What is Shamanism?

According to the Encyclopedia of Shamanism, a shaman is a practitioner who has developed the mastery of "accessing altered states of consciousness" and "mediating between the needs of the spirit world and those of the physical world in a way that can be understood by the community ...." Shamanism is the intentional effort to acquire and nurture ongoing relationships with personal helping spirits by journeying into realms where the spirits dwell. The reason for developing personal relationships with spirit helpers is to gain wisdom, healing techniques, and other vital information that can benefit the community. It is this intimate relationship with spirit and the use of trance states that distinguishes the shaman from other practitioners.

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.

Shamans employ methods for altering consciousness so that they can send their souls into the non-ordinary reality of the spirits who become their friends, guides, guardians, instructors, and allies. These helping spirits might be the spirits of nature, animals, plants, the elements, ancestors, gods, goddesses, or teachers from various religious traditions. The act of sending one's soul into the spirit world 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 shaman's trance is an intentionally induced state of ecstasy. Shamanic trance is characterized by its flexibility, ranging from a light diagnostic state, to spirit flight, and to full embodiment by spirit. Shamans use intention and discipline to control the nature, depth, and qualities of their trance states. The shaman may progress through a range of trance states until they reach the level that is necessary for healing to occur.

The capacity to enter a range of trance states is a natural manifestation of human consciousness. The ability to enter trance states makes us a human - not a shaman. What makes shamans unique is their mastery over an otherwise normal human trait. It requires training, practice, and devotion to master any expressive art. Shamans master the art of ecstasy to see the true nature of the universe.

Copyright © 2013 by Michael Drake

My Life as an Incan Shaman

Born and raised in the Andean highlands, Elena Camargo Radford is one of the first female shamans from Peru. Elena comes from an ancient Incan lineage steeped in shamanic teachings and practices. She has inherited and uses the sacred language and multi-dimensional communication skills developed by her people over thousands of years. Elena's practice of Inca shamanism includes, activating water, crystals, and the information within them that allows people to clear their DNA. The single mom and former Mormon teaches the ancient wisdom path of her people to groups throughout the USA, particularly in Utah, where she and her family reside. Read more of Elena's story.

"Why Are We Afraid to Die?"

Streaming live on the Co-Creator Radio Network on Tuesday, October 22, at 11am Pacific/2pm Eastern on "Why Shamanism Now? A Practical Path to Authenticity," Christina Pratt explores cultural stories about death and how to work shamanically in one's own life to find your fear of death and dispel it. The stories we have been told about where we go when we die shape our reality about death. Millions of people are terrified of death because they have been told a story of hell and damnation. Others face death without suffering because they have been told a story of the turning of the great karmic wheel and reincarnation. The idea that we would go anywhere but Home when we die has done great harm to humanity, caused great suffering, and created a logjam of frightened souls between here and the Land of the Dead. According to Pratt, the beauty of shamanism is that we can actually go explore what is true underneath these stories that shaped the Old World. Prior episodes from "Why Shamanism Now" can be downloaded for free from iTunes.

Shaking Medicine

Professor Bradford Keeney, PhD, is an internationally renowned scholar, author, and therapist. His 2007 book, Shaking Medicine: TheHealing Power of Ecstatic Movement, reintroduces the oldest medicine on earth--the ecstatic shaking of the human body. Most people's worst fear is losing control--of their circumstances, of their emotions, and especially of their bodies. Yet in order to achieve the transcendent state necessary to experience deep healing, we must surrender control. Examining cultural traditions from around the world where shaking has been used as a form of healing--from the Shakers and Quakers of New England to the shaking medicine of Japan, India, the Caribbean, the Kalahari, and the Indian Shakers of the Pacific Northwest--Bradford Keeney shows how shaking can bring forth profound therapeutic benefits. Read more.

What is Shamanic Drumming?

Shamanic drumming is drumming for the purpose of inducing a range of ecstatic trance states in order to connect with the spiritual dimension of reality. Ecstasy is defined as a mystic, prophetic, or poetic trance. It is a trance-like state of exaltation in which the mind is fixed on what it contemplates or conceives. The drum serves as a concentration device, enhancing one's capacity to focus attention inward. It stills the incessant chatter of the mind, enabling one to enter a subtle or light-trance state. Shamanic drumming carries awareness into the transcendent realm of the collective unconscious, the infinite creative matrix of all that we are and have ever been. It is an inward spiritual journey of rapture in which one interacts with the inner world, thereby influencing the outer world.

Practiced in diverse cultures around the planet, this drum method is strikingly similar the world over. Shamanic drumming uses a repetitive rhythm that begins slowly and then gradually builds in intensity to a tempo of three to seven beats per second. The ascending tempo will induce light to deep trance states, and facilitate the shamanic techniques of journeying, shapeshifting, and soul retrieval. Transported by the driving beat of the drum, the shaman or shamanic practitioner, will journey to the inner planes of consciousness. When ready to exit the trance state, the practitioner simply slows the tempo of drumming, drawing consciousness back to normal.

The drum, sometimes called the shaman's horse, provides a relatively easy means of controlled transcendence. Researchers have found that if a drum beat frequency of around three to four beats per second is sustained for at least fifteen minutes, it will induce significant trance states in most people, even on their first attempt. During shamanic flight, the sound of the drum serves as a guidance system, indicating where the shamanic traveler is at any moment or where they might need to go. The drumbeat also serves as an anchor, or lifeline, that the practitioner will follow to return to his or her body and/or exit the trance state when the trance work is complete.

     

The shaman's trance is an intentionally induced state of ecstasy. Shamanic trance is characterized by its flexibility, ranging from a light diagnostic state, to spirit flight, and to full embodiment by spirit. Shamanic practitioners use intention and discipline to control the nature, depth, and qualities of their trance states. Practitioners may progress through a range of trance states until they reach the level that is necessary for healing to occur.

The capacity to enter a range of trance states is a natural manifestation of human consciousness. The ability to enter trance states doesn't make you a shaman; it makes you human. What makes shamans unique is their mastery over an otherwise normal human trait. It requires training, practice, and devotion to master any expressive art. Shamans master the art of ecstasy to see the true nature of the universe. Shamanic drumming continues to offer today what it has offered for thousands of years: namely, a simple and effective technique of ecstasy. I invite you to try a shamanic journey and to look inside my book The Shamanic Drum: A Guide to Sacred Drumming (paid link).