Shamanism – Ancient Methods for the Modern World

Ask any passer-by on any street to describe shamanism and the result is going to be blank stares. So many people are surprised to learn that shamanism is very little religion but the oldest spiritual and problem-solving technology on earth. Even more surprising is the discovery that it’s the precursor to most major world religions, such as the Judaeo-Christian and Buddhist traditions, which has been practised on every inhabited continent on the planet for about 40,000 many possibly very much longer. Historically, shamanism would have been a significant survival tool of prehistoric humans. Our hunter-gatherer forbears decorated the stone walls of caves and cliffs around the world with carved and painted images drawn straight from shamanic experience. We no more are now living in caves or in really small communities whose members are common known to us. Many people live far longer, healthier lives than our ancient ancestors, but our minds, that portion of us effective at fearing the dark and seeking the help of things unseen, hasn’t changed in almost 1 / 4 of the million years. What made the uncertain lives of prehistoric people that much easier works today because, even though world could have changed, fundamentally we haven’t.


Ask exactly what a shaman is as well as the question may evoke a couple of words about Native American ‘medicine men’ or maybe the word ‘witchdoctor’. In reality, what a shaman is and does is just explained. In the Siberian Tungus language which produced the word, ‘shaman’ means ‘the person who sees’ and refers to an individual capable of making a ‘journey’ to alternate realities whilst in an altered state of consciousness to meet and help spirit helpers. What are the shaman ‘sees’, what she realises, with this example of meeting spirits is that there’s no separation between any situation that is: no separation between me writing and you reading these words, from your cat and dog, between life and death, between this apparently material reality as well as the non-material realities of the spirit worlds. This concept of ‘oneness’ is common currency in contemporary culture and increasingly given credence by certain quantum physicists working with sub atomic theory, regarded course it’s a predominantly physical, rather than spiritual, oneness that such scientists making the effort to describe. However, where many people could only take into account the perception of ‘oneness’, shaman’s actually live it through the connection with the shamanic ‘journey’ and direct, personal interaction with spirit.

Identified as a ‘breakthrough in plane’, in physiological terms right onto your pathway begins since the shaman redirects the principal cognitive process from the left cerebral hemisphere from the brain to the correct, through the corpus collosum – which is, from your structuring, organising hemisphere, to the visualising, sensing one. From the overwhelming tastes traditions worldwide this ‘breakthrough’ will likely be assisted using percussive sound, for example drumming, rattling or clapping. Although hallucinogens, including ayahuasca, are widely advertised in the West as a method to help alter consciousness, actually approximately 10% of traditional shamans use plants in this manner. Metaphysically, your journey begins when the shaman’s consciousness shifts in the here and now and enters worlds visible and then her. These worlds, which vary with each culture and tradition all over the world, are described as ‘alternate reality’, ‘the whole world of the spirits’, or ‘non-ordinary reality’. Some traditions call shamans ‘the walker between your worlds’ since they’re the bridge between ‘here’ and ‘there’.

Although often considered primitive or seen as ‘religion’ of less developed peoples and cultures, San Pedro shamanism is both subtle and paradoxical. The ‘worlds’ of shamanic journeys are utterly real – they exist and is felt, smelt and experienced as clearly because this ‘ordinary’ reality. Concurrently they are qualitative spaces, states of being that reflect and keep the cause of the shaman’s journey – to request help, healing or information from your spirits. Contemporary research in the cognitive sciences points too a persons mental abilities are hardwired to view the ‘unseen’ and also the mystical; perhaps the Lower, Middle and Upper Worlds from the shaman – translated into Hell, Earth and Heaven in later tripartite cosmologies – are seemingly a natural part of human perception.

Obviously, among the questions most frequently asked by students being shown shamanism is, “What are spirits?”. Perhaps because Western society has mostly avoided thinking of spirituality for several generations we lack an obvious, objective comprehension of such things as spirits. Currently it is a one-size-fits-all word encompassing entities, energies, ghosts, angels, ancestors, the undead, elves, fairies; their email list is seemingly endless. Personally, We have two understandings of the idea of spirit reality both the coincide, they may not be precisely the same and yet they work with me. The Core Shamanic, or Western, tradition which underpins my own, personal practice and teaching, describes spirits in everything that exists. I am a spirit currently inhabiting a physical body in order to use a human experience. The spirits I meet on my small ‘journeys’ are dis-embodied and so offer an existential overview unavailable to me, but were fundamentally the same: particles of infinite universal energy, fragments in the Great Spirit. We all result from this energy, exist there and resume it. It really is living this angle that allows a shaman to experience the absence of separation between stuff that ordinary-reality considers very separate indeed, including life and death or health insurance disease.

My second idea of spirit is much more psychological and archetypal and was plain and simple explained by CG Jung in their autobiography ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’. Describing his personal experience of spirit helpers Jung wrote, “Philemon… brought you will find me the key insight that you have things in the psyche that we usually do not produce, but which produce themselves and possess their very own life. Philemon represented a force which has been not myself.” This is the beautifully lucid explanation of precisely how it may feel to interact with spirit within a shamanic journey. More prosaically, I describe the whole process of journeying to my students as having one’s imagination harnessed and directed by something external.
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Shamanism – Ancient Processes for the whole world

Ask any passer-by on any street to spell it out shamanism along with the result is going to be blank stares. Many people are surprised to understand that shamanism is not a religion but the oldest spiritual and problem-solving technology on the planet. Even more surprising could be the discovery that it is the precursor to most major world religions, like the Judaeo-Christian and Buddhist traditions, and that it has become practised on every inhabited continent on this planet for at least 40,000 years and possibly a lot longer. Historically, shamanism would have been a significant survival tool of prehistoric humans. Our hunter-gatherer forbears decorated the stone walls of caves and cliffs all over the world with carved and painted images drawn directly from shamanic experience. We not live in caves or even in really small communities whose members are common proven to us. The majority of us live far longer, healthier lives than our ancient ancestors, but the brain, that section of us capable of fearing the dark and requesting the help of things unseen, hasn’t changed in almost 1 / 4 of the million years. What made the uncertain lives of prehistoric people less difficult works today because, even though world might have changed, fundamentally we haven’t.


Ask that of a shaman is and the question may evoke a couple of words about Native American ‘medicine men’ or word ‘witchdoctor’. Actually, that of a shaman is and does is simply explained. From the Siberian Tungus language which produced the word, ‘shaman’ means ‘the person who sees’ and is the term for a person capable of making a ‘journey’ to alternate realities during an altered state of consciousness in order to meet and use spirit helpers. What are the shaman ‘sees’, what she realises, during this experience with meeting spirits is always that there is absolutely no separation between whatever is: no separation between me writing and you reading these words, from a cat and dog, between life and death, between this apparently material reality and the non-material realities with the spirit worlds. This idea of ‘oneness’ is usual currency in contemporary culture and increasingly given credence by certain quantum physicists working together with sub atomic theory, regarded course it is a predominantly physical, rather than spiritual, oneness that such scientists making the effort to describe. However, where most of us can only look at the notion of ‘oneness’, shaman’s actually live it from the connection with the shamanic ‘journey’ and direct, personal interaction with spirit.

Identified as a ‘breakthrough in plane’, in physiological terms your way begins as the shaman redirects the principal cognitive process through the left cerebral hemisphere from the brain to the right, with the corpus collosum – that’s, in the structuring, organising hemisphere, on the visualising, sensing one. In the overwhelming most of traditions all over the world this ‘breakthrough’ will be assisted through percussive sound, for example drumming, rattling or clapping. Although hallucinogens, such as ayahuasca, are widely advertised under western culture as a technique to aid alter consciousness, actually only about 10% of traditional shamans use plants like this. Metaphysically, right onto your pathway begins when the shaman’s consciousness shifts from the present and enters worlds visible only to her. These worlds, which vary each and every culture and tradition worldwide, are referred to as ‘alternate reality’, ‘the arena of the spirits’, or ‘non-ordinary reality’. Some traditions call shamans ‘the walker relating to the worlds’ as they are the bridge between ‘here’ and ‘there’.

Although often considered primitive or seen as an ‘religion’ of less developed peoples and cultures, San Pedro shamanism is both subtle and paradoxical. The ‘worlds’ of shamanic journeys are utterly real – they exist and could be felt, smelt and experienced as clearly as this ‘ordinary’ reality. As well they’re qualitative spaces, states to become that reflect and offer the basis for the shaman’s journey – to request help, healing or information from your spirits. Contemporary research inside the cognitive sciences shows that a person’s mental faculties are hardwired to determine the ‘unseen’ and also the mystical; even Lower, Middle and Upper Worlds of the shaman – translated into Hell, Earth and Heaven in later tripartite cosmologies – are seemingly a natural part of human perception.

Not surprisingly, one of the questions normally asked by students being shown shamanism is, “What are spirits?”. Perhaps because Western society has mostly avoided thinking about spirituality for a lot of generations we lack a clear, objective comprehension of things such as spirits. Nowadays it’s really a one-size-fits-all word encompassing entities, energies, ghosts, angels, ancestors, the undead, elves, fairies; this list is seemingly endless. Personally, We have two understandings with the thought of spirit reality both coincide, they’re not precisely the same but they benefit me. The main Shamanic, or Western, tradition which underpins my very own practice and teaching, describes spirits included in everything exists. I’m a spirit currently inhabiting an actual body to be able to have a very human experience. The spirits I meet on my small ‘journeys’ are dis-embodied and therefore provide an existential overview unavailable in my opinion, but we’re basically the same: particles of infinite universal energy, fragments from the Great Spirit. Most of us originate from this energy, exist inside it and come back to it. It is actually living this perspective that enables a shaman to experience having less separation between issues that ordinary-reality considers very separate indeed, such as life and death or health insurance disease.

My second idea of spirit is a bit more psychological and archetypal and it was plain and simply explained by CG Jung in their autobiography ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’. Describing his knowledge of spirit helpers Jung wrote, “Philemon… brought you will find me the important insight that you have things inside the psyche that i usually do not produce, but which produce themselves and still have their particular life. Philemon represented a force which has been not myself.” This can be a beautifully lucid explanation of methods it can feel to get with spirit during a shamanic journey. More prosaically, I describe the entire process of journeying to my students as having one’s imagination harnessed and directed by something external.
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Shamanism – Ancient Approaches for today’s world

Ask any passer-by on any street to describe shamanism and the result will likely be blank stares. Most people are surprised to understand that shamanism is very little religion though the oldest spiritual and problem-solving technology on this planet. More surprising will be the discovery that it’s the precursor to the majority major world religions, including the Judaeo-Christian and Buddhist traditions, which has been practised on every inhabited continent in the world for about 40,000 a number of possibly greatly longer. Historically, shamanism was obviously a significant survival tool of prehistoric humans. Our hunter-gatherer forbears decorated the stone walls of caves and cliffs worldwide with carved and painted images drawn completely from shamanic experience. We no longer live in caves or in small communities whose members are seen to us. Many people live far longer, healthier lives than our ancient ancestors, but our brains, that a part of us capable of fearing the dark and requesting the help of things unseen, hasn’t changed in almost 25 % of the million years. What made the uncertain lives of prehistoric people less difficult works today because, although world could have changed, fundamentally we’ve not.


Ask that of a shaman is as well as the question may evoke a number of words about Native American ‘medicine men’ or maybe the word ‘witchdoctor’. The truth is, what a shaman is and does is simply explained. In the Siberian Tungus language which produced the term, ‘shaman’ means ‘the individual who sees’ and is the term for a person capable of making a ‘journey’ to alternate realities while in an altered state of consciousness to meet and work with spirit helpers. What the shaman ‘sees’, what she realises, with this connection with meeting spirits is there is no separation between any situation that is: no separation between me writing and also you reading these words, between a dog and cat, between life and death, between this apparently material reality as well as the non-material realities of the spirit worlds. This concept of ‘oneness’ is usual currency in contemporary culture and increasingly given credence by certain quantum physicists utilizing sub atomic theory, though of course this is a predominantly physical, as opposed to a spiritual, oneness that such scientists are attempting to describe. However, where the majority of us are only able to consider the notion of ‘oneness’, shaman’s actually live it over the experience of the shamanic ‘journey’ and direct, personal interaction with spirit.

Called a ‘breakthrough in plane’, in physiological terms your way begins because the shaman redirects the main cognitive process through the left cerebral hemisphere from the brain off to the right, from the corpus collosum – which is, from your structuring, organising hemisphere, on the visualising, sensing one. From the overwhelming tastes traditions all over the world this ‘breakthrough’ will probably be assisted using percussive sound, for example drumming, rattling or clapping. Although hallucinogens, for example ayahuasca, are widely advertised under western culture as a way to help alter consciousness, actually just about 10% of traditional shamans use plants like this. Metaphysically, your journey begins once the shaman’s consciousness shifts through the here and now and enters worlds visible just to her. These worlds, which vary with every culture and tradition all over the world, are identified as ‘alternate reality’, ‘the an entire world of the spirits’, or ‘non-ordinary reality’. Some traditions call shamans ‘the walker between your worlds’ because they are the bridge between ‘here’ and ‘there’.

Although often considered primitive or seen as ‘religion’ of less developed peoples and cultures, San Pedro cactus is both subtle and paradoxical. The ‘worlds’ of shamanic journeys are utterly real – they exist and can be felt, smelt and experienced as clearly simply because this ‘ordinary’ reality. At the same time they’re qualitative spaces, states of being that reflect and support the reason for the shaman’s journey – to inquire about help, healing or information from your spirits. Contemporary research in the cognitive sciences shows that a person’s brain is hardwired to determine the ‘unseen’ and also the mystical; the Lower, Middle and Upper Worlds of the shaman – translated into Hell, Earth and Heaven in later tripartite cosmologies – are seemingly a natural part of human perception.

Obviously, among the questions normally asked by students being brought to shamanism is, “What are spirits?”. Perhaps because Western society has mostly avoided contemplating spirituality for most generations we lack an obvious, objective understanding of things like spirits. These days it’s a one-size-fits-all word encompassing entities, energies, ghosts, angels, ancestors, the undead, elves, fairies; this list is seemingly endless. Personally, I have two understandings of the concept of spirit despite the fact that the two coincide, they may not be exactly the same yet they work with me. The Core Shamanic, or Western, tradition which underpins my own, personal practice and teaching, describes spirits included in everything that exists. I’m a spirit currently inhabiting an actual physical body in order to possess a human experience. The spirits I meet on my own ‘journeys’ are dis-embodied and for that reason provide an existential overview unavailable to me, but we are critically the same: particles of infinite universal energy, fragments of the Great Spirit. We all are derived from this energy, exist there and come back to it. It is really living this attitude that enables a shaman to experience the absence of separation between things that ordinary-reality considers very separate indeed, like life and death or health insurance and disease.

My second comprehension of spirit is a lot more psychological and archetypal and was plain and simply explained by CG Jung in their autobiography ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’. Describing his knowledge of spirit helpers Jung wrote, “Philemon… brought you will find me the important insight that we now have things inside the psyche that i tend not to produce, but which produce themselves and still have their particular life. Philemon represented a force that has been not myself.” This can be a beautifully lucid explanation of the way it could feel to have interaction with spirit during a shamanic journey. More prosaically, I describe the process of journeying to my students as having one’s imagination harnessed and directed by something external.
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