What is shamanism?


“As a spiritual practice, shamanism can become a way of life  that may
utterly transform the one who practices it”  ~ Sandra Ingerman

What is Shamanism?

You are a luminous being of Light.
Your luminosity is the same Light as the Light of the Creator, who made all things.
You are in relationship with all things and all things are in relationship with you.
 Shamanism is a practice of nurturing and tending those relationships in a deep and meaningful way.
Shamanism is a practice for uncovering and awakening your inner Light, about remembering who and what you really are.
Shamanism is a practice for bringing Light to your shadow places.

You are a luminous being of Light; the same Light as the Light of the Creator
Shamanism has no dogma and operates from a few basic tenets:

        Everything is Alive
        Everything is Aware and Conscious
        Everything is Dynamic and Changing
        Everything is Connected
        Everything Responds

A visionary practice which gives you access to your own direct revelation, shamanism is one of the oldest forms of spirituality that is known, practiced by ordinary people, and dating back tens of thousands of years. People who practice shamanism are people from all over the world, indigenous and non-indigenous people like you and like me. The shaman goes to the spiritual realms to discover and address the spiritual causes of illness and imbalance. The shaman acts as an intermediary between you, the ordinary world, and the world of Spirit.

Unless we change direction,
we are likely to end up where we are headed. ~ Chinese proverb


The word "shaman" or "saman" comes from the Tungus of North Central Asia. It means "he/she who knows"; the shaman is the person who sees what others are not yet able to; the shaman is s/he who finds and retrieves information from the hidden spiritual realms. The shaman acts as an intermediary between the ordinary world and the world of Spirit, allowing us to change direction.

There is Light in all thingsShamanism is not Religion

Shamanism is a spiritual practice and not a religion. As a personal practice, shamanism is about awakening and tending the Light within you; my Peruvian teacher says that these practices are "about becoming a person"; it is about bringing Light back into those interior places of Shadow. It is about building relationships and connections with the Light of compassion that is found in all things and in all Beings.


Shamanism is spiritual healing.


Shamanism reunites you with your Divine Purpose.
It uncovers and awakens your inner Light, ignites and rekindles your joy, and reconnects you to your unique and individual sources of personal power.
Shamanic Healing helps you to make sense of life again and brings back lost vitality. It gives you the tools and ability to change direction to find a more life-affirming path of living.


The Shamanic Healing Session

Shamanic healing is generally about one of three broad categories of healing:
  • restoring missing spiritual energies to a person or place
  • transmuting/unwinding spiritual energies, tangles, and unfinished business
  • removing unhealthy spiritual energy from your luminous energy field
Sometimes results are immediate and dramatic. More often, answers and healing unfolds gradually as part of your natural, ongoing healing process. I have no way of knowing in advance how a healing session will go, but it is always a beautiful and informative gift to receive.

After the shamanic spiritual healing session you will have a period of integration of the healing. During this time your luminous energy field balances and the healing integrates. This may take days, weeks, or months depending on what we did in your healing session.

Healing is a bringing together, a clarifying. It is a process, a journey. Each of us has our tasks to perform to ensure a good, well-integrated healing. Here are some shamanic healing aftercare suggestions which may help you understand more about the healing process.

When Should You Seek Shamanic Healing?

  • You find yourself repeating behaviors or events, especially after a life-changing event or surgery
  • You are having repeating bad luck with no explanation
  • You are experiencing paranormal, 'poltergeist' phenomena: moving objects, noises you can't explain, etc.
  • You can't get away from negative, shaming mental chatter, especially which gets worse when you are tired
  • You have a strong desire for a life change
  • You are experiencing low energy levels for no discernable reason
  • You have noticed character shifts or mood swings, especially when you are tired or when you are caught off-guard
  • You experience inner voice(s) speaking to you
  • You are abusing drugs and/or alcohol
  • You find yourself having impulsive behavior that is out of character
  • You are experiencing memory problems or memories that are not your own
  • You are having poor concentration and fogginess
  • For you there is a definite sense of there being a 'before' and 'after', of things having changed at some point
  • You experienced a sudden onset of anxiety or depression which does not respond well to traditional treatment
  • You have experienced sudden onset of physical problems with no obvious cause; i.e. changes to your vision or to your hearing
  • You experience physical discomfort that has no discernible cause and/or for which no traditional treatment can shift
  • You are having emotion and/or physical reactions to reading this list
I suggest shamanic healing, spiritual healing when "something just doesn't feel right" to you, when you have a sense that your life is different after a significant event, especially a trauma or grief of some kind. Shamanism can help address and treat your spiritual causes of illness and depression. Spiritual healing addresses your spiritual causes of physical pain, especially those which have not changed even after you've sought out conventional therapies.

If you think you may need a shamanic healing session but can't get an appointment with me right away, check to the Self-Help page for things you can do now, for yourself, on your own.
If you are really curious to know more about the ins and outs, here's what you need to know about when to seek shamanic healing and the specific shamanic healing modalities that I may use in your session to treat the spiritual causes of what is making you ill.

For even further reading, you'll find lots of books and links at the Shamanic Books and Links page.



Jeffrey Rich