

2. Enter sacred space with respect and leave your ego at the door;

3. Honor the rules of the circle as established by the circle keeper;

4. Ask permission before playing someone else's drum;

5. Play at a volume that blends with others for harmonic results;

6. Adjust accordingly to the ebb and flow of energy in the circle;

7. Play in unison with the lead drummer, which facilitates shamanic trance and entrainment;

8. Seek harmony and accord with the collective intention of the circle;

9. Give thanks to the spirits, the circle keeper, and the participants for their gifts;

10. With all of the above in mind, allow your spirit to soar!

Shamanic Divination

Shamanic divination is the art of seeing and interpreting signs in everything around us. Divination can give you answers to all the questions that you have in your life. Shamanic practitioners use three primary divination techniques: journeying, spirit embodiment, or divination tools. In journeying, the practitioner enters the spirit world to access information directly from the source. Basically, shamanic journeying is a way of communicating with your inner or spirit 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. After the journey, you must then interpret the meaning of your trance experience. 

Divination can also be performed using embodiment trance to bring a helping spirit into the practitioner's body. In an embodiment trance, the practitioner asks the spirit helpers to come into ordinary reality, enter the practitioner's body, and impart information through them. The idea is to become like a hollow bone, a conduit for spirit. By becoming an empty vessel for spirit, we can access the invisible sea of information that we bathe in daily, the all-pervading frequencies of consciousness immanent in all phenomena. Drumming is an excellent way to induce divination trance, allowing the practitioner to perceive energetic frequencies in a unique way. The practitioner experiences energies and then interprets them through his or her own symbolic language.

When using a divination tool, the practitioner enters an altered state and allows the patterns in the tool to determine the message from spirit. One of the best known divination tools is the I Ching. The I Ching is a microcosm of all possible human situations. It serves as a dynamic map, whose function is to reveal one's relative position in the cosmos of events. The hexagram texts address the sixty-four archetypal human situations. The commentary of each hexagram reveals the optimal strategy for integrating or harmonizing with the inevitable for a given condition. It provides the appropriate response to your inquiry. It affords a holistic perspective of your current condition and discusses the proper or correct way to address the situation. Consult the I Ching.

2014 Spring Equinox Global Ceremony

The Earth Wisdom Foundation is calling for people everywhere to join together for the 2014 Spring Equinox Global Medicine Wheel Ceremony on March 20 (or your local time). We will have people at Lake Titicaca, Peru, Mt. Shasta, CA, Glastonbury, England and other sites in Europe, India, Australia, Mt. Fuji, Japan, Maui, on the Grand Teton Medicine Wheel, Eagle and Condor Medicine Wheel, Pacific Northwest Medicine Wheel and many other sites.

You can connect to us in spirit from a point on one of the current medicine wheels or from your own sacred site. As we grow into future solstices and equinoxes we will expand the medicine wheel grid connections until we have many sacred sites on the Earth grids united in ceremony.

We are all connected through the Earth's ley lines. When we go to our sacred sites to do ceremony, we can collectively clean and clear old programs from the environment and charge the Earth with peace, love, joy and abundance.

Edge-Dwelling: A Social Ecology for Our Time

Part 5: Shamans, Midwives, and Hospice Workers

by Dianne Monroe, author of Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths for Turbulent Times

Beyond the edge where what we know and don't know meets lies the Unknown (with a capital U). It's a wild place that stretches the capacity of our human consciousness. This edge space is inhabited by a very particular kind of Edge-Dweller -- those willing to hold the hugeness of even our ability to know, the horizon of human consciousness.

This is the place inhabited by Shamans, Midwives, Hospice Workers (and perhaps others). Midwives hold the edge place between birth and whatever exists or does not exist before. They hold the process of bringing a human into being, welcoming them to their place on this magnificent planet. Hospice Workers hold the edge place between human life and whatever exists or does not exist after our time as humans on Earth is done. Shamans hold and navigate that huge edge space between the human world and that world that exists just beyond the edge of our consciousness -- that some may call the Divine or Holy, Spirit, Mystery or simply our Cosmos. 

Read more.

Business Shamanism

Imagine this: You're asked to deliver a memo to your CEO in the boardroom. As you approach you hear the sound of drumming. You cautiously open the door and on the floor, surrounded by burning candles, you behold the CEO and board of directors lying, flat with their eyes closed, being drawn into the rhythmic beat of the drum. Are you hallucinating? No. All is well. Richard Whiteley, bestselling author of The Corporate Shaman, is leading them on a journey to find their power animals. The corporate culture as we have come to know it may never be the same. An MBA graduate of the Harvard Business School, Whiteley is a successful management consultant and urban shaman who uses drumming and shamanic techniques to restore spirit to the business community. 

Daniel Pinchbeck, co-founder of Evolver, a lifestyle community platform that publishes Reality Sandwich, an online magazine centered around spirituality, philosophy and activism, proposes "Business Shamanism" as a new avant-garde art form. According to Pinchbeck, "business shamanism is the repurposing of the tools and instruments of the corporate culture and the mainstream economy to bring about social change, archaic revival, planetary regeneration, deeper initiation. The goal is to build a platform for radical revision, for a fundamental shift in perception and behavior, so that the alternative -- what author Charles Eisenstein calls 'the more beautiful world we know in our hearts is possible' -- manifests in our time."

Shamanism Without Borders

Shamanism Without Borders is an emerging movement initiated by the Society for Shamanic Practitioners to effectively respond to the world's natural disasters and crises. Even if we can't physically travel to a disaster site, shamanism allows us to work remotely to alleviate suffering. Shamanism literally has no borders except the ones we construct for ourselves. The SSP has now produced a handbook titled, Shamanism Without Borders: A Guide to Shamanic Tending for Trauma and Disasters. In this manual, experienced practitioners explain techniques and principles used by shamans throughout time to deal with trauma and disasters and how these practices are still applied today. The guidebook is just that -- a guidebook, not a blueprint, nor a set of rules and regulations. Every disaster is unique and requires the right action for its uniqueness. The book is simply a collection of philosophies and possibilities that can be a foundation for others to do similar work. The book urges readers to "read between the lines and listen between the words for Spirit to speak and comment."

Free "How to Make Drums" eBook

I began making rawhide frame drums in 1989 after attending my first shamanic drum circle. Birthing shamanic drums became a passion that continues to this day. Crafting and playing a drum that you have made yourself is eminently more satisfying than playing any other. A drum of your own creation will be imbued with your own unique essence. It will become a powerful extension of your essential self. Moreover, the spirit of a drum will pass through your hands into the drum as you make it. As master drummaker Judith Thompson put it, "Making a drum is like pulling your heart together and giving birth to a new part of yourself." To guide you in drum making, I highly recommend the book, How to Make Drums, Tomtoms, and Rattles by Bernard S. Mason. He gives detailed practical instructions on how to craft frame drums, from processing the rawhide to bending wooden slats into hoops. This classic 1938 edition is now a free public domain eBook. Download How to Make Drums.epub.

 

The healing power of a drum is based on the trinity of spirits inherent in the animal skin and the tree that make up the drum and the human player who brings it to life. The spiritual essence of your drum will be determined by the materials that go into its construction. When choosing an animal skin for your drum, take into consideration what animal energies, abilities, and characteristics you would like to invoke. The skin is the vocal chord of the drum’s spirit. Tuvan ethnographer Mongush Kenin-Lopsan explains, "Sounding the drum animates or enlivens it, giving voice to the spirit of the animal whose skin is struck with the beater." Tuvan shamans often name their drums after the animals whose skins are stretched across their frames.

The birth of a shamanic drum adds a new branch to the World Tree/Tree of Life. The drum is connected to the World Tree through the wood of the frame and its association through all trees back to the First Tree. The cedar is known as the Tree of Life by various indigenous peoples; hence cedar wood is often used for drum frames. Cedar frame drums are both lightweight and resonant. Red and yellow cedar both work well. In some cultures, the wood for the frame ideally comes from a lightning-struck tree, bringing the power of instantaneous transformation into the drum. Lightning here is also a metaphor for the striking clarity of the shaman’s reborn soul as it rises from the ego death of his or her initiation.

Keep in mind that your drumstick or beater has a spirit and sound of its own. The best beaters for frame drums are made of strong hardwood with a padded, leather covered head. You can decorate your beater with fur, feathers, beadwork, or engrave sacred symbols into it. Different beaters work better with different drums to bring out the tone qualities. There are hard beaters, semi-hard beaters, soft beaters, and rattle beaters, which are simply beaters with a rawhide or gourd rattle attached to the base of the handle opposite the head. In Tuva, the rattle beater or orba, with its head covered with animal fur and metal rings attached for rattling, is in part for practicing divination and drawing the attention of the spirits. The snare sounds associated with metal, stone, and bone rattles attached to beaters and drum frames are described as "spirit voices."

Blue Morpho Cannabis Shamanism

Blue Morpho Butterfly

Hamilton Souther, founder of Blue Morpho Cannabis Shamanism (BMCS) and the Cannabis Shamanism movement, unveiled recently the BMCS discipline. According to Souther, "This discipline guides people to the profound medicinal, visionary, spiritual, and healing properties of cannabis."

Souther utilizes cannabis, within the framework of a shamanic ceremony, in order to generate an authentic spiritual experience. Participants in Souther's ceremonies have reported the cannabis ceremony to be as life changing as their Ayahuasca ceremonies with him in Peru, which have been prominently featured in National Geographic. They experienced transcendental states of consciousness that also led to increased effectiveness in every aspect of their life, job, relationships and family.

Souther commented, "The ceremony is a focused use of a medicinal plant for a heightened purpose of spiritual growth, personal development and exploration of higher states of consciousness, as well as, self-development, physical and emotional healing, removal of personal blocks, and improving your everyday life experience." Souther continued, "Under no circumstances is this about abusing cannabis or escaping, but rather, a responsible use that benefits individuals, community and society. These ceremonies redefine one's connection and respect for the plant. BMCS is a doorway to authentic spiritual experiences in guided shamanic ceremonies that can only be facilitated by certified Ceremonial Guides, whom I have trained."

About Hamilton Souther

Hamilton Souther is a Master Ayahuasca & Cannabis Shaman. He focuses his work on authentic traditional and modern disciplines of shamanism. Bilingual in English and Spanish, he has a Bachelors degree in Anthropology, and has practiced shamanism worldwide. Legendary Master Shamans Alberto Torres Davila and Julio Llerena Pinedo gave Hamilton the title of Master Shaman after completing an apprenticeship under the tutelage of the two. Over the last 12 years, he has guided thousands of participants into shamanic states of consciousness and has transformed shamanism into an accessible spiritual modality for westerners. Within that development Hamilton has been able to heal westerners of depression, anxiety, drug addiction and PTSD. His ceremonies also help people find their deepest purposes and goals in life.

For more information about Hamilton Souther and Blue Morpho Cannabis Shamanism, visit
www.bluemorphocannabisshamanism.com.

Medicine Wheel Peace Gathering

Bavado, Rainbow Thunder Heart of the Eastern Shoshone Nation, Wind River, WY is coming to Salem, OR to share through medicine wheel ceremony how to clear, cleanse and balance Mother Earth. Through vibration and sound, Bavado will create a crystal grid to assist 'us' (the stewards) in healing the drought in our area. This is a community event full of celebration! Please bring a percussion or musical instrument to participate in the event. Afterwards there will be a potluck so bring a yummy dish or snack. When: Saturday, February 16, 2014 from 1 to 4 pm. Where: Center for Inner Awareness, 2111 Front St. NE, Bldg 3, Suite 3-209, Salem, OR 97301. Cost: $25. Contact Bavado: 360-515-8020 or Laura: 503-422-3865. Download event flyer.

How to Connect with Your Shamanic Drum

As a drum circle facilitator, I get asked a lot about how to work with shamanic drums. Drums are an essential part of shamanic work; we use them for journeying, healing and celebration, both for ourselves and for the community. Additionally, the shamanic techniques of extraction, soul retrieval and divination can all be performed with the drum. Yet many people I meet who acquire a drum say they want to work with it but they are not sure how to. Connecting with the spirit of the drum is the first step in learning how to work with it.

There are many ways to connect with a drum. Some shamanic practitioners craft their own drums. A drum of your own creation will be imbued with your own unique essence. It will become a powerful extension of your essential self. Moreover, the spirit of a drum will pass through your hands into the drum as you make it. Other practitioners may choose to purchase drums, and then decorate them in ways that infuse their own energy into it. 

One of the best ways to connect with a drum is by journeying to meet the spirit of your drum. Begin by smudging the drum, and then call upon the spirit of the drum and ask it to come to you and become your ally. To support your journey, you can play the drum you are working with or listen to a shamanic journey drumming recording while holding the drum. 

When you meet the spirit of the drum, it may teach you some special ways you can use the drum for your shamanic work that you did not know before. It may have a specific name, purpose or type of energy (for example some feel very grounding, others more ethereal). Your drum may wish to be played, decorated or stored in a particular way. It may teach you a rhythm for invoking and enlivening it. When a helping spirit is invoked, there is often an accompanying rhythm that comes through. Be open to the possibilities. 

If the initial communication with the spirit of the drum is not very clear, that's OK. Journeys like this can be repeated a number of times, in fact it is a good thing to do just to develop an ongoing relationship. You can journey to connect with the spirit of your drum as often as you like. To learn more, read "Waking the Drum." 

What is a shamanic drumming circle?

What is a shamanic drumming circle you may ask? You might say that all drumming provides healing benefits and all drum circles provide the opportunity to also experience the group energy of drumming together in community. In this post, however, I am speaking of a circle whose focus is on connecting with spirit and each other in ways that promote healing and learning. This is a place for shamanic practitioners to get together for learning, healing, and the direct revelation of spiritual guidance. It is a facilitated circle, but the leader is facilitating a shamanic ritual rather than a musical event. Unlike a free-form or polyrhythmic drumming circle, shamanic drumming is generally simple and repetitive, often considered as a form of prayer or method of trance induction, rather than as music or entertainment. Musical considerations are minimal in shamanic circling. The group's focus is on the spiritual intention or the energy of what is being played. The objective in shamanic drumming is for everyone to play in unison, which facilitates shamanic trance and entrainment, synchronizing each participant's heart and metabolic rhythm with the drum beat. Shamanic drumming circles serve many functions. Foremost among them are:

1. Providing a consistent, safe and supportive space to practice shamanism;

2. Acquiring shamanic knowledge through collaborative sharing and from helping spirits through direct revelation;

3. Deepening the participants' relationships with their helping spirits through shamanic practice;

4. Providing help, healing and support for individuals and for the community;

5. Developing key drum skills such as rhythmicity, ensemble playing and therapeutic drumming.

Click here to look inside my "Shamanic Drumming Circles Guide."

Didgeridoo Therapy

The didgeridoo is one of the world's oldest musical instruments, originating in Australia thousands of years ago. It is a wooden wind instrument that is played with continuously vibrating lips to produce a resonant trance inducing drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. This requires breathing in through the nose while simultaneously expelling stored air out of the mouth using the tongue and cheeks. Playing the didgeridoo strengthens and tones the tissues of the throat, and can also provide good exercise for the respiratory system, as well as a meditation aid. According to a study published in The British Medical Journal, playing didgeridoo helped reduce snoring as well as daytime sleepiness and could improve sleep apnea. People who have experienced didgeridoo therapy have reported that they sleep more soundly and have a stronger feeling of wellness in their daily lives. Read more.

Drum Therapy for Depression

A Finnish study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry finds that drumming alleviates depression. Twice a week, with the help of trained music therapists, the participants in a 2011 research study learned how to improvise music using a mallet instrument, a percussion instrument or an acoustic, West African djembe drum. Study results demonstrated that participants receiving active music therapy in addition to standard care had a significantly greater improvement in their symptoms than those receiving standard care alone after three months of treatment. Researchers believe the addition of music therapy allows people to better express their emotions and reflect on their inner feelings. It has been argued that music making engages people in ways that words may simply not be able to. Read more.

Core Shamanic Beliefs

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 trance, induced by shamanic practices such as repetitive drumming. This second-order awareness can be developed over time or appear all at once, but once it is discerned the world is never the same. According to shamanic theory, 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. Read more.

How to Make Prayer Ties

The sacrament tobacco is used cross-culturally as a unifying thread of communication between humans and the spiritual powers. Offering grandfather tobacco carries our prayers to the "Loom of Creation," thereby reweaving the pattern of existence in accordance with those prayers. Prayer ties are spiritual symbols created by wrapping tobacco into a cloth while praying and meditating. Upon completion, the prayer ties are ritually burned, opening a path of communication between the human world and the spirit world. To learn how to make prayer ties, read more. 

The Revival of Mongolian Shamanism

In the book -- "Tragic Spirits," MIT anthropologist Manduhai Buyandelger chronicles how the revival of shamanism has shaped Mongolia in the last two decades. From storefronts in Ulan Bator, the nation's capital, to homes in rural Mongolia, shamanism has become a growth industry. The return of shamanism, she asserts, represents more than the straightforward return of a once-banned religion to Mongolia. And it is more than just a convenient method for people to earn a little income by working as shamans. Rather, she says, shamanism became more popular precisely because, in a poor country recovering from Soviet domination -- where Mongolia's occupiers had wiped away its records and the physical traces of its past -- shamanic practices have offered some Mongolians a way to reinvent their own history. Shamans offer clients the opportunity to meet with the spirits of their distant ancestors and hear "fragmented stories about their lives in the past."