Shamanism: Humanity’s First Spiritual Technology

“Shamanism is humanity’s oldest spiritual practice.”

- Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman

Long before temples, scriptures, priesthoods, or formal theologies, human beings entered into direct relationship with the unseen world. Shamanism is widely regarded by anthropologists as the oldest spiritual and religious system known to humanity, emerging independently across cultures tens of thousands of years ago.

Rather than belief-based, shamanism is experience-based. It does not require adherence to dogma, but participation in altered states of consciousness through which the shaman communicates with spirits, ancestors, animals, and cosmic forces. In this sense, shamanism is less a “religion” in the modern sense and more a spiritual technology: a set of repeatable methods for healing, guidance, and survival.

The term shaman originates from the Tungusic Evenki people of Siberia, but similar figures appear globally under different names:

• Siberia & Central Asia

• Indigenous North & South America

• Arctic Inuit cultures

• Amazonian tribes

• Australian Aboriginal peoples

• Ancient Europe and pre-Christian Celtic cultures

• Parts of Africa and Southeast Asia

Anthropologist Mircea Eliade famously described shamanism as a “technique of ecstasy,” emphasizing the shaman’s ability to intentionally enter non-ordinary states of consciousness for the benefit of the community.

Later, Michael Harner synthesized cross-cultural commonalities into what he called Core Shamanism, identifying shared structures and methods that appear regardless of geography or mythology.

Despite cultural variation, the shaman’s role remains remarkably consistent: healer, mediator, psychopomp, and cosmological navigator.

Core Elements of Shamanic Belief

The Three Worlds

Most shamanic cosmologies describe a tripartite universe:

• Lower World – Often associated with animals, instincts, ancestral memory, and the deep psyche. It is not “evil,” but primal and foundational.

• Middle World – The ordinary waking world, overlapping with unseen spiritual dimensions.

• Upper World – Associated with celestial beings, teachers, ancestors, and higher wisdom.

These realms are connected not by belief, but by journeying.

The World Tree (Axis Mundi)

The World Tree, or Axis Mundi, appears in countless cultures as the cosmic axis connecting heaven, earth, and underworld. Whether imagined as a tree, mountain, pillar, ladder, or rainbow bridge, it represents the vertical structure of reality and the shaman’s ability to move between realms.

This symbol later reappears in Norse Yggdrasil, the Biblical Tree of Life, the yogic spine and chakras, and the Neoplatonic Great Chain of Being.

Journeying

Shamanic journeying involves entering a trance state (often induced through rhythmic drumming, rattling, chanting, breathwork, or entheogens) to travel into non-ordinary reality. Unlike dreams, journeys are intentional, repeatable, and navigable.

The shaman does not imagine the journey; they experience it.

Soul Loss & Soul Retrieval

Many shamanic traditions understand illness, especially psychological or emotional illness, as a form of soul loss, where fragments of the self withdraw due to trauma, shock, or grief.

Soul retrieval is the practice of locating and reintegrating these lost aspects, restoring vitality, memory, and wholeness. This concept resonates strongly with modern trauma psychology and parts-based therapeutic models.

Shamanic Practices

Common shamanic practices include:

• Healing and extraction of intrusive energies

• Soul retrieval

• Divination and guidance

• Psychopomp work (guiding the dead)

• Weather working and land stewardship

• Animal spirit relationships (power animals)

• Vision quests and initiation rites

Importantly, these practices are traditionally undertaken for the community, not personal gain. The shaman is often chosen by illness, calling, or crisis rather than ambition.

As societies grew more complex, shamanic practices did not disappear, they were absorbed, transformed, or suppressed.

Examples include:

• Prophets and visionaries in the Hebrew Bible

• Mystics and saints in Christianity

• Sufis in Islam

• Taoist immortals and Chinese spirit mediums

• Yogis and siddhas in Hinduism

• Tantric practitioners in Buddhism

Many religious rituals (chanting, fasting, pilgrimage, sacrament, ecstatic prayer) retain unmistakable shamanic roots.

Modern shamanism exists in several forms:

• Indigenous lineages preserving ancestral traditions

• Core Shamanism and experiential workshops

• Psychologically informed shamanic therapy

• Eco-spiritual and land-based practices

• Personal spiritual development and healing work

  
  

While contemporary practice must navigate ethical concerns, especially cultural appropriation, shamanism continues to offer something modern life often lacks:

direct relationship with meaning, nature, and the unseen.

In an age of abstraction, shamanism reminds us that spirituality is not merely believed,

it is experienced.

If you would like to continue the journey, here are some books I would recommend:

• Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy - Mircea Eliade

• The Way of the Shaman - Michael Harner

• Shamanic Journeying - Sandra Ingerman