Can anyone explain what are shamans?

A shamen is someone who uses the ancient knowlege to assist his/her community. Today they do the same sorts of things they always did, healings, offer guidance, teaching and the community today are those that still seek out their assistance.

The true shaman I met was healing a member of his tribe in the same hospital my husband was in. He walked up to me and gave me a message “when the time comes let him go.” I found this strange because my husband was improving. Twenty four hours later I had to let my husband die. This shaman “knew” without any information nor meeting my husband.

A shaman often take refuge in the wilderness to contact spirit guides and take vision quests. In the past, shamans were able to practise freely, for they were respected for their abilities and wisdom. Today, however, modern-day shamans are not generally so free about their quests, healings, and beliefs. A shaman today may be your local grocer, your doctor, lawyer, or neighbor etc.

A shaman is generally considered as a healer. Shamans may not have the ability to replace a lost limb, make your hair grow back, heal a fracture, etc., but rather, a shaman is seen more as a spiritual healer. With that in mind, spiritual healing is, to many, the first step to physical healing- so a shaman indeed has abilities to heal physical wounds. There are shamans throughout history who have had abilities to heal above and beyond any scientific efforts and cure disease or heal serious wounds. There are many shamans today who lend their services to others in efforts to heal both physically and spiritually.

But, a shaman’s complete abilities are not easily explained. A shaman’s world can only be experienced- not explained sufficiently with words. A shaman’s body connects the spirit with the universe and his/her abilities are unlimited.
Something that amazing is that, in the past, thousands of cultures recognized shamanism in different forms. The shamans of different communities in history did have different roles and practises, but generally speaking, their abilities and practises were similar. Modern religion may now be very different from belief to belief, but the roots of religions are very much the same- as many modern religions spawned from forms of shamanism.

Often, people tend to think that a shaman will command a spirit to work with or for him, and that the spirits are at the shaman’s beck and call. That is not an attitude any shaman would likely even consider. A shaman’s relationship with the spirits is a symbiotic one- a shaman may ask a favor of a spirit and then also present the spirit with an offering of some sort. The term “shape-shifting” is an example of a symbiotic relationship with shamans and animal guides- the shaman will allow the spirit guide to experience his/her “state of being,” while the shaman will then experience the spirit’s state of being.

A shaman is not a “saint” who lives a holy or pure life. A shaman is just like you and me- they experience life’s happiness, pain, laughter, sorrow, they are law-abiding people, but also might even get into trouble along the way. They are just normal, everyday people. A shaman just might be aware of things as they happen, rather than be hit with reality after the fact. Or, a shaman also sees reasons for events beyond superficial value. many shamans actually have special gifts given by the universe- just as many “psychics” do, many magickal practitioners do, etc.