One of the best things for me in practising contemporary shamanism is the experience it provides daily of the oneness and sacredness of all things. “Everything that is, is alive.”

 
When Michael Harner, an American professor of anthropology, began teaching shamanism and shamanic healing in the early 1970s to Westerners, it was largely unknown outside of academia. Now modern-day shamans, typically referred to as “shamanic practitioners,” can be found throughout the US and Europe. Many thousands of them owe their education to Dr. Harner and the Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS), the non-profit organization he began in 1985 to study, restore, and teach shamanism and shamanic healing worldwide. His book, The Way of the Shaman, is recognised as the pioneering work in the field of contemporary shamanism.

Shamanism is not a religion or a set of beliefs. Shamanism is the world’s most ancient spiritual healing practice, possibly more than 30,000 years old based on the archaeological evidence. Shamanism was practised on all inhabited continents by indigenous peoples such as the Sami (Lapps) of northernmost Europe, the aboriginal peoples of Australia, the Kung Bushmen of southern Africa, and the Native North and South Americans. Religious and political persecution and the general decimation of their populations and cultures led to the near extinction of the indigenous shamans and the loss of much of their shamanic knowledge.

Read full article from the New Statesman

Comments (0) >>

Show/Hide comments

Write comment

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment