'Shaman' is the English rendering of saman ('shah-man'), a noun and verb from the Tungus people of Siberia. Wherever found, the shaman, female or male, is the community specialist in direct dealings with the Beyond, the underworld, upper world, or inner world; a wielder of numinous power who whether healing, warring, predicting, weather-making, cooking herbs, arranging hunts, making masks, accompanying dead souls, or locating lost ones; performs as master of the operations of the unconscious. It is somewhat of a myth that all Shaman must be Native Indian.
There are Shamans in all cultures across our earth. In Africa there are Witch doctors for example, and one of the most famous Shaman's was Merlin, who stood by King Arthur's side as he fought back the Saxon's. Gandhi, was also a Shaman, as was (in my opinion) Mother Theresa who gave so selflessly of herself, tending the sick, feeding the hungry and caring for the planet.
So look to your own Ancestors and discover who walked this path. You may be amazed at what you discover.
Some of the ways the shaman works are by: drumming, music, acrobatics, theatre, architecture, sculpture, carving, painting, sand-painting, body-painting, tattooing, talisman, illusionism, rope-walking, animal training, writing, plant cultivation, astronomy, metallurgy, and sea crafts.
Traditional shamanic instruction is therefore overseen outwardly by other shamans and inwardly by spiritual beings or guardians who befriend and empower the apprentice. The spiritual beings are particularly important as no shaman becomes one without a personal nod from them.
As Sioux shaman Black Elk puts it: When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the west, it comes with terror like a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is greener and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is like rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm. The shaman views nature as a spiritual, energetic system and carefully observes its balances and interdependencies.
Early anthropologists attributed the shamanic view to a primitive animism. Although shamans are found everywhere, the degree of their acceptance varies. Although shamanism is humanity's oldest relationship to spirit, shamanism is a patiently accumulated set of skills and practices, not a religion. There is no clergy, church, creed, mission, or body of ecclesiastically correct beliefs. A mystic isn’t necessarily a shaman, though many shamans understand mysticism.
