What is shamanism and what is journeying?
I like Sandra Ingerman’s definition of shamanism: It is the “earliest spiritual practice known to humankind dating back tens of thousands of years.”
The word “shaman” initially referred to Siberian healers who used trance to contact the spirits to bring back healing for their clients and community. The word is now used almost generically to refer to people all over the world who use similar techniques in their spiritual and healing practices. In most parts of the world, these healers had other names. You may have heard some of them: Medicine Man, Witch, Faery Doctor, Cunning Man, Wise Woman.
Shamanism grew out of cultures that lived close to the land; they understood that more was going on than they could discern with their everyday senses. Perhaps at one time, people saw and heard and felt the world in all her many varied aspects. But as time went on, fewer people were able to see behind the veil; fewer people were able to wipe away the mist. So the shamans, druids, and faery doctors stepped in to continue the relationship with the spirit world for the benefit of their communities.
Some scholars believe what is now called shamanism was once the province of women. A Chukchee proverb goes like this: “Woman is by nature a shaman.” Today, women and men all over the planet are getting back in touch with their roots–the roots of the land, their ancestral roots, their spiritual roots. Some of the methods of indigenous shamans have been codified, and teachers train students to become shamanic practitioners. These methods are used for personal revelation but more often for the healing for others.
Journeying is what the shamanic practitioner does. She goes into a trance or a meditative state until she contacts her spirit helpers. She tells them the problem and asks for help or healing. Then she brings back any information or instructions she obtained for the client.
Most often, shamanic practitioners go into these ecstatic trances by using a drum, rattle, or by dancing. Some people can close their eyes briefly and get in touch with their spirit guides that way. Other people use particular body poses which help them journey into the invisible worlds.
There are many discussions about how to journey, what actually happens during a trance state, and what the shaman or shamanic practitioner experiences, but I won’t get into that here. Some of my favorites books on the subject are Where the Spirits Ride the Wind by Felicitas D. Goodman, Shamanism as a Spiritual Practice for Daily Life by Tom Cowan, Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner’s Guide by Sandra Ingerman, and Shakti Woman by Vicki Noble.
Sandra Ingerman believes anyone can be taught to journey. When we were children, many of us “journeyed” and went into ecstatic states naturally and regularly. I believe if we could get in touch with that “childish” part of ourselves, we would see the world in a completely new way.
Our minds are often like hamsters on a wheel. They keep going and going. When doing healing work, it is important to be able to get out of the way and let true wisdom come to the forefront. Journeying helps us to stop trying to control and manage everything so that we can discern where the story is going–or what the story actually is. By journeying we are able to ask for advice and guidance while standing ready to co-create our world with the Invisibles. We are not supplicants but neighbors coming together to create our world.
