What Is Shamanism?

Andrea Lawrie
Nov 5
6 min read

Updated: Nov 9

On this Full Moon, I felt called to share a personal reflection on shamanism in this season of deepening darkness, a time for intuition, inner work, and remembering the old ways.

Ornate leather journal with a green gem lays on grass with small yellow flowers, creating a serene, natural setting. — *Shamanic Journal*

Early in my Shamanic Practitioner training, one of the first things we were asked to do was write down what we thought Shamanism is. My teacher, Two Birds, never gave lectures - her teaching method was always immersive and experiential. She invited us to journey on her question and submit it as part of our coursework. Although there were some common themes in what each of us wrote, it was interesting how different (and beautiful) everyone's descriptions were.

I see why my teacher did this – she was helping us to understand that Shamanism is something to be experienced rather than understood with the mind, although I appreciate we need language to give something an outline, bones and shape. So, here’s my attempt to describe Shamanism with the caveat that the living heartbeat of the work lies beyond description - but that words are needed to help us find the door.

Giving Shape to Shamanism

Shamanism can be described as a collection of experiential practices that appear across many cultures, each held by its own people, places and languages. It’s not a religion or a doctrine.

The anthropologist Mircea Eliade said that there is no single Shamanism, but many Shamanic traditions. What they have in common essentially are methods for deliberately shifting consciousness to seek insight, healing or power for the good of individuals, a community or land.

Across traditions around the world, some common threads appear:

A living world (animism): That mountains, plants, rivers, stones, stars etc. are alive and have their own consciousness; humans are just a part of this greater community of life.
Altered yet focused awareness: Methods such as drumming or rattling are used to enter a state of consciousness (similar in some ways to deep meditation). Anthropologist Michael Harner called this the Shamanic state of consciousness, which is used to access what he termed non-ordinary reality.
Relationship with helping presences: Respectful relationships are built with compassionate helpers such as spirits of place, animals, plants, ancestors, or other allies, for guidance and healing.

Person in blue shirt hugging a tree in a forest, wearing a black watch. Sunlight filters through the green foliage, creating a warm mood.

Language - Respect for the Word "Shaman"

The word Shaman came to the English language via Russian anthropological writing. It comes from a Tungusic language of Siberia (most often linked to the Evenki people). "Shaman" originally referred to a particular role in particular communities.

Nowadays, in the West, similar types of practices have been taught and learned in a cross-cultural form, but this doesn’t make us bearers of the title "Shaman". Out of respect, I would never refer to myself as a Shaman as I was not born into a Shamanic lineage. I use the term Shamanic Practitioner as my training is in cross-cultural approaches and I always honour my lineage of teachers who have passed these methods on to me (see my earlier blog ‘Choosing a Spiritual Practitioner That’s Right for You' my lineage is there). I believe that language is important as are respect, humility, reciprocity and working within one's remit.

What We Know, and What We Don’t

It’s impossible to give an exact date to the origins of Shamanic practice, but most scholars agree it is among humanity’s oldest forms of meaning-making and healing. Archaeological evidence traces these practices back at least 30,000–40,000 years.

We know this because of:

Cave art and ritual sites such as those in Lascaux, France, and Altamira, Spain, where part-human, part-animal figures appear in trance-like postures, interpreted as early depictions of Shamanic experience or transformation.
Evidence of Shamanic specialists on every inhabited continent, suggesting these practices predate agriculture and organised religion.

Ancient cave painting with black animals, red handprints, and spiral pattern on a textured wall. Warm earth tones dominate the artwork. — *Cave Art, Altamira, Spain*

While Shamanism isn’t a single “thing,” its core features, such as communication with helping spirits and relationship with nature, likely arose tens of thousands of years ago, making it the world’s oldest known spiritual and therapeutic system still in practice today.

In many traditions, a Shamanic Practitioner intentionally journeys, negotiates, retrieves, or restores. It's very different from mediumship or spirit-possession traditions, where a being speaks or acts through the person. In Shamanic work, the practitioner doesn’t do this, and they remain conscious and alert.

Practising with Care

It’s important to mention that over the years, indigenous Shamanic people and their traditions and the communities who have safeguarded them, have endured violence and attempted erasure through colonisation involving land theft, forced conversion, outlawing of ceremony, cultural erasure and the deaths of countless Indigenous people. That history isn’t abstract; its impacts are alive in individuals, families, communities and lineages to this day.

If we practise Shamanism, it's important to ensure respect and accountability. For me, that means: naming and honouring my teachers, staying within the scope of my training, not reproducing ceremonies or cultural customs that aren’t mine and contributing quietly to Indigenous-led work. I try to take care to move with respect in my practise and keep learning.

A rustic drum with a wooden beater rests on a wooden surface. The drum is tan with earthy tones, creating a natural, calm ambiance. — *Shamanic Drum (made with animal hide)*

How I Practice: Core Methods

To make core Shamanic methods teachable without copying or stealing them from any one culture, Michael Harner developed Core Shamanism, which is a framework of cross-cultural techniques (particularly drumming-based journeying) which he distilled from his research. These are methods rather than borrowed ceremonies.

Building on this, Sandra Ingerman developed therapeutic applications such as soul retrieval to restore vitality when aspects of our life-energy have withdrawn through shock or trauma. She also developed practices for restoring power, releasing intrusions and strengthening protection. Her work emphasises the importance of consent, compassion and integration over performance.

Group of eight people holding drums, smiling in a forest glade. A small white dog sits in front. Sunlight filters through the trees. — *Photo credit: Heron Drums - Shamanic Drum Birthing Workshop*

How Can Shamanism Help Us?

People often ask how I came to this work, and how it might help them. Shamanism is often dismissed as “woo-woo,” mysterious, or far removed from everyday life. But at its heart, it’s about relationship - with ourselves, with each other, with the natural world, with the mystery of life, and with the deeper intelligence that connects everything. And when those relationships are nurtured, life can begin to feel more coherent again.

My Own Path

My path to Shamanism started three decades ago; not because I was searching for spirituality as such, but because I was curious. I'd had a fascination with my ancestors from as far back as I can remember and thought this might give me a way to connect more strongly with them. What I didn’t expect to find was that Shamanic practices could offer so much more, including a way to support and improve my wellbeing and bring me into alignment with my core values and authentic self. Shamanism offers a comprehensive collection of tools and perspectives that can help us listen inwardly, trust the wisdom of our body and reclaim fragmented or lost aspects of ourselves.

What it looks like in practice

Shamanism has many tools to help us achieve balance, which I plan to write about in future blogs - here’s just a glimpse of some of them:

Journeying (Harner’s term): a focused, time-limited practice for seeking guidance and assistance from compassionate spirit helpers.
Grounding and regulation: methods to steady the nervous system before and after journeying.
Energy clearing: dissolving any unhelpful energy you’ve picked up, calling energy back, strengthening boundaries.
Ceremony and cycles: simple ways to honour beginnings, endings and attune to seasonal and lunar rhythms and cycles.
Integration: gentle, practical steps to ensure the insights you receive become embodied changes, not just "big experiences".

People come to this work for many reasons - stress, burnout, trauma, grief, illness, insomnia, peri/menopause, addictions, breaking habits, reshaping boundaries, significant life changes or simply to build a daily spiritual practice or be part of a conscious community. Beneath all these reasons lies a similar wish - to live from a place that feels more grounded, alive and aligned.

Woman in sunglasses smiles in foreground. Behind her, a grassy field with large stones and cloudy sky. Casual outdoor setting. — *Me at East Aquhorthies Stone Circle, Aberdeenshire*

Why this matters now

We’re living through challenging times - conflict, climate anxiety, widening divides and many people are feeling lonely, anxious or overwhelmed. Modern life can thin our sense of belonging - to our bodies, to the land and to each other. This is perhaps why so many are turning towards Shamanism today to restore relationship and meaning. Practised ethically, Shamanic work can help us come back into relationship with our bodies, our nervous systems, with the living world, and with one another, and provide a steady base so we can meet life with more clarity, care and balance.

Closing

Thank you for reading. I plan to continue sharing simple practices and deeper dives over the coming months. Next time, I'll be writing if about Shamanic journeying and drumming.

If you feel drawn to explore further, you’re warmly invited to come along to a Full Moon Circle or a one-to-one session, or explore my upcoming Workshops, Retreats and Trainings. If you'd like to keep up to date, you can also join my newsletter 'New Moon Letters from the Hearth'

With warmth and heartfelt gratitude,