What is Shamanism?
Shaman: a man or woman who accesses an unseen world, known as non-ordinary reality, from a trance like state, to gather information from helping, compassionate spirits to assist and bring healing to their community.
The word comes from the Tungas tribe in Siberia . It has become a “blanket term” for witch, witch-doctor, wizard, seer, sorcerer, medicine man and other mystical titles. Although not every witch-doctor, seer or wizard was a Shaman.
Every tribe had their “shaman”. The survival of the tribe depended on the relationship the Shaman had with his or her helping spirits.
Because they lived in a world without technology, they relied on the non-technological part of their brain, their relationship with the natural world, spirits and being in harmony with nature, to survive. The tribe depended greatly on the Shaman.
The study of Shamanism (Ism:), is the study of this magical person, who lived in indigenous tribes all over the world. Throughout time, Shamans have been known to practice their art form in Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia , Greenland, North and South America .
Every culture had their own traditions and ways of contacting and working with the spirits and the natural world. The experiences they had with this unseen realm were surprisingly similar the world over.
Shamanism teaches us that everything in existence is alive and has a spirit. We are connected to the earth and all of life, through consciousness…the web of life…and we can contact and relate to all there is through this web.
Shamanism is not a religion. It is a spiritual practice that has been around 30,000-40,000 years…. some anthropologists believe over 100,000 years. It is a very empowering practice that teaches us about our own true connection to the universe and how to be in balance and harmony with the one true heartbeat.
We practice the ancient techniques of the Shaman. We refer to ourselves as Shamanic Practitioners. We do not live in an indigenous culture, so we do not know what the original Shamans experienced. History has shown us that we can use these old, ancient ways in today’s challenging times for personal growth and empowerment. This spiritual practice brings us back into balance with the natural world…even in today’s reality.
This is what we call “Classical Shamanism”, the ancient ways that have worked since the beginning of time. We still approach our sessions with clients in this manner, but we also realize we are dealing with new illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and things that are not “spiritual intrusions”. Shamanism is shifting and changing, bringing us new ways to deal with new challenges. Shamanism is alive; it is in the spirit of everything.
-Excerpt from Sacred Hoop Ministries' Website
