What is a shaman?

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Both wise, counselor, therapist,healer and seeing, the shaman or shaman or even shaman is a person possessing knowledge, endowed with extraordinary abilities, allowing him to intercede for humanity with the spirits of nature. But what is a shaman? What are its roles within traditional societies? Can shamanism help resolve our contemporary problems? Discover the essentials about the shaman.
 

But what is a shaman? Origin and characteristics.
 

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We meet a shaman in all traditional societies, whether in the depths of the Amazon, in North America or in the heart of Africa.
 

The term “shaman” already appeared in 1672, in the writings of Avvakoum Petrovich, leader of the conservative Russian clergy, exiled to Siberia in 1661 by Tsar Alexis I.
 

This term, which comes from the Tungusic “šamán”, is therefore of Siberian origin and is used to designate a person endowed with extraordinary abilities, allowing them to connect the world of humans to that of spirits. For other tribes, the shaman is the intermediary between the human world and the spirits of nature. Furthermore, the word shaman means “the one who knows”, therefore the one who has knowledge.

Thus, the shaman is both wise, able to provide advice and guide the person who consults him to make the right life choice, so that he or she is in harmony with his or her deep and instinctive nature.
 

The shaman is also a healer, since his knowledge of nature allows him to provide care. Most shamans use plants to heal and heal the sick.
 

The shaman also acts as a therapist in the sense that he helps the person who comes to consult him to find serenity in the face of a problem that causes anxiety. It heals the soul in search of serenity. In the shamanic tradition, any imbalance in our material and physical reality finds its origin in more subtle realities.
 

The shaman, thanks to his mediumship, is often able to announce good and bad news in the near future.

For the layman, the shaman is at the same time "wise, therapist, counselor, healer and clairvoyant", but for the initiated, this repository of the cultural knowledge of his tribe is the specialist in modified states of consciousness. He can travel between the physical world and theastral world spirits. He can then communicate with entities, normally invisible to ordinary mortals.
 

What are the roles of the shaman within traditional societies?
 

Even if the term shaman comes from Tungusic, a language spoken in Altai and Siberia, shamans are found in most traditional societies where beliefs in the interaction of humans with nature and their environment are well anchored. . This is how we can observe the presence of shamans in Siberia, in the surrounding geographical areas, ranging from China to Japan, via Korea. The practice of shamanism is also deeply rooted among Native Americans, Amazonian Indians, certain African tribes, and Australian aborigines. In short, to the four corners of the earth.
 

And for good reason, in traditional societies, communion with nature is at the heart of all beliefs. The balance between the physical and the psychic is the basis of all existence.
 

To understand the place of the shaman in traditional society, it is enough to return to the definition of the shaman, who is at the same time the wise man who provides advice, the healer who treats the sick, the therapist who soothes souls in search of tranquility. and the seer who reassures anguished hearts facing an uncertain future. The shaman guarantees, in a way, balance within the community, by combining essential roles in the smooth running of life in society.

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And because shamanism also includes the influence of culture, it is difficult to assert the uniqueness of shamanism; rituals and practices differ from one region to another of the globe, but the principle remains the same: communion with nature, the universe and spirits.
 

Can shamanism help resolve our contemporary problems?
 

Shamanism is not a religion and yet its practice extends to all regions of the globe. Indeed, it is based on the knowledge of nature and the spirits that inhabit it. For the shaman, the world is not limited to the visible universe and man, but also to those closely linked to him and his environment.

With the awareness regarding the preservation of nature, shamanism can provide answers to our contemporary problems more than ever.
 

We agree that the mind governs the body and that anxiety, generated by stress and worries, is at the origin of many ailments. To have a healthy body, we must ensure that our actions are consistent with our principles.
 

Shamanism can present itself as an effective means of awakening individual consciences, so that humanity contributes to the birth of a new world. This explains why the neo-shamanism which accompanies the New Age movement is spreading in Europe and North America, among people who want to reconnect with their deep nature.
 

Can everyone become a shaman?
 

Everyone can become a shaman, since shamanism is based on the ability to develop one's feelings, the ability to listen to the universe. And even if the practice of shamanism is learned and acquired with experience, some people are predisposed to becoming shamans, more than others. These are:
 

• People who havegifts of mediumship and who have the ability to hear or see entities and spirits,

• People who have a high degree of empathy, being able to feel the emotions of their loved one as if they were experiencing it in person,

• People who have been healers ina previous life,

• Those who have the feeling of not belonging to a well-defined world, because they are bridges between the world of humans and the spirits of nature.
   

Playing an essential role in the proper functioning of a traditional society, the shaman finds his letter of nobility among people who aspire to the awakening of consciousness, thanks to their extraordinary knowledge and skills. To help others to have health and a harmonious and abundant life, our forgotten birthright.