Introduction

To

Shamanism

What is a Shaman?

The dictionary defines a shaman as:

A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination and control over natural events. (AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY) A priest or priestess who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden and controlling events. (MERRIAM WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY) Another term commonly used was “witch doctor”, which of course is derogatory and generally comes from the mouths of non believers and agnostics. Note that agnostic [Greek] means “not knowing” and is not a religious term per se.

So, a shaman is a practitioner of healing who uses methods native to his tribe or culture. I say this, because most shaman (but not all) are men. The term is gender neutral, and describes those people who have one foot in the physical world and one foot in the world beyond the physical or metaphysical world . Meta , A prefix of Greek derivation; meaning above or beyond, or one that transcends.

Shamans use a variety of methods and tools to heal, predict and influence events. All generally use more than one method. These may includes the use of herbs, plants, sound, songs and chants, prayer, direct sending of energy, and shaman’s breath.

Shamans are working for the good, and fall under the new age title of lightworkers. A shaman is a bridge to the other side. If we look to the past, the council of high priests in ancient Rome were known as the pontifex (From Latin pons for bridge). Indeed, the term for the Pope is “The Pontiff”, or “bridge” to [the other side].

So, it would be correct to say that the only difference between a shaman and a priest is the method used to arrive at the same end. Priests only use prayer, while shamans have many more tools available to them. The most powerful shaman are those born with the “gift”. My personal belief is that “white men” who read books on shamanism are fooling themselves as well as their clients. Charlatan is my word for them.

I will point out though, that some Native American elders object to the term shaman, because it is not a native word or term. The term comes to the English language via Siberia and has roots back to writings in Sanskrit . I use the term shaman because it has become somewhat generic in our society, and conjures up a vision that is more inclusive of today’s healers, then the term “medicine” man. Aside from that, one who calls himself a medicine man is likely to run afoul of the doctor’s lobby, the AMA.