Shamanism is considered the oldest
way of healing known to man. To become a shaman a person was chosen at a young
age by the local shaman. This was the beginning of a long and difficult period
of training, lasting many years.
Unfortunately, in our society these people are few and far between, mainly
found in countries such as North- and South-America, Africa, Indonesia, Siberia,
Australia and a few other countries. Here in our high-tech Western culture
the ‘original’ shamans, as I call them with the highest respect,
have long since died out, (“original’ here meaning the ‘first’
ones). Once they could be found throughout the whole world, healing the body,
mind and spirit of their people. Meaning all of us have evolved from shamanic
cultures, making shamanism part of our roots, no matter where we live. There
are many websites available with in depth information on shamanism and I will
leave you to their knowledge and wisdom, which outweighs mine by far.
This website is dedicated to the shamans found in our society today. I call them the ‘new age’ shamans. Their numbers are growing and they are no less shamans in heart and soul than the ‘original’ ones. Though true that the training of the ‘new age’ shaman is not as long and as extensive as that of their ‘original’ counterparts, it is nevertheless as effective, if not more abundant. Many ‘new-age’ shamans do not follow just one tradition. During their training, they are introduced to several of the world traditions. Personally, I am working with a combination of two traditions, the North-American tradition and the Inca tradition.
The ‘new-age’ shaman takes
out of the teachings the things that are relevant to him. He works with them,
creating his own shamanic tradition and hereby creating his own heritage.
This ‘new-age’ shaman fits into the speed and way-of-life of our
world today, as the ‘original’ shamans never could have, at least
not in the way they were. I believe, the ‘new-age’ shamans are
meant to re-introduce shamanism back into our world which has forgotten how
to live in harmony with Mother-Earth and how to respect oneself as well as
one another.
Only few of the ‘new-age’ shamans have the opportunity of receiving
their training through one of the few ‘original’ shamans left
in this world. Spirit guides and trained 'new-aged' shamans equally good and
valid, give the training of the others.
Still, there are frauds, claiming to be something that they are not, only to use and abuse the needs of those in search of themselves for the sake of greed and power.
How do you know the difference? How do you know that when you ask for help that the help you will receive is true?
Follow your heart and use your intelligence. Believe what feels right and true to you, because you do have the knowledge within you. Don’t follow a guru, but believe enough in yourself that you will know what is right for you, because IT IS, and not because someone tells you it is.
* Throughout this website I am referring to the Shaman as ‘he’ for sake of simplicity. I am implying the ‘she’, since Shamans can be male as well as female. *