I carry out customised, one-to-one training in shamanism, shamanic techniques and shamanic healing at my home in Glastonbury, Somerset.
I’m always happy to give a free phone consultation to help us both find out exactly what would be right for you, so CONTACT ME. Before you do that, though, you might want to read on here first to help you clarify exactly what you are seeking.
“Annie, if I become a shaman, will I be able to help people, to heal them?”
I get asked this a lot … and I always reply:
“Well, yes and no. And at first, no.”
The first requirement from the trainee shaman is encapsulated by the rubric: “Physician heal thyself.”
Shamans blaze a trail for others to evolve along through burning up their own pain and trauma, and for that reason, they are often called the Wounded Healer. Until then they, just like everyone else, have no means or power to help others, no matter how many courses they’ve gone on.
Shamans can ONLY heal through healing their own woundedness first. This means many a long night facing the Shadow, and not flinching when it shows you what needs to be done. The processing work may not even be solely about the you in this life. Shamans are also required to do ancestral healing and so you may have to first deal with woundedness going back many generations, and which is still manifesting itself in the present – alcoholism being a classic example of the kind of vampiric disease that doesn’t end with the death of the alcoholic.
Only when you have processed enough of your own wounds will you be ready to help others and, at first, you will be amazed how those who come knocking on your door are needing help and healing for what you have just faced and dealt with. After a while, you come to expect it and stop bothering to advertise. You realise that the spirits are sending you just the right people who are ready to walk the path of the trail you have just blazed into being.
By Tino Rodriquez on Pixels
What is a shaman and what does a shaman do?
In order for you to progress in this direction, you will first need to know what a shaman is and what a shaman does, because we’re really not like anyone else. Shamanism is a technique through which we contact intradimensional beings, known to our ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years as the spirits. Shamanism eventually morphed into the Mystery religions and then was driven completetely underground by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century CE.
Shamanism, or shamanic healing, is making a comeback today and I’ve been a practising shaman for a number of years.
A shaman is someone who crosses into other dimensions where he obtains information, guidance and healing from the benevolent entities that he meets in those dimensions. These entities have been given many names throughout history — devas, spirits and gods to name but a few. The shaman then brings this information, guidance and healing that he gleans from these entities back to his tribe or community.
The shaman crosses into other dimensions while in a trance state. This is what’s known as the shamanic journey. It is not a physical journey. The shaman’s physical body does not go on a journey. If you saw a shaman crossing into another dimension, all you would see is his body prone on the floor looking like someone who’s asleep — except for the occasional twitch as power surges through him.
The trance state is also known to scientists as the theta state. They have found that if a person is exposed to a certain rhythm (between 4 and 7 beats per second), their brain will enter the theta state. This is why shamans use drums, and the beating of the drum is the usual, classical way that a shaman enters a trance — although there are many other ways, including the ingestion of psychotropic herbs (datura and ayuhasca, to name just two).
The shaman lives in two simultaneous realities: the inner dream space in which spiritual encounters transform perception of the external world, and the external world which becomes the stage on which the shaman acts out his divine purpose as healer. Each time the shaman enters trance for the good of patients and community and confronts the agents of affliction, there is psychological integration for the shaman. The shaman brings together heaven and earth, spirit and humankind. Shamanism appears in every culture. Amongst Tibetan people, it predates (and is woven into) Buddhist philosophy and practice, and is a vital and living wisdom tradition practiced from ancient times into present day.
From the Ghe-Wa (Tibetan Death Rite) for Pau Karma Wang Chuk Namgyal, by Larry Peters (for Shaman’s Drum.)
Why am I not called a shawoman?
I am not called a shawoman because the ‘man’ bit of the Siberian word ‘shaman’ does not refer to the male of the species. So it is not a gender specific word and that’s why a bunch of shamans are not called a bunch of shamen. The correct collective noun would be a bunch of shamans. Or a gaggle of shamans … or something like that.
Anyway, as mentioned, the word ‘shaman’ comes from Siberia. But thousands of years ago, there were shamanic practises of one kind or another all over the world, in every populated country. And so the shaman and shamanism was known by many different names, and it might be useful to know a few of them, so if the word comes up in different cultures, we’ll know what they’re talking about.
Andean (Quecha) shaman — P’ago Arab (pre Moslem) — Baksylvk Australian shamanism — Wulla-mullung Australian spirit — Budian Bedouin form of shamanism — Fugara Celtic shaman – Druid Chinese shaman —Tang-ki Hawaiian form of shamanism — Huna Kane Indian Vedic shaman — Rishi Indonesian shaman — Dukun Inuit shaman — Angakok Jewish shaman — Baal Shem (in Hebrew, it means “Master of the Name”) Korean female shaman — Mondang Korean shamanic initiation — Nae-Rim-Kut Lakota spirits — Wakan Tanka Meso American shaman — Nagual Mongolian shaman – Boo Nigerian shaman — Babalawo Norse female shaman —Voelva/Volva/Vala/Seidhkona Peruvian shaman —Sheripiari Siberian shaman – Shaman Tibetan shaman — Pa’wo Tibetan shamanism — Bonpo Turkish shaman — Sahir-þairl Ukrainian female shaman — Znakharka Voodoo female shaman — Mambo West African spirits — Kontomblé
So how can I help you?
First of all, please CONTACT ME so we can set up a chat on the phone. I’m happy to give you a free consultation, so that we can assess where you’re currently at, on your path, and then figure out the best time to deliver you the customised, one-to-one training you’ll need over a few days, here in Glastonbury, Somerset.
In the meantime, why not take a browse throught some of these articles, to learn more about whether you are ready to meet your shamanic self, and what exactly it will entail?
If you think you may be born to this path, this video, Are You Destined to become a Shaman, will give you more information that will help you decide.
Fire in the Head, is about what a shaman is, and how being a shaman differentiates us from other spiritual healers.
How To Get A Camel Through the Eye of a Needle is about shamanic counselling, or learning to journey to get advice and healing from your own spirits. This is something I can teach you how to do.
Eating People Is Wrong is about how the shaman can help you reclaim your power after it has been stolen from you.
What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted? is about another role of the shaman, that of soul retrieval, in other words, finding and returning a lost soul fragment to you, after it got lost or was stolen.
If you enjoyed this, or found it useful, please Subscribe to Shaman of Avalon to get an email every time I post a new article.
If you’d like a book to go deeper into the subject, can I suggest my own Stories in the Stars: What our ancestors were trying to tell us. Just click on this picture, and it will take you to where it’s on sale on Amazon in the UK. If you’re in another country, your own Amazon, as well as all good online bookstores, will also have it.
Hello there, I just found you on twitter. I can’t wait to read all of your blog. I am too experiencing both realms simultaneously but I have zero training. I was told before that I am an “authentic.”. Do you have any information on the “Ram Gods?” Most especially one that may have been “abused?”. You might possible can point me in the right direction. I ran into a shaman on the other side and even there he/she was more concerned about selling their book than answering the question. While there I spoke directly to their spirit guide myself and he/she suggested to me that the “abused Ram God” needed a lawyer. Does this make any sense to you? Thanks..
The name most Central Asians used for a spiritual healer was ‘taltos’ -or a derivative thereof. The taltos went into the ‘tengri’: meaning ‘ocean’ to meet up with the ancestors and resolve issues here on Earth. ‘Tenger’ in Hungarian means ocean. Many Native American tribes are also connected to this form of journeying, called in English “tengerism”..
When I was a child 7 figures swarmed around me….all half man half bird, ox, snake, etc. 3 were holding staffs…that week I was trying to catch this white owl only I saw. This relates to the movie the 4th Kind and I could really use some help. Not sure what I am looking for but PLEASE! LadyMaverik@live.com
Agreed about Wakan Tanka. It is difficult to give all the names of Spirit ally healers here. Kam is another name from the Tungus area but I don’t know which clans use it other than Urianchai.
You might want to do some research on what you are claiming is the Lakota name for a shaman. The word you used means Great Spirit that Shakes the Ground when he Walks.
Wakan means Sacred/Holy. Tanka means buffalo/Shakes the Ground when he Walks.
And also u forgot that, theres a shamanism boom in mongols originated countries. some say ancestral spirits are coming almost to every family leaving no choice to those who are chosen
Mongolian shaman on the 1st photo, Munkh-Erdene zairan (zairan means male shaman), one of the most powerful Khalkha-Shamans, is the one who is responsible for healing “the horse boy”.
I can be reached on twitter @tiffanyfire888. Thanks..
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Hello there, I just found you on twitter. I can’t wait to read all of your blog. I am too experiencing both realms simultaneously but I have zero training. I was told before that I am an “authentic.”. Do you have any information on the “Ram Gods?” Most especially one that may have been “abused?”. You might possible can point me in the right direction. I ran into a shaman on the other side and even there he/she was more concerned about selling their book than answering the question. While there I spoke directly to their spirit guide myself and he/she suggested to me that the “abused Ram God” needed a lawyer. Does this make any sense to you? Thanks..
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The name most Central Asians used for a spiritual healer was ‘taltos’ -or a derivative thereof. The taltos went into the ‘tengri’: meaning ‘ocean’ to meet up with the ancestors and resolve issues here on Earth. ‘Tenger’ in Hungarian means ocean. Many Native American tribes are also connected to this form of journeying, called in English “tengerism”..
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I now think they were the 7 Deities!
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When I was a child 7 figures swarmed around me….all half man half bird, ox, snake, etc. 3 were holding staffs…that week I was trying to catch this white owl only I saw. This relates to the movie the 4th Kind and I could really use some help. Not sure what I am looking for but PLEASE! LadyMaverik@live.com
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A sami shaman (Lappland in Norway, Sweden, Finland) is called Noaidi
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A sami shaman (Norway, Finland, Sweden) is called Noaidi
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Agreed about Wakan Tanka. It is difficult to give all the names of Spirit ally healers here. Kam is another name from the Tungus area but I don’t know which clans use it other than Urianchai.
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You might want to do some research on what you are claiming is the Lakota name for a shaman. The word you used means Great Spirit that Shakes the Ground when he Walks.
Wakan means Sacred/Holy. Tanka means buffalo/Shakes the Ground when he Walks.
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and mongolian shaman is called “boo” in mongolia
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And also u forgot that, theres a shamanism boom in mongols originated countries. some say ancestral spirits are coming almost to every family leaving no choice to those who are chosen
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Mongolian shaman on the 1st photo, Munkh-Erdene zairan (zairan means male shaman), one of the most powerful Khalkha-Shamans, is the one who is responsible for healing “the horse boy”.
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I LOVE YOUR BLOG. my deepest interests lie in it..
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