What is Shamanism?

Shamanism is an occult technique to contact power animals or spirit guides for personal power, enlightenment, harmonic convergence, psychological insight, and physical healing.  Shamanism can be used for both religious and secular purposes.  The shaman enters an altered state of consciousness, at will, to make contacts with the spirit world.

The shaman is observed to distinguish himself from various magicians and medicine men by the type of altered consciousness he engages in.  This type of altered state is called “ecstasy.”  This “ecstatic” or altered state of consciousness in not only a trance state, but also a spiritual enlightenment of the shaman's methods.  Carlos Castaneda refers to this state of learned awareness as “nonordinary reality.”1

The shaman’s worldview is one in which the heaven, earth, and the underworld were originally one.  In this original state, communication was unhindered, but then something happened which stopped this free communication.   As a result, the earth became separated from heaven and the underworld (a middle ground).  This isolation of human beings from the heaven and the underworld makes it very difficult for most people to communicate with the two other realms.

The shaman is spiritually enlightened and therefore has communication with the three worlds as one.  Not only can the shaman communicate with these other realms, but also he can visit them.  Through the shaman’s experiences, supernatural powers are brought to the earthly realm.2

Shamanism is fundamental in the history of religions and some form of it was a part of almost every prehistoric culture.  Shamanism has evolved and changed in differing ways, both culturally and religiously.  While some forms included sex-magic, fertility worship, and primitive forms of yoga, others consisted mainly of practical magic.  Regardless, demons played a large part in the shamanic practices.  These pagan methods and beliefs are strictly forbidden in God’s Word (Ex. 20:3, 4; Deut. 18:9-12).

1 Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman (SanFrancisco:  HarperCollins, 1980), pp. 20-21.

2 Brooks Alexander, “A Generation of Wizards:  Shamanism and Contemporary Culture,” SCP Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Winter 1984):  26.