The Shaman is the traditional mediator between the ordinary world and an alternate reality.
Shamanism offers a way for people to wake up to their potential, and begin to explore their spiritual relationship to the universe, to other forms of life, and to each other. The experiences which come from shamanism help a person to evolve a deeper bond and respect for all of creation, and from this perspective one is more likely to lead a life that enhances life, with an emphasis on harmony and balance, and which encourages understanding and optimism. The Shamanic path is a path to experience this expanded view of universe.
The origins of shamanism pre-date recorded civilisation, and the earliest findings date back forty thousand years. The word Shaman originates from the Tungus people of Siberia, it means ‘One who sees’ , and I would like to add to this as someone ‘who sees with the heart’. This brings us to one of the most important characteristics of shamans, that they are masters of energy and of the life-force which moves through the human body and all of creation.
They know that there is an energy normally invisible which connects all that exists, and they live with the knowledge of this energy and how to use it. This concept of the inter-relationship and understanding that man is a part of nature, not separate to it, a part of the connecting energy has been expressed in many ways and over many cultures, unfortunately not in ours. As Chief Seattle said in 1855 in his address to the American Congress;
“What befalls the Earth befalls all the sons of the Earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a