It’s been a few weeks that I ‘ve been trying to sum up what I wanted to transmit, share and explain about shamanism. Lost in the vastness of the subject and all the information I have accumulated these last six months, I could not get it right.

We could define a shaman as

 A person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. It is the shaman who embodies this function in the context of close interdependence with the community that recognizes him as such.Wikipedia

More info on shamanism in general on Wikipedia.

I decided to present shamanism as taught by the FSS ( Foundation for Shamanic Studies) . We’ll talk about Core Shamanism . It is a very practical and pragmatic approach. Indeed, shamanism is pragmatic.

The founder of the FSS , Michael Harner , wanted to offer a technic free of cultural context that could be used and integrated by Westerners . He brought together almost universal bases observed in indigenous practices , he teaches through the foundation in the form of seminars.

Distinctive aspects of Core Shamanism :

• The drum is used to make shamanic journeys.

• Rituals and ceremonies are not taught as part of the foundation.

• The teaching ought to promote healing techniques .

• Journeys happen in 3 classic worlds: the lower, upper and middle world .

 Interview of Micheal Harner

A shamanic journey , what is it?

We joined the wide range of altered states of consciousness. Aldous Huxley in his famous book ” doors of perception ” uses a metaphor that I like a lot : it compares the brain to a receiver. The latter, in normal operation is set to receive a certain type of information. Changing the receiver during a change in consciousness , broadened perception and thus makes it possible to communicate with other realities. Some say we journey in the collective unconscious. What’s sure , is that it is tangible and peopled by spirits of all kinds.

Journeying is experienced differently regarding people , some are more visual , others just feel it . Perception grows with experience.

Drum, imagination and intention

First, you must define the intention of the shamanic journey. It gives it a meaning and a structure. The intention may be a destination, a question, a healing to perform …

The journey begins with the sound of the drum. It is then necessary to use our imagination to go to a familiar place and visualize it. This place will serve as a gateway to the upper and lower world. To access the upper world, we must visualize a place where you can go up and vice versa for the lower world.

Imagination is the gateway to its worlds. Once reached the entrance of the world, the journey begins!

 Shamanic mapping

The following description is somewhat general and can vary from individuals.

Upper world

This is the residence of our guardian spirits, angels, and saints. The spirits encountered are caring, compassionate and act in our favor. In the upper world, the spaces are open, immense, and infinite. The colors are live. The light could be sparkling. It’s a bit the equivalent of the Judeo- Christian paradise. This is where the shaman goes in search of advice or to perform divinations.

Lower world

The geography is like our middle world: natural and earthy landscapes were one would encounter planet, legends and mythological animals. There are no traces of human civilizations. This is the residence of our power animals. The world below is absolutely not associated with something bad or evil. The spirits are caring and compassionate.

Middle world

 It reflects the world we live in ordinary reality . This is the world in which the shaman goes first before leaving for the upper or lower world. Its exploration is not without risks. It is inhabited by the spirits of nature, ancestors, nonhuman spirits as fairies and gnomes or lost deceased souls. Unlike the spirits from above or below , the middle world spirits do not have this inherent benevolence but claim their own interests, often immoral . Just as people or events in the world of mid- ordinary reality , spirits or events can potentially cause confusion, disruption or destruction , sometimes due to ignorance .

Working in the middle world requires a good experience , a strong power , good collaboration with its guardian spirits and a sense of ethics ! This is the world of witchcraft , often found in indigenous cultures .

It is also the world in which the shaman performs psychopomp work: the art of helping lost souls to cross over .

Allied spirits

Power animal : a guardian spirit

 The connection between humans and the animal world is fundamental in shamanism . To accomplish its task , the shaman depends on a specific individual power which is usually issued by his guardian spirits and allies. His latest are generally in a animal form . They can travel in different worlds , guiding , protecting and educating the shaman . As with the teacher of the world from above, they can test the shaman to determine their sincerity as well as the purity of their intentions. They can be many and may change over a lifetime .

Everyone has a guardian spirit that accompanies him. The difference is ​that the shaman is aware of it and actively using it in the altered states of consciousness .

Note: when a person encounters for the first time his power animal , he often realizes the links are not new . An affinity is often present.

 spiritual teacher

Living in the upper world, the teacher guides the shaman and advises about any general question about life. He is the one to consult when the shaman issues divination. They can also be qualified for certain types of healings .

Note: spirits do not know temporal issues. Life in the non-ordinary reality is beyond space and time.

a healer

In fact, a shaman is not a healer but rather an intermediary that allows the completion of a healing. During a treatment , it consults the spirits (his own and those of the client ) who tells him the proper healing to do and how to carry to term.

In appearance , human beings are mainly made of flesh and bones . His physical body allows him to live in the physical world . Inside, it is primarily an embodied soul composed of energies , emotions etc. . At birth, the soul still has its integrity . Just like the body , the soul undergoes trauma and can fragment . Its fragmentation , loss etc. result in mental and physical imbalances that the shaman will repair by restoring the integrity of the patient’s soul . This is a psyche’s surgeon.

How a shaman can cure physical diseases?

The vast majority of diseases / physical disorders contracted by human beings are the result of are the result of problems with the spirit, usually the loss of some energy or the intrusion of another source. In this instance , the shaman can perform healings effectively.

In contrast, a purely physical injury (sprained ankle … ) will not have shamanic applications .

power

We hear a lot about power in shamanism. The power comes in different forms : energy , knowledge and intelligence. Together they form the personal power. Shamans increase their power when their spirits share their knowledge, intelligence or perform energy healings .

Power loss – Everyone has his personal power that keeps us in good mental and physical health . The loss of it is frequent and generate a vacuum that can be filled by an intrusion : a foreign spirit.

Shamanic main diagnostic

possession

It is common that a spirit seeps into a body that does not belong to him. Spirits are opportunists. The alien spirit can be more or less malignant but in all cases it prevents normal functioning of the body .

These intrusions usually take place when we weaken our coverage: depression, fatigue, illness , drugs, general anaesthesia , etc. . If intrusion occurs during our youth, it often goes unnoticed. It usually manifests itself in the form of amplification of negative emotions : guilt , depression, anger …

obsession

Similar to possession but to a lesser degree.

intrusion

Intrusions are parasites that live in the middle world and that drains the vitality of a person . It must then be retrieved .

Soul loss

Soul loss is a survival mechanism. To protect an intense emotional or physical shock, soul breaks and releases the affected part that will leave the body. Lost souls are common and may be significant to the point where a person feels the impression of not really living in his body ( eg sexual abuse). Thus, soul retrieval brings together all bits of oneself that was abandoned. Soul retrievals can be intense and disturbing. Piecing together oneself can take some time .

Note: It is not the shaman that decides the piece of soul to bring back but the spirit of the customer that indicates which one is ready to return to his body.

malediction

We are all subject to the curse when we are not the author! Sometimes they are conscious and intentional, and sometimes unintentional. There are cultures where people are still able to pay to have a person cursed.

The power of thoughts, words and the intention that support it is not well known to the general public. Some of us are real wizards. It’s a bit esoteric , but let me explain it to you.

We all have an immense power , unconscious for most of us: our thoughts (see article ” workshop reality ” ) . These can destroy as well as create . Having bad thoughts towards a person , with real intentions and  supported by feelings will cause a curse, more or less strong , which can be followed by a loss of personal power , physical diseases etc. . Curses are sometimes thrown at entire families and pass from generation to generation . Words are a form of energy, denser than thoughts , their effects are even more powerful.

(An easy-to-do experiment that can measure the power of words, thoughts and intentions: The rice experience)

The shaman can remove curses. It is usually a delicate work that takes place in the middle world , it can be dangerous because it involves negotiating with non compassionate spirits.

Shamanic reality

For a shaman , the existence of spirits is well established . He communicates with them, establish a relationship of trust. They share their knowledge, transmit powers , heal people etc. . Why doubting any longer ?

By developing a “shamanic eye” the shaman practitioner faces a conceptual gap . Having grown up in a Western culture and a materialistic environment , he learned to accept reality as it is explained to him . Part of the job is to battle the foundations that prevent them from seeing reality with a capital R.

A shamanic reality commits something that approximates the following concepts:

* Everything has a life force , a spirit.

* The physical world is only the surface of a reality immensely larger

* Every thing is our teacher. At every moment , the Earth tells us the information we request .

The more I immerse myself in the broad topic of consciousness and shamanism , the better I understand the world around us.

A tool available to all

Shamanism is not intended as a mean to attain mystical enlightenment but rather as a great exploration tool of the self and the universe. The possibilities are in ourselves, it is our responsibility to use it.

Shamanism is accessible to all, be adventurous and discover the shaman who is in you !

# The reference book  shamanism initiation, for those who would attempt a first experience at home or More : The Way of the shaman, M.Harner

# Website of the Shamanic Foundation

As wallpaper , paintings of vision under ayahuesca ( shamanic plant of the Amazon ) by Pablo Amaringo