What is shamanism?

Shamanism is one of the oldest healing modalities on the planet.  Every indigenous culture has (or had) its version of a shaman – an individual in the community that intervened with the spirit world on an individual’s behalf.  Called shamans, medicine men/women, healers, or something else, shamans were an integral part of the community.  They focused on healing the entire body – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual – through their shamanic practices.  Since we are all connected, they often invited the rest of the community in to help in the healing activity as well.

Shamans still practice today, and bring a much-needed perspective to overall healing in our modern, fast-paced world.  Conventional medicine, while valuable, usually focuses on treating the symptoms of dis-ease, rather then the root cause.  Shamans work to get to the root cause of the dis-ease.

Each shaman is unique and brings his or her skills and talents to assist in the healing activity.  Some incorporate herbal treatments, others use ceremony, some bring in energy tactics, and others bring in more “modern” modalities such as coaching and mentoring.  But all shamans have one thing in common – they all enter an altered state of consciousness (called a “shamanic journey”) to meet with helping spirits and guides to help bring about the desired healing.

During a shamanic journey, the shaman may do any number of things, such as:

• Extract negative energies from the client
• Find and integrate pieces of the client’s soul that had been lost through traumatic events
• Identify the client’s power animal
• Get answers to a question the client may have
• Bring back messages from the spirit world on what the client may need to focus on
• Perform general healing
• Help a soul who has passed away move to the next dimension (psychopomp)

And, because we are all connected energetically, shamans are just as effective virtually as they are in person!

I’ll explore each of the types of shamanic works in future posts.  If you have immediate questions, please send me an email (jennifer.monahan@spiritevolution.co); I’m happy to get back to you.