(OR WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO QUIT YOUR DAY JOB)

Shaman is a Tungis word from the Evenk speaking people of Siberia. It means one who sees in the dark, or one who sees with eyes closed (Harner, 1980). It is currently used to designate people with a particular way of interacting with life regardless of where they reside or what language they speak. Most languages have their own term for this person, which has resulted in some confusion surrounding the job description. Although others in the same society may perform some similar functions and activities, such as healing or divination, they do not have all the same skills. In addition to her shamanic duties, a shaman may also don the robe of priest or herbalist, for example. But that does not imply that all shamans do so, or that all priests are shamans.

Shamans are able to get in touch with spirits by taking a journey in an altered state of consciousness. This state is achieved with the help of repetitive sounds such as drumming or rattling, the ingestion of entheogenic substances, rhythmic movement, chanting, breath work, or forms of sensory depravation. Shamans making this journey retain full control of their trance state, unlike mediums and full body clairvoyants. Shamans are conscious of everything that transpires.

The shaman uses this altered state of consciousness to communicate with and influence the forces of nature and the universe for the benefit of society. She unites the artificial dualities of the inner and outer worlds, the constructs of the individual and society, and the world contained in our corporeal forms and that of the cosmos beyond. *

A shaman journeys with purpose and intent. She is not a private mystic. Her voyage is not one of personal discovery, but serves an expressed need within the community. For the shaman, the community embraces the idea of the individual soul combining with a cyclical view of natural processes. An important part of the shaman's role is to regulate and assist the conservation of the community's soul-force (Vitebsky, 1995). Eliade (1964) refers to this as defending the "psychic integrity" of the community. The shaman unites areas such as religion, psychology, medicine and theology, which in Western life have become separate. Through her experience, she heals and maintains the community.

Shamans are not limited by the ordinary reality constructs of time and space in their quest for ways to help and heal. They journey to the realms of the upper world (sky), underworld (earth) and middle world to seek out spiritual beings who offer wisdom and assistance, and to negotiate with those who might be causing trouble.

The shaman journeys into non ordinary reality, (a term coined by Castaneda in 1968), in order to mediate with the spirits for release of a soul, to bring rain for the crops, to facilitate life passages, or any number of tasks which involve the spirit world. To a shaman, "All that is, is alive" (Cloutier, 1980). All matter has spirit. Everything that exists has spirit or soul and can therefore be communicated with and influenced. The shaman functions as a mediator between the community and the inhabitants of the spirit world. This mediation is considered highly dangerous and is a central part of shamanic ideology (Hoppal, 1987). By bridging the worlds for her people, a shaman negotiates to restore balance within the individual and the community. According to Siikala (1978, in Hoppal, 1987), "…the main task of the shaman is to create a direct and reciprocal state of communication aimed at the spirit world…". The shaman has also been considered as the preserver of cultural identity, through her task as the mediator between the cultural heritage of the past and the present situation (Lewis, 1981, in Hoppal, 1987).

In order to successfully perform these tasks, shamans everywhere must acquire substantial spiritual power. Through discipline, diligence, hard work and sheer stubbornness, shamans develop relationships with spirit allies. These allies may take a variety of forms including animal, plant, light, color, or vibration. Allies are the source of a shaman's knowledge and protect her during dangerous work.

The shaman heals at both the individual and societal level, making her profession as valuable today in modern Western culture as it was to our tribal ancestors. Our culture and the very existence of our planet are in jeopardy. The soul journey of the shaman is a door way to understanding and integrating a world view which can provide a basis for rebalancing our disconnected relationship with all that is.

*For simplicity, I shall hereafter use the female pronominal form in referring to the shaman, with the clear understanding that shamans may be of either gender.