For thousands of years on Earth in the countless tribes and clans of mankind the shaman was the person who dealt with the physical, mental, and spiritual health of the people. From the Inuit people of Alaska to Tibetan wise men and Inca healers all these medicine men garnered their wisdom and ways from the source itself and from the passed down oral traditions of the sages that had come before them.

Even though shamanism comes from all over the planet with different climates, cultures and practices, the heart of what they do is very similar. The shaman can join in direct contact with spirit. The all encompassing aspect of shamanism worldwide is the journey. A Shaman will go into trance and journey to the spirit world for the purpose of healing, garnering information, vision questing or accomplishing some change in the world.

Healing the physical body was always an important role of the indigenous shaman. He did this in a variety of ways. One of these was called an extraction. Sometimes what is making someone sick is an intrusion into that person’s energy field by a negative influence. This intrusion could be caused by a myriad of catalysts including negative energy from others, traumatic events in the patient’s life, even verbal abuse from parents or others can leave their mark in the energetic field of a person and cause negative self beliefs and destructive consequences.

The Shaman can scan the auric field of the person’s body and see the intrusions in many symbolic ways. He then goes about extracting the negative energy from the person with different rituals depending on his particular methodology. The shaman uses visualizations and helper guides and totems to do his work. He can use special stones, crystals, or herbs to help him accomplish his task. The extraction is an essential part of the shaman’s duties and once the negative energy has been cleared from the person’s energy field their physical body can heal. Physical illness always has a corresponding pattern in the energy body of human beings and illness will start there as in imbalance in the chakras or in a specific area of negativity.

Another task the shaman performs is soul retrieval. This is a kind of a healing as well. Many times when a person has been very sick or they have gone through some sort of traumatic event or tragedy part of their soul energy will depart as a way to protect itself from the pain. In soul retrieval the shaman journeys through the spirit world to the place where the missing soul energy is seeking refuge. He then brings back that energy to the person who is sick. This infusion of the soul back to its original energy often will lead to recovery from depression and anxiety and many of the corresponding symptoms of trauma and tragedy.

The shaman works with healing the light body. There is so much more to us than meets the eye. Beyond the physical is the energy system that propels our spirit into the physical dimension. We are souls with a body and we all are part of the greater spirit that is the very fabric of the universe. The ancient art of shamanism took part in addressing the complete needs of the human being not merely the physical aspects of it. While modern medicine looks at dealing with the physical symptoms of an illness, shamans will get at the root cause of an issue and deal with the physical, spiritual, energetic and psychological aspects of an illness. Fixing a physical symptom does not always mean fixing the imprint of the illness in the energy body where disease starts.

There is a place for shamanism in today’s world and there is a whole new generation of people who are looking back at the old ways for help in these modern times. People like Michael Harner and Alberto Villodo are western scholars and seekers who have studied with indigenous shamans for decades and have written about their methods and ways. They both have set up schools for modern people to learn the old ways. There is such great value in keeping this tradition alive. Just because we live in a world of science and technology lets not forgot that we are spiritual beings first and foremost. Shamanism can help us in our daily lives with illness and issues great and small. The shaman was not only a healer but a sage and wise man. He valued the Earth and all beings. In these times we need to have a more holistic viewpoint of the Earth and a belief system where we see all the peoples of Earth and the Earth itself as part of us. There is a place in the modern world for the shaman and let’s hope he again lights the way for the planet as he has always done since time began.