r/Shamanism

I've had my share of psychedelic experiences. One thing that I believe is that our souls exist on another plane and that through ceremony, meditation, and substances, we can communicate with other spirits on that plane. If one wants to be a shaman, I believe they should be vegan as a sort of "cosmic diplomacy" gesture that ensures peace.

Are there other people/shamans that believe this?

Hello -

Several years ago, I attempted my first shamanic journey. And I had a bizarre, somewhat frightening experience that made me not do it again. (Until now. I'm finally feeling ready to try again) But I'd like to see if anyone more experienced can maybe explain what might have happened.

I used some audio of drumming, and started by meditating. After awhile of meditating, I didn't really feel like anything was happening, so I tried to visualize a place that I wanted to be. I come from a Norse Pagan background, so I went with a big tree. That's when I felt like it was working. I had only intentionally imagined the big tree, but then more scenery started to come about on its own - fog was clearing and revealed that my tree was in a small clearing in a forest, and beyond the forest were massive snow covered mountains, and I could faintly hear various animals. And I kind of just explored the small area around this tree, when suddenly I could hear talking - two male human voices. I couldn't see anyone or tell where exactly it was coming from. And the more I tried to focus on it, the more quiet the forest got until no sounds of animals or wind were left. It got very silent. And then out of no where it started to rain and thunder, and I finally decided to venture a little bit farther away from my tree and into the forest - and I found the two men that had been talking. I got a gut wrenching feeling that I had interrupted something, thought their faces were expressionless. The storm become more violent, the two man disappeared like puffs of smoke.. and I felt scared. And I turned around and went back to my tree. When I got there the leaves had all turned blood red (before they were a beautiful green) and we're starting to fall off the tree as if it was dying. One of the men was standing near the tree and turned and looked straight at me when I came into the clearing and he looked not angry, but like he was having fun. I think I remember trying to call out to it and talk to it, but it did not respond. It was at this point I felt extremely uncomfortable and afraid and I didn't really know how to leave so I just opened my eyes.

So here is my question, as someone not practicing but looking into shamanic practices.

I got the book Way Of The Shaman to get to know the basic principles/practices/logic behind shamanic practices as a whole before diving deeper into any one specific branch. I see that rhytmic and percussion aids are used to achieve trance like states, much like I've seen done in Umbanda cerimonies as well with atabaques.

I've always defended that the main reason I enjoy techno as much as I do is because the steady, repetitive rhythms and percussions feel hypnotizing and make me go into flow states where my mind doesn't feel cluttered with thoughts and can easily focus. It also makes me want to dance lol. I was wondering how valid, in your opinion, would the use of techno music be as a stand in for these musical elements in shamanic practices, out of curiosity. I know core shamanism might be a bit controversial, but I'm always interested in knowing how, exactly, things tick.

Hey all,

I was wondering what is the best resource when trying to learn to throw the bones (Osteomancy)

I had a very vivid lucid dream of me using this method of divination (I also have a set of Saami specific cards and an obsidian water mirror that I have used in the past).

I would like to stay away from Core-Shamanism if possible (would like authentic sources where available)

So I’m looking for Osteomancy, or “throwing the bones” or “button reading” forms of divination.

Such as: do you throw on a cloth you made? Does it have symbols? Forms of interpretation/reading into the placements, and all that good stuff.

Miigwetch!

"A new WHO strategic technical advisory group for traditional medicine was launched this week at a global summit in India. “This is a pivotal moment for traditional medicine. It embodies cultural heritage and national health identities, and increasingly, it constitutes a vital component of primary health care strategies,” Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO’s assistant director-general for health system, access and data, told the summit.

The idea, Kuruvilla suggests, is to “build a bridge” between traditional medicine and biomedicine. It is important to “find commonalities”, she says. “Showing that the science can be robust is really, really important, and especially on the patient safety aspect.”

Traditional medicine has the potential to be a “treasure trove”, Kuruvilla says. The vast numbers of people working in the field – including university-educated professionals accredited to work in clinics in China and India – could ease global workforce shortages and make a “huge contribution” to universal health coverage, she says."

Lately i've been feeling a sort of unyeilding grief for the transition this world is undergoing. I learned a song from my mentor that talks about how there's no longer any homes for the spirits, the great trees, the basins/pools of water dried up and gone. And I cry when I sing it because it's a song that speaks to generations of grief over having been uprooted from land and culture but also of watching the degradation of nature. Witnessing the elimination of the homes of many of the spirits, living, dead, and other. Some spirits adapt of course but not all of them can make it.

I just feel this dismay watching things get worse with climate change, watching the civilizational industrial golliath continue to eat everything it can even though it's own cannibalism will collapse itself (to the suffering of untold billions of humans and never to the impact of those who cultivated/created the systems to begin with).

I think my only reprieve is that I know the rebalancing *has* to come because that's what systems do, they reach homeostasis. And besides I certainly have been smacked upside the head with the awareness of cthonic forces older than our little human civilization that shape the world waking up. it's just going to come at a terrible cost to so many lives and countless species and it never had to be this way.

It didn't have to be this way and I feel it's necessary to give the next generation of whatever sliver of humanity survives awareness of ways to relate differently.

Hello everyone,

I’m new to this community and I’d like to start my shaman journey and I was wondering if you guys have any tips or suggestions. I’m open to anything at this point since you can only go so far with yourself, you can go further with others for support. I’d like to thank those who took their time by sharing their advice because I could use some.

Side note: if I don’t get back to you immediately that’s because I might be driving.

I hope this is finding the right community- after dwelling on it I really can’t think of another perspective that would be fit to analyze this dream other than through a shamanistic lense.

I had a dream about pachamama. I am certain it was her as the name was referenced over and over again in my dream by myself and others. For reference, I’ve been to Peru and experienced the Andean belief system, it’s not something I’ve thought about in a long time and don’t practice spirituality as much as I should, so it’s not really something that would be normal for me to think or dream of. In my dream I was being guided through a series of corridors, it did not feel as if this was by choice but I do remember feeling like I wasn’t necessarily scared or denied the ability to leave, it just wasn’t a thought that occurred. At the end I was brought in front of pachamama. She was incredibly intimidating and powerful, but again, I wasn’t scared. It gets fuzzy here, we chatted about something but I can’t recall what, the dream returns to full clarity at the point that our conversation ended. with her hands outstretched towards me I remember there was an absolute need for me to give her my hands-like suddenly I was in a state of desperation for her help. The second our hands touched she instantaneously snapped into what I would describe as a shamanic chant in a low hymn that didn’t sound of this world. Immediately, it was like I could feel every photon in my body start to vibrate at a frequency higher than I could comprehend, everything about reality began to give way until the only thing I could see was a pair of glowing blue irises that belonged to pachamama in an otherwise black void. I quickly let go of the hands and backed away. At this point an overwhelming feeling consumed me. It was like I had the fear of god coursing through every vein. Just sheer terror. When I looked at her, she was older, she looked like a withered version of the spirit that I met when I entered. Although she looked a bit frightening at this point, I wasn’t inherently scared of her, just scared of the feeling I had just encountered. She kept her eyes on me as I got the feeling it was time to leave, no more words were spoken, I simply left.

I can not stop thinking about this experience. I have had some intense experiences but I genuinely can’t get this interaction out of my head. I guess I’m just looking for some insight about what this could mean in a spiritual sense and why this happened. It was one of the most visceral, lucid dreams I’ve ever had and I’m just not as spiritually educated as some. If you have anything to share or think anything of it, please leave advice or comments below. I have been having a spiritual blockage the last few years and just recently I feel a lot has been happening to pull me out of this, I could use the guidance.

Hi all - new here.

Backstory: i’m in a 12 mth container in Australia learning some basic shamanic skills and it seems my spiritual body is primed for this work because I’m having incredible spontaneous experiences and learning a huge amount about myself. The instructors are holding a solid container but I don’t feel resonance with them, and the other students seem to be more superficially engaged with this work.

Where would I go to find discussions and more knowledge about this work? This sub? Obviously I need to find a teacher and that is my intention. But in the meantime - where are the first hand discussions and conversations happening about this extraordinary work?

I am nepali and there are many types of shamans in our culture like jhyakris, phedengba etc, there are some differences in their techniques for communication to the spirits and allowing spirits to possess them but they all involve some sort of rhythmic music, bells, horns etc, recently I saw videos of Korean and Mongolian shamans(very similar traditions to what happens locally which shocked me) as well and they all had atleast drums?

Why do shamans from different cultures seem to use music? Can they do their rituals without them?

This timeless debate comes up all the time in esoteric communities and is frequently debated within some shamanic traditions, as well. What's your current take on this age-old question?

I myself am living in Slovenia.