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Drawings of Shamanic Dance Moves	Shamanic Fire Dance

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Fantasy Renaissance Wiccan Shaman	-Whimsical Shaman

Shamanism (/ˈʃɑːmən/ shah-mən or /ˈʃeɪmən/ shay-mən)
The word "shaman" originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia and may have roots that extend back in time at least two millennia. The term was introduced to the west by Russian forces in 1552. The term "shamanism" was first applied by western anthropologists and used to describe unrelated magico-religious practices found within the ethnic religions of other parts of Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas."

Shamans claim to gain knowledge and the power to heal by entering into supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community, to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements.

Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit the shaman restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. Most shamans have dreams or visions that convey certain messages. The shaman may have or acquire many spirit guides, who often guide and direct the shaman in his/her travels in the spirit world. These spirit guides are always present within the shaman although others only encounter them when the shaman is in a trance. The spirit guide energizes the shaman, enabling him/her to enter the spiritual dimension.

The shamanic séance serves is a public display of the shaman's journey to the spirit world. Performances usually involve intense trances, and consist of at least these four elements: dance, music, poetry and dramatic or mimetic action. The use of these elements serves the purpose of outwardly expressing his mystical communion with nature and the spirits for the rest of the tribe. Other elements would include drumming, chanting, elaborate costumes, miraculous displays of physical strength, and audience involvement. The fundamental purpose of the dramatic displays seen during shamanic ceremonies is to lead the tribe in a solemn ritualistic process.

The goal of these séances ranges from recovering the lost soul of a sick patient, divining the future, appealing to ancestors, manipulating the elements, leading lost souls, officiating public religious rituals, and finding a lost person or thing. he shaman changes his voice mimetically to represent different persons, gods, and animals to show his progress in the spirit world and his different spiritual interactions.

Shamans perform in a "state of ecstasy" deliberately induced by an effort of will. Reaching this altered state of consciousness requires great mental exertion, concentration and strict self-discipline. Mental and physical preparation includes long periods of silent meditation, fasting, and smoking. In this state, skilled shamans employ capabilities that the human organism cannot accomplish in the ordinary state. Shamans in ecstasy display unusual physical strength, the ability to withstand extreme temperatures, the bearing of stabbing and cutting without pain, and the heightened receptivity of the sense organs. Shamans make use of intoxicating substances and hallucinogens, especially mukhomor mushrooms and alcohol, as a means of hastening the attainment of ecstasy. The use of sleight-of-hand tricks, ventriloquism, and hypnosis common in these rituals does not explain the more impressive feats and actual cures accomplished by shamans.

Purification by fire is an important element of the shamanic tradition dating back as early as the 6th century. People and things connected with the dead had to be purified by passing between fires. These purifications were complex exorcisms while others simply involved the act of literally walking between two fires while being blessed by the Shaman. Shamans in literature and practice were also responsible for using special stones for controlling the weather. Rituals are performed with these stones to attract rain or repel snow, cold or wind. This "rain-stone" was used for many occasions including bringing an end to drought as well as producing hailstorms as a means of warfare. Animal sacrifice has been part some shamanic practices for over 5,000 years. When a person is sick due to his soul being lost, or captured by wild spirit, one method of cleansing the person is by offering a substitutional body.

The shaman's attire and chief accessories are his coat, cap, and tambourine or drum. The transformation into an animal is an important aspect of the journey into the spirit world undertaken during shamanic rituals so the coat is often decorated with bird’s feathers and representations of animals, colored handkerchiefs, bells and metal ornaments. The cap is usually made from the skin of a bird with the feathers and sometimes head, still attached.

The drum or tambourine is the essential means of communicating with spirits and enabling the shaman to reach altered states of consciousness on his journey. The drum, representing the universe in epitome, is often divided into equal halves to represent the earth and lower realms. Symbols and natural objects are added to the drum representing natural forces and heavenly bodies.

NEOSHAMANISM Neoshamnism comprises an eclectic range of beliefs and practices that involve attempts to attain altered states and communicate with a spirit world. Neoshamanic systems may not resemble traditional forms of shamanism. Some have been invented by individual practitioners, though many borrow or gain inspiration from a variety of different Indigenous cultures. In particular, indigenous cultures of the Americas have been influential. However, certain generalities may be drawn between adherents. Most believe in spirits and pursue contact with the "spirit-world" in altered states of consciousness which they achieve through drumming, ritual dance, the use of entheogens, and attempted communication with animal tutelary spirits, called "power animals" Most shamanic systems might be described as existing somewhere on the animism/pantheism spectrum. According to York (2001) one difference between neoshamanism and traditional shamanism is the role of fear. Neoshamanism and its New Age relations tend to dismiss the existence of evil, fear, and failure. "In traditional shamanism, the shaman’s initiation is an ordeal involving pain, hardship and terror. New Age, by contrast is a religious perspective that denies the ultimately [sic] reality of the negative, and this would devalue the role of fear as well." Michael Harner founded the Foundation for Shamanic Studies which claims to aid Indigenous people in preserving or even re-discovering their own spiritual knowledge. Harner professes to describe common elements of "shamanic" practice found among Indigenous people world-wide, having stripped those elements of specific cultural content so as to render them "accessible" to contemporary Western spiritual-seekers.

See also: Imitation of sounds in shamanism and Shamanic music

Shaman performing ritual

• Spirits exist and they play important roles both in individual lives and in human society.
• The shaman can communicate with the spirit world.
• Spirits can be benevolent or malevolent.
• The shaman can treat sickness caused by malevolent spirits.
• The shaman can employ trance inducing techniques to incite visionary ecstasy and go on vision quests.
• The shaman's spirit can leave the body to enter the supernatural world to search for answers.
• The shaman evokes animal images as spirit guides, omens, and message-bearers.
• The shaman can perform other varied forms of divination, scry, throw bones/runes, and sometimes foretell of future events.