Peoples who profess to be shamanists accord considerable importance to the ecstatic experiences of their shamans; these experiences concern them personally and immediately; for it is the shamans who, by their trances, cure them, accompany their dead to the ‘Realm of Shades,’ and serve as mediators between them and their gods, celestial or infernal, greater or lesser.  This small mystical elite not only directs the community’s religious life but, as it were, guards its ’soul.’  The shaman is the great specialist in the human soul; he alone ’sees’ it, for he knows its ‘form’ and its destiny…And wherever the immediate fate of the soul is not at issue, wherever there is no question of sickness (=loss of the soul) or death, or of misfortune, or of a great sacrificial rite involving some ecstatic experience (mystical journey to the sky or the underworld), the shaman is not indispensable.  A large part of religious life takes place without him. ~Mircea Eliade, Shamanism:  Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, p. 8.

Shamanism is a ancient yet ever-new method of spiritual healing.  At its most basic level the work of a shamanic practitioner is to enter into an altered state of consciousness to commune with the spiritual world for the purpose of receiving knowledge and engaging in healing on behalf of oneself and others. 

In the shamanic worldview the practitioner believes in the reality of the spiritual world and that one can engage in relationship with it.  The shamanic practitioner practices what can be called animism, a worldview in which it is believed that everything has a spirit, is en-spirited, and that this spiritual world can be contacted and actively worked with.

The primary spiritual practice and method of shamanism is known as the Journey.  Practitioners use the Journey to meet with spirits on behalf of themselves or others for the purpose of spiritual healing.  They enter what anthropologist and shaman Michael Harner has called a Shamanic State of Consciousness (SSC) in which the brain of the practitioner enters the theta state of relaxed awareness.  The practitioner enters this state by means of hearing repetitive sound, in most cases drumming or rattling, although other sounds may also be used.

Shamanic practitioners have many practices in their work.  In addition to the Journey, they perform soul retrievals in which they journey on behalf of a client to retrieve lost or missing soul parts.  They also do extraction work in which they remove spiritual intrusions and psychopomp work in which they help souls move into the Light.  They engage in this work on behalf of humans, animals and the land. 

The following books are recommended reading for learning more about the ancient yet ever-new practice of shamanism. 

• Simon Buxton, The Shamanic Way of the Bee:  Ancient Wisdom and Healing Practices of the Bee Masters.  Also visit Buxton’s UK educational organisation The Sacred Trust at www.sacredtrust.org.
• Tom Cowan, Fire in the Head:  Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit.  Also visit Cowan’s website at www.riverdrum.com.
• Mircea Eliade, Shamanism:  Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy.  Eliade’s book is a classic introduction the field.
• Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman.  Also visit Harner’s organisation the Foundation for Shamanic Studies at www.shamanism.org.
• Sandra Ingerman, Soul Retrieval:  Mending the Fragmented Self and Welcome Home:  Life After Healing, Following Your Soul’s Journey Home.  Also visit Sandra’s website at www.sandraingerman.com.
• Caitlin and John Matthews, Walkers Between the Worlds:  The Western Mysteries from Shaman to Magus.  Also visit the Matthews’ website at www.hallowquest.org.uk.
• Karen Sawyer, ed, Soul Companions:  Conversations with Contemporary Wisdom Keepers – A Collection of Encounters with Spirit
• Barbara Tedlock, PhD.  Woman in the Shaman’s Body:  Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine.