Shamanism

Origin and universality

The word "shaman" comes from šaman in the Tungusic language of Siberia, where the practice was studied by Russian anthropologists in the 17th-19th centuries. Mircea Eliade in his classic Shamanism and the archaic techniques of ecstasy (1951) showed that the shamanic phenomenon is universal: it appears with very similar features in Siberia, Mongolia, the Andes, the Amazon, North America, Africa and Australia. He referred to it as the original spirituality of humanity.

In the Americas, each region has its tradition: the Andean (Q'eros, Aymara, Mapuche), the Amazonian (with use of ayahuasca, San Pedro), the Mesoamerican (Mayan, Mexica with peyote), the North American (with various indigenous nations and the use of tobacco, hallucinogenic mushrooms, sacred plants). Many of these traditions, severely persecuted during European colonisation, have been preserved underground and today experience a recovery — both within their original communities and via international neo-shamanic appropriation.

What the shaman does

The shaman is a specialist of the soul: his function is to enter altered states (induced by drumming, song, dance, fasting, sacred plants) and travel to other dimensions of reality (the lower world, the upper world, parallel worlds) to perform tasks: retrieve lost soul fragments of patients (technique called "soul retrieval"), extract pathogenic energies, negotiate with spirits of plants and animals, communicate with ancestors, obtain knowledge for the community, guide the dead.

The shaman is initiated typically by a vocational call often manifested through illness or crisis ("shamanic illness"), followed by years of training with elder shamans. He is not a "priest" of structured religion: he is a specialist who has personally been to the other side and who can guide there. Many shamans work with ally spirits: power animals (jaguar, eagle, serpent), plants of power (ayahuasca, tobacco, sage), elemental spirits (mountain, river).

Modern shamanism

There is a worldwide movement of contemporary shamanism: traditional shamans of indigenous peoples who continue their ancestral practice, urban "neo-shamans" trained in eclectic systems (e.g.: Michael Harner's "core shamanism"), people who travel to the Amazon for ayahuasca ceremonies, ritual circles in Western cities. Important consideration: cultural appropriation is a serious concern. Working with shamanism with respect implies recognising the indigenous traditions, supporting their preservation, not commercialising sacred symbols, and seeking authentic teachers from the communities.