What Shamanism Is Not

When people ask me if I can define what shamanism is, I like to begin by defining what it isn't. Sometimes it is easier to contrast something with what it is not than to define exactly what it is. So in that vein, shamanism is not:
 

Religion. It is important to highlight that shamanism is not a religion, which involves a set of organized beliefs, practices, and systems that most often relate to the belief and worship of a controlling force, such as a personal god or another supernatural being. In an organized religion, belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established, typically by an official doctrine (or dogma), a hierarchical or bureaucratic leadership structure, and a codification of proper and improper behavior. Unlike religion, shamanism has no dogma, no religious hierarchy, and is a cross-cultural tradition characterized by direct revelation and hands on experience. Shamanism is based on the principle that innate wisdom and guidance can be accessed through the inner senses in ecstatic trance. No intermediary such as the church or priesthood is needed to access personal revelation and spiritual experience. 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.
 

Psychology. Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior.  Psychologists endeavor to understand the motivations and intentions inherent within a person's mental and emotional behaviors. It does so by uncovering the hidden agendas and issues at play in a persons actions and choices. Shamanism acknowledges the value of the psychological perspective, however, it does not seek to understand a person's underlying issues and intentions. That is best left to trained psychologists. Indeed, from the shamanic perspective--which is to say a soul-centered perspective, rather than a mental perspective--it is understood that the inner state of the soul is expressed as thoughts, feelings and emotions in the outer, physical realm. The mental and emotional conditions are but the symptoms or manifestation of the inner state of the soul. Shamanism is a paradigm of self-empowerment, which enables people to engage the soul in ways that foster its growth and evolution.
 

Metaphysics. Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being. The perspective of metaphysics is that everything has a function or purpose and its essential nature is to grow and achieve its purpose. It explores abstract concepts such as cause and effect (karma), the nature of time, the existence of God, the meaning of life, the relationship between mind and body, and the existence of free will. Unlike metaphysics, shamanism is based in personal accountability without the imposition of an all-powerful God or theoretical universal laws that dictate the circumstances of our lives. Shamanism is premised on spiritual sovereignty free of karmic reward and punishment. When presented with a situation, shamanism never endeavors to find what the lesson is, understand its purpose, or comprehend the meaning. Instead, practitioners seek to apply their knowledge and skills to resolve the situation. Practitioners employ time-tested methods for altering consciousness to find clarity and solve problems.
 

What Shamanism Is
 

Shamanism is a cross-cultural, spiritual path practiced in every continent of the world. It is the most ancient and most enduring spiritual tradition known to humanity. It 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.
 

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 shamanic practitioner traverses the inner realms in order to mediate between the needs of the spirit world and those of the material world. It is an inward spiritual journey of rapture in which the practitioner interacts with the inner spirit world, thereby influencing the outer material world. From a shamanic perspective, all human experience is self-generated. Experience is shaped from within since the inner world is a microcosm of the outer world. Each human being is a hologram of the universe. Essentially, we are the universe experiencing itself in human form.

Shamanism and Music

Shamanism and music combined thousands of years ago. By observing nature, shamans perceived that the power of sound could be used to help and heal others. The first drums and musical instruments were put to shamanic use, as were many of the early singing traditions. According to Tuvan musicologist Kira Van Deusen, "In a shaman's world music operates in several ways. It helps the shaman and other participants in a ceremony to locate and enter the inner world, opening the inner, spiritual ear and eye. Musical sound calls helping spirits and transports the shaman on the journey. Both the rhythm and the timbre of musical sound help heal the patient through the effects of specific frequencies and musical styles on the human body."(1)

Music is an essential tool in shamanic ritual and healing work. Music is the carrier of the specific intention or desired outcome of the ritual. Music is used to contain the energetic or spiritual aspect of the sacred space, which is defined physically by the assembled people who participate. Dance and song propel the ritual process forward by providing a vehicle for self-expression within the sacred space. Together the musicians create the necessary container that channels the energy generated by the performance in ways that the shaman can guide toward the ritual's intended outcome.
 

Three elements are constantly interacting in communal healing rites: the shaman who guides the flow and pattern of the ritual, the musicians who contain the sacred space, and the gathered people who participate. Interaction between all three elements is necessary to maintain the energy, flow and intention of the ritual.
 

Music is also used to crack open the part of the self that holds emotions in check. For example, in funeral rites among the Dagara people of West Africa, drumming and singing are used to open the mourners to grief. Grief is then channeled in such a way that it will convey the newly deceased soul to the afterlife. Without the help of the drummers, musicians and singers, the powerful emotional energy cannot be unleashed. If not channeled properly, grief is useless to the dead and dangerous to the living. According to Christina Pratt, author of An Encyclopedia of Shamanism, "This musical container of the ritual space must be maintained continuously. The musicians do not rest as long as the ritual continues, though the ritual may last one to four full days."(2)
 

Shamanic Music
 

Shamanic music is traditionally performed as part of a shamanic ritual; however, it is not a musical performance in the normal sense. According to Scottish percussionist Ken Hyder, who has studied with Siberian shamans, "musical considerations are minimal in shamanic performance. The shaman's focus is on the spiritual intention or the energy of what is being played. When the performer concentrates on the spiritual aspect of playing, it allows the music to become very loose, spontaneous, and innovative." Hyder explains, "My approach to music making changed decisively following my experiences in Siberia. For me it starts with the dungur [drum] and the expanded possibilities of variation arising from its superficially apparent instability. And it continues to open up with other musicians being equally free in themselves and in the context of a group. That opening up has the capacity to expand and expand further making the playing fresh, different and spontaneous each time."(3)
 

Shamanic music is improvised by the shaman to modify movement and change while actively journeying into the spirit world. It is a musical expression of the soul, supporting the shamanic flight of the soul. Sacred music is directed more to the spirit world than to an audience. The shaman's attention is directed inwards towards communication with the spirits, rather than outwards to any listeners who might be present.
 

Another way that the shaman expresses their experiences in the spirit world is through their physical movements in this reality. In their journeys, shamans are often flying, running, crouching, stalking and fighting unseen spirits. All of these movements are acted out for all to see in a shamanic performance.
 
A shaman uses various ways of making sounds to communicate with the spirits, as well as relate the tone and content of the inner trance experience in real time. Sound is regarded as one of the most effective ways of establishing connections with the spirit realm, since it travels through space, permeates visual and physical barriers, and conveys information from the unseen world. Shamans may chant, clap their hands, imitate the sounds of birds and animals, or play various instruments. Of particular importance are the shaman's drum and song.
 

Each shaman has his or her own song. It announces the shaman to the spirits and proclaims, "this is me; please help me." The song is usually sung near the beginning of the ritual and is often accompanied by drumming. Singing brings the heartbeat and body into resonance with the song similar to entrainment with the pulse of the drum. As the shaman's song invokes the intended spirits, the shaman comes into resonance with these spirit energies as well.

Shamanic experience can be expressed in many ways: through writing, art, and film, however it must be created after the fact. The one artistic medium which can be used to immediately express shamanic trance without disrupting the quality of the shamanic experience is music. The shaman's use of sound and rhythm is an audible reflection of their inner environment. This is the traditional method for integrating shamanic experience into both physical space and the cultural group.

1. Kira Van Deusen, Singing Story, Healing Drum: Shamans and Storytellers of Turkic Siberia (McGill-Queen's Press, 2005), p 108.
2. Christina Pratt, An Encyclopedia of Shamanism (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2007), p. 128.
3. Ken Hyder, Shamanism and Music in Siberia: Drum and Space. Tech. 11 Aug. 2008. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

The Power of Ritual and Ceremony

A ceremony is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. Ritual and ceremony are an essential and basic means for human beings to convey to themselves and to others the necessary messages which enable them to maintain their humanity. They communicate acceptance, love, esteem, a sense of identity and purpose, shared values and beliefs, and shared memorable events. Every ritual contains tender and numinous moments. And in those moments of transcendence we are taken out of the normal flow of life, and out of our routines. We are then in an event that is unique, irreplaceable and sacred. In ritual we participate in something deep and significant. They are moments which move our heart and touch our soul.

Ritual and ceremony are essential for a healthy and balanced personal and communal life. Many persistent personal and social problems can be linked to the lack of ritual and ceremony. The late Joseph Campbell, one of the great mythologists of the twentieth century, asserted that the level of civilized behavior in a society is directly linked to the practice of ceremonies and rites of passage. Rituals and ceremonies reduce tension, anxiety and stress, produce deeper self-awareness, and connect us to our community. They are a vehicle for belonging--to a family, to a people, and to the land. Both reconnect us with our deepest core values and our highest vision of who we are and why we are here. 

Ritual and ceremony nourish our spirits and our psyches. They heal the deep wounds in us that are unseen and unspoken. Ceremonials offer us a deeper healing solution to complex dilemmas that plague modern life, those problems that lie beneath the surface, waiting to erupt. When the soul is in a state of discontent, conflict and discord, these conditions manifest in our daily life's events as dissonance, confusion, ill health and misfortune. Conversely, when our soul is in a state of peace and harmony, these qualities manifest in our life as ease and acceptance, caring and accord with the world around us. From an shamanic perspective, the restoration of one's soul contributes to the restoration of the collective soul of humanity.

Ritual vs Ceremony

Ritual and ceremony are two distinct practices used to engage the powers of the unseen world to effect specific changes in the visible world. Ceremony is a formal act or set of acts designed to celebrate, honor or acknowledge what is. Ceremony is used to strengthen or restore the status quo, grounding people in the natural order of things and/or deepening communal relationships. Ritual is a formal act or set of acts designed to cause a change in what is--to change or transform the status quo.

Ritual and ceremony are 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. They may involve prayers, chanting, drumming, dancing, anointing, as well as rites of passage. Both are designed to engage the spirit world in helping us to do what we are unable to do for ourselves. The power of ritual and ceremony is they marry the mundane to the sacred. Without the connection to the powers of the spirit world, neither is an effective tool for initiating change. By creating effective ritual and ceremony, we can skillfully engage Spirit in the processes we are involved in like healing, therapy or actualizing our goals.

Changing the World

Whether you realize it or not, you are creating your reality all the time. Your reality is the perfect, exact mirror of your thoughts and what you consistently focus upon. Every thought, idea, or image in the mind has form and substance. Everything that we perceive began with a thought. The structure of our universe is thought, mind and consciousness. Consciousness determines the form of our experience. Consciousness is the "theater of perceptual awareness." It is the collective consciousness of humanity that shapes physical reality. We are the universe made conscious to experience itself. We are mind. We live in a universe of mind. From photons to galaxies, life is conscious intelligent energy that can form itself into any pattern or function.
 

Metaphysically, the ultimate nature of existence is that there is but one consciousness which presides over a singular, yet multidimensional, field of energy that it can form into any patterns it desires by the exercise of its thoughts and intentions. And these patterns encompass everything seen and unseen. This consciousness has been referred to as source consciousness, universal consciousness, or cosmic consciousness. Moreover, cosmic consciousness not only creates patterns of energy, it can also perceive and experience them.
 

There is only consciousness, information and the perception of information, and this facilitates the creation and experience of multiple realities. The world that you believe exists outside of you is basically an illusion--it is a purely perceptual experience. Your experiences are real, but the outer world is imaginary. Your reality is only information that was imagined into existence and is essentially just imagery that your consciousness perceives. Perception is an illusory product of consciousness. The world around you is nothing more than a very convincing perceptual illusion.
 

If consciousness creates reality, then change starts within. It starts with the way you observe the outer world from your inner world. You can change the outer world by changing your inner world. The world is your stage. The stage that collective reality plays out on is just there to create a context within which to play out the story of your personal reality. You can create anything you want in life, and it is not limited to what already exists in the collective reality, but it does provide a host of options to select into your life. However, they are all optional--they cannot enter into your experience unless you invite them in with your thoughts. In fact, the collective reality can be a distraction that lures you into focusing on "what is" instead of "what can be."
 

Quantum physics points out that this is a participatory universe in which the power to change reality is literally in our hands at every moment. Modern physics is describing what indigenous shamans have long known. Shamans know that the creative matrix of the universe exists within human consciousness, enabling humans to participate in creation itself. For the shaman, changing reality is not just an ability, but also a duty one must perform so that future generations will inherit a world where they can live in peace, harmony and abundance.
 

Shamans access the creative matrix through techniques of ecstasy such as drumming. Rhythmic drumming is a simple and effective way to induce an ecstatic trance state. Shamanic drumming transports you to the creative matrix within. It is an inward spiritual journey of ecstasy in which you interact with the inner world, thereby influencing the outer world. Ecstatic trance enables you to participate directly in the work of encountering and transforming your inner structure, which mirrors your reality. Structure determines how energy will flow, where it will be directed, and what new forms and structures will be created. Through the transformation of your inner landscapes, you transform the external landscapes. You create new forms, new structures that are not based on hierarchy, estrangement and exploitation. You renew the Sacred Hoop of life on Earth.

Taking the Shamanic Journey

An excerpt from my book, Shamanic Journeys: An Anthology

 

Shamanism is based on the principle that the spiritual world may be contacted through the inner senses in ecstatic trance. 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. You should have a question or objective in mind from the start. Shamanic journeying may be undertaken for purposes of divination, for personal healing, to meet one's power animal or spirit guide, or for any number of other reasons. After the journey, you must then interpret the meaning of your trance experience.
 
When we journey within, we are engaging the imaginal realm. Imagination is our portal to the spirit world. Internal imagery enables us to perceive and connect with the inner realms. If a shaman wants to retrieve information or a lost guardian spirit, "imagining what to look for" is the first step in achieving any result. According to C. Michael Smith, author of Jung and Shamanism in Dialogue, "The shaman's journey employs the imagination, and the use of myth as inner map gives the shaman a way of imagining non-ordinary reality, so that he or she may move about intentionally in it."(1) By consciously interacting with the inner imagery, the shaman is able to communicate with spirit guides and power animals.
 

Communication in non-ordinary reality is characteristically archetypal, nonverbal and nonlinear in nature. The images we see during a shamanic journey have a universal, archetypical quality. Imagery from these experiences is a combination of our imagination and information conveyed to us by the spirits. Our imagination gives the journey a "container," which helps us to understand the messages we receive. It provides us with a way to understand and articulate the experience for ourselves and to others.
 

The Journey Process
 

To enter a trance state and support your journey, you will need a drum or a shamanic drumming recording. Shamanic drumming is drumming for the purpose of shamanic journeying. A good shamanic drumming recording should be pulsed at around three to four beats per second. There should be a call back signal near the end of the track, followed by a short period of drumming to assist you in refocusing your awareness back to your physical body. You may also rattle, chant or sing to induce trance. There is no right or wrong way to journey. Be innovative and try different ways of journeying. Many people need to move, dance or sing their journeys. My first journeys were supported by listening to a shamanic drumming recording, but now I have much stronger journeys when I drum for myself.
 

Another way to train yourself to focus and concentrate is to narrate your journey as you are experiencing it. To set this up, you need headphones to listen to the drumming recording and a recorder of some kind. The simultaneous narration and recording technique can be distracting at first, but it is a good way to make sure you are getting all the information your helping spirits are giving you.
 
For your first journeys, I recommend traveling to the Lower World using the technique taught by the late Michael Harner. Founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Harner was widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on experiential and practical shamanism. In his book, The Way of the Shaman, Harner suggests that you visualize an opening into the Earth that you remember from sometime in your life. The entrance could be an animal burrow, hollow tree stump, cave, and so on. When the journey begins, you will go down the hole and a tunnel will appear. The tunnel often appears ribbed and may bend or spiral around. This tunnel-like imagery is related to the central axis that links the three inner planes of consciousness. Enter the tunnel and you will emerge into the Lower World, the realm of power animals, spirit guides and ancestral spirits. It is an Earth-like dimension where we can connect with helping spirits. The basic steps for a journey to the Lower World are as follows:
 

1. Smudge to create a purified space, and then open sacred space by calling in the benevolent powers of the seven directions: East, South, West, North, Up, Down and Within. Dim the lights and sit erect in a chair or on the floor. Close your eyes and ground yourself with some mindful breathing until you are calm and relaxed.
 

2. Having established sacred space, it is important to form your intention or objective for the journey. It is best to have only one inquiry or question per journey. It is important to focus on the issue that you want to know more about. Focusing on an issue develops a receptive state of mind and helps you clarify what it is you are truly seeking.
 

3. After clarifying the intended objective, begin playing a repetitive rhythm that begins slowly, and then gradually builds in intensity to a steady tempo of three to four beats per second (or listen to your shamanic drumming recording). As the drumming begins, close your eyes and focus a moment on the inquiry free of any distractions, emotions or attachments that could distort the response.
 

4. Next, you should clear your mind of everything. Focused intent, to be effective, should be followed by complete surrender and detachment. Focus your attention on the sound of the drum, thereby stilling the mind. Allow the drum to empty you. Become one with the drum.
 

5. At this point, you may find it helpful to imagine with all your senses the entrance to a cave, an opening in the Earth, or a hollow tree trunk that you have seen or visited. Use an image that you are comfortable with and one that you can clearly visualize. Clear your mind of everything but this image.
 

6. Approach the entrance or opening and enter it. You may have to pass through some swirling energy, water or fog in order to enter the portal. Typically, you will meet an entity here that will act as your spirit guide. It may appear to you as an animal, a person, a light, a voice, or have no discernible form at all. If you are uncomfortable or put off by whatever appears, ask it to take another form. It is important that you see, feel, hear, or in some way sense the presence of an ally that you trust and feel at ease with before proceeding with your first journey. If you do not, then return through the entrance and journey another time.
 

7. Pose your query to the guide. Your spirit guide may simply answer your question, but most likely will lead you on a journey. Your guide may become your mount for the journey. Follow your guide's instructions implicitly. If asked to leave, do so at once. Typically, you will proceed down a tunnel at a rapid pace. If you encounter an obstacle, just go over or around it, or look for an opening through it.
 

8. When you emerge from the passage, you will find yourself in the Lower World. You may be led to a helping spirit that can answer your question. You may go through different landscapes and experience different situations. The possibilities are endless. Just go with the flow and observe whatever happens without trying to analyze anything.
 

9. When it feels appropriate, gradually slow the tempo of your drumming and retrace your steps back. To achieve this, simply do your journey in reverse. There is no need to rush, and it is not critical that you retrace your route precisely. The reason for retracing your steps is to help you remember the route so that in subsequent journeys you will be able to travel to and from the Lower World with greater ease and efficiency. Upon your return to the entrance, thank your guide, emerge from the opening and return to your body.
 

10. Once you have returned to ordinary reality, end your drum journey with four strong beats to signal that the sacred time of focus is ended. If you are listening to a shamanic drumming recording, most recordings have a similar call back signal near the end of the track to indicate that you should return to ordinary reality. If for any reason you want to come back before the call back, just retrace your steps back. Sit quietly for a few moments, and then open your eyes.
 

It would be advisable to record your journey in a journal as soon as you have returned to ordinary reality. Journeys, like dreams, tend to fade quickly from conscious awareness. Very little may happen on your first journeys. You may only experience darkness. When this happens, simply try again at a different time. Shamanic journey work is a learned skill that improves with practice. The key is to practice and to establish a long-term relationship with your spirit guides.

1. C. Michael Smith, Jung and Shamanism in Dialogue (New York: Paulist Press, 1997) p 16.