What is a Shaman?

A Shaman is a person who works with the realm of Spirit, with Energy, to benefit his or her community. The community might be their family, their circle of friends, their village, country or the planet. Shamans intercede with the ancestors, gods and spirits, with nature and the earth, on behalf of their community. This has been the primary charge of shamans in every culture since time immemorial. It is a shaman’s task to help others, to create a better environment for their community (as large or small as it may be), to heal rifts and improve life conditions.

Shamans are aware of the energetic flow and patterns of the universe, they acknowledge the spirit through that works through everything, and they in turn work with that spirit and flow to shift the world. The word “shaman” is Siberian in origin, but there have been shamans in every culture on Earth throughout the ages, medicine people who can connect with Source, or Spirit, to heal and create balance in the world.

Through these pages you will gather the tools needed to walk a balanced path towards self-empowerment, exploring core shamanism and healing techniques from around the globe. At the end you will have a clearer, stronger understanding of you: an empowered and integrated person whose soul and physical life is in harmony, whose very existence helps clear mass consciousness and improve the quality of all life on earth. You will have joined the ranks of the lightworkers, who work with the light for the highest good of all beings. Lightworkers understand the interconnectedness of all things, all beings, and strive to create a more harmonious, light-based realm on Earth. “Light” shamanism focuses on techniques that can be used heal oneself and the community on multiple levels.

Over the last several centuries human populations have grown while shamans have decreased, creating an imbalance in the world. It is our job, as spirit workers, to restore that balance. Among other things, shamanic work can be used to help cleanse pollution; stabilize weather patterns; heal mental, spiritual and physical disease; harmonize living spaces; and create better work relationships. It is our responsibility to intercede with spirit for the good of the community.

As shamans, we are dealing with real and potent sources of power.

Never underestimate the power of a single shamanic meditation. Everything you do helps to raise the vibration of your community, of mass consciousness and the earth. Each small act of balance shifts the web of humanity and helps to create a better world. As a shamanic person of power and Great Spirit, your responsibility to the earth grows, too. Spirit recognizes spirit. A “lay-person” can get away with acts of pollution or disrespect and still visit a lake to catch some fish with success. A shaman will be recognized by the spirits of the lake, and if they do not first display respect or give thanks and blessings in some small way, it is unlikely they will catch even a single sunfish.

As you embark on this journey of learning, know that the spirits are watching you. They are joyful to know that more humans are reawakening to the magic of their souls. But they are also waiting, and watching, to see how you will be helping to restore balance and rejoin in the act of co-creation that man has always had with Spirit.

Meditation and the Drum

Shamans around the world have long used drums, rattles, song and dance to quickly reach dee