The Walker Between Worlds
Shamans and Shamanism
Before there were temples, before there were scriptures, there was the shaman. Standing at the threshold of the visible and invisible worlds, the shaman has served as humanity's oldest bridge to the divine — a healer, a seer, a keeper of the balance between earth and spirit.
Shamanism is not a single religion. It is a pattern — a set of practices and understandings that have appeared independently in cultures across every continent. From the frozen tundras of Siberia to the rainforests of the Amazon, from the high plateaus of Central Asia to the deserts of North America, the shamanic thread weaves through the whole of human experience.
What Is Shamanism?
At its heart, shamanism is a practice of direct spiritual experience. Unlike faiths that rely on intermediaries — priests, texts, or institutions — shamanism teaches that every person has the capacity to enter non-ordinary reality, to communicate with the spirit world, and to bring back knowledge and healing for their community.
The word shaman comes from the Tungus language of Siberia, where it means "one who knows" or "one who sees in the dark." This knowing is not intellectual. It is the deep, embodied wisdom of someone who has traveled to the spirit world and returned — someone who has faced the dark and emerged with light.
The Roots of the Shamanic Tradition
Siberia and Central Asia
The spiritual home of the shamanic archetype. Here, the shaman was the village's connection to the spirit world — using drum, dance, and plant allies to enter trance states and travel to the upper and lower worlds. The tradition of the kamlanie (drum ritual) is one of the oldest continuously practiced spiritual forms on earth.
The Americas
From the Inuit of the Arctic to the Shipibo of the Amazon, Native American traditions are deeply shamanic at their core. The vision quest, the sweat lodge, the medicine wheel — these are all tools for entering the spirit world. The curandero of Latin America carries this lineage forward today.
East Asia
Korea's mudang shamans, Japan's itako, and Mongolia's böö — shamanism has deep roots across East Asia. In many of these cultures, shamanic practices coexisted with Buddhism and Taoism for centuries, creating rich, hybrid spiritual traditions that are still alive today.
Africa and Australasia
The sangoma of Southern Africa, the nganga of Central Africa, and the karadji of Aboriginal Australia all practice forms of shamanic healing and spirit communication. These traditions emphasize ancestor contact, divination, and the use of rhythm and dance to enter altered states.
The Shaman's Worldview
Though shamanic traditions vary enormously, they share a set of core understandings about how reality is structured.
Reality Has Layers
The physical world is only one layer of reality. Above and below it exist other realms — the upper world of light and guidance, the lower world of instinct and power, and the middle world where spirits walk alongside the living. The shaman learns to move between these layers at will.
All Things Are Connected
The separation between human, animal, plant, stone, and spirit is an illusion. In the shamanic worldview, everything that exists is alive, aware, and capable of communication. A mountain can speak. A river can teach. An animal can guide. The shaman's work is to restore the relationships that have been broken.
Illness Is Disconnection
In shamanic understanding, physical and emotional illness are often symptoms of a deeper problem: the soul has lost something — a part of itself, its connection to nature, or its relationship with the spirit world. The shaman's role is to diagnose this disconnection and restore the lost wholeness through journeying, extraction, and soul retrieval.
Spirit Animals Are Teachers
In the shamanic journey, spirit animals — often called power animals — serve as guides, protectors, and sources of specific wisdom. A shaman may have one primary power animal for life, or different animals may appear for different purposes. Learning to connect with one's power animal is a fundamental shamanic skill.
Discover Your Spirit Animal
In the shamanic tradition, your power animal is a lifelong guide and protector. Take our quiz to discover which animal walks beside you.
Find My Spirit Animal NowThe Call and the Path
How does one become a shaman? In traditional cultures, the call is rarely a choice. It is something that happens to you.
The Shamanic Calling
In many indigenous traditions, future shamans are identified early. They may be born with a caul, survive a life-threatening illness, experience spontaneous visions, or show an unusual affinity for the natural world. Sometimes the calling comes through a shamanic illness — a period of intense physical or psychological crisis that, if survived, transforms the person into a healer. This is sometimes called shamanic sickness: the spirit world breaking through whether you are ready or not.
Training and Initiation
Once the call is recognized, the initiate undergoes years of training under an established shaman. This training includes learning to journey to the upper and lower worlds, memorizing sacred songs and chants, mastering the use of ritual tools (drum, rattle, feather, stone), studying herbal medicine, and developing the stamina required for prolonged trance work. Initiation often involves symbolic death and rebirth — the initiate must die to their old self before they can be reborn as a shaman.
The Shaman in Community
The shaman is not a solitary mystic. In traditional cultures, the shaman serves the community. They are called upon to heal the sick, guide the souls of the dead, ensure successful hunts, bring rain, resolve disputes, and maintain the spiritual health of the tribe. The shaman's power is not for personal gain — it is a resource held in trust for the good of all.
Shamanism in the Modern World
In recent decades, shamanic practices have experienced a revival beyond their indigenous roots. Many people in the modern world — feeling disconnected from nature, community, and meaning — have turned to shamanic techniques as a way to restore what has been lost.
This modern revival draws on core shamanic practices — journeying, power animal retrieval, soul retrieval, extraction healing — and adapts them for people living in cities, working in offices, and navigating the complexities of contemporary life. Organizations and teachers around the world now offer training in what is often called core shamanism: the universal, cross-cultural elements of shamanic practice stripped of specific cultural context.
With Gratitude and Respect
It is important to distinguish between traditional shamanism — which is embedded in specific cultures, lineages, and relationships — and modern shamanic practices that borrow from these traditions. The former is a way of life passed down through generations. The latter is a spiritual technology that can be learned and practiced with respect, but without claiming indigenous identity.
A Bridge, Not a Replacement
Modern shamanic practice is best approached as a bridge — a way for those without access to indigenous traditions to reconnect with the spirit world, with nature, and with their own inner knowing. It is not a replacement for traditional shamanism, and it honors those traditions best when it acknowledges its debt to them.
Shamanic Tools and Practices
The Drum
The shaman's horse. The steady heartbeat rhythm of the drum induces trance and carries the shaman into the spirit world. Different rhythms correspond to different realms.
The Journey
The core shamanic practice. Using rhythm or silence, the shaman enters non-ordinary reality to seek guidance, healing, power, or knowledge from the spirit world.
Power Animals
Spirit animals that serve as permanent or temporary guides. Shamans believe everyone has at least one power animal, though many have lost connection with theirs.
A Simple Shamanic Journey
You do not need decades of training to experience the shamanic state of consciousness. Here is a simple journey you can try.
Find a quiet space where you will not be disturbed. Lie down or sit comfortably. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths.
Imagine a hole in the earth — a cave mouth, a hollow tree root, a burrow. This is the entrance to the lower world. Visualize yourself entering it.
Follow the tunnel downward. It may become a root, a stream, or a shaft of light. Do not direct the journey — simply follow where it leads.
Eventually you will emerge into a landscape. This is the lower world. Look around. Notice the quality of the light, the terrain, the feeling in the air.
Wait. An animal may approach you. It may be your power animal, or it may simply be a guide for this journey. Greet it with respect. You may ask a question or simply walk with it.
When you are ready to return, thank the animal and retrace your path back through the tunnel. Bring your awareness back to your body. Open your eyes and journal what you experienced.
Note: This is a core shamanic journey technique, adapted from the universal elements found across multiple traditions. If you are new to journeying, consider learning from an experienced teacher.
Walk Between Worlds
Whether you feel called to the shamanic path or simply want to deepen your connection with your spirit animal, the journey begins with a single step — a single drumbeat — a single breath.