SHAMANIC HEALING

The word shaman comes from the language of a tribe in Siberia, according to Mircea Eliade, a scholar of religion, a shaman is a man or woman who "journeys" in an altered state of consciousness. Thus, shamanism is the application of what the shaman does.

In his book The Spirit of Shamanism, Roger N. Walsh, M.D., PhD. defines Shamanism as follows: "Shamanism can be defined as a family of traditions whose Practitioners focus on voluntarily entering altered states of consciousness in which they experience themselves or their spirit[s], traveling to other realms at will, and interacting with other entities in order to serve their community." There are many important phrases or key terms included in this definition. The first of which is "traditions." Traditions according to the dictionary are beliefs that are handed down [to the next generation] because of their effectiveness. In the shamanic context, these beliefs are being applied to spiritual healing, which may have an impact on the emotional/mental and physical aspects [bodies] of the individual as well. The shamanic traditions are not surprisingly different from culture to culture setting. This leads to the speculation that these traditions have an original source.