It was late into the night that I drank a mixture of what appeared to be pulverized herbs.
The haunting sounds of a song suddenly appeared around me, intensifying my feelings of being utterly lost in an alien universe. The sounds that kept drawing me in, had a pleading quality that made me want to weep with sorrow.
As I started singing, I realized my song was inviting the spirit of the herb to move into my body. I wanted it to stop, to be over but in that moment I knew it was too late, I had left this reality.
I was canoeing through the infinite stream of the unconscious mind, and the song was my solitary paddle. It was up to me to avoid the rapids and control the currents by making the song more beautiful, by begging the Spirit of the herb to guide and heal me.
This was my initiation into shamanism. But before this experience, I had to first understand and identify the signs of my shamanic calling.
What is a Shaman?
At its most basic level, shamanism can be understood as a collection of ancient techniques that help to awaken and expand consciousness, as well as heal humanity’s inner wounds.
Shamanic practice is the earliest known form of religion that our ancestors experienced. The different number of spiritual techniques used to expand our conscious and provoke mystical experiences was astonishing. These techniques ranged from chanting, fasting, and nature immersion, to incessant trance dancing and ingesting hallucinogenic plants.
Unlike most religions where the main concern is finding answers, the Shaman is more interested in provoking you to ask the right questions that will lead you to experience truth. The Shaman doesn’t pursue meaning: he or she creates it by bringing the sacred to an otherwise mundane reality.
The word “Shaman” first originated in Siberia as the word “samarambi” meaning “to excite oneself,” and “sam-dambi” meaning to dance. The shaman, therefore, excites himself into a divine frenzy or ecstasy through drum beating and dancing, until he passes into a trance when his spirit leaves his body.
The scholar of comparative religion and anthropologist Mirca Eliade gave us the most simple shaman definition as “specialists in ecstasy,” with an impressive list of abilities including thought-reading, clairvoyance, firewalking, and spirit interaction, just to name a few.
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It’s these moments of ecstasy, of ego death, that provide an experience of reality that is larger, deeper, and infinitely more exquisitely beautiful. Shamans worldwide know that in order to understand society and live more fully attuned to reality, they need to go wild, travel out of their normal minds, and visit the invisible world of Spirit, which is the undercurrent of the visible world.
By accessing the invisible realm, Shamans can tap into a powerful way of guiding their lives and the lives of others.
Training as Wounded Healers
By the time we become adults, most of us are so alienated from ourselves and the earth, indoctrinated by media, and deluded by “false needs” created by the consumer culture, that there’s little hope for us connecting with the other worlds surrounding us.
In tribal cultures, shamans or healers often experienced an illness that gave them the insight they needed to heal themselves and then bring wisdom to their people. This experience echoes Socrates notion that “Our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness.“
It’s often through great struggle that Shamans break free from their illnesses and awaken to the truth. By learning how to cure themselves, they also learn how to cure others.
It’s because of this initiation process that Shamans are often called “Wounded Healers.”
11 Signs of the Shamanic Calling
There are three stages of becoming a Shaman: the Calling, Training, and Initiation process.
In the past, you were trained by a mentor or an older Shaman but in today’s world, most Shamans won’t know how to recognize their calling to even begin their training. Most people undergoing a shamanic calling won’t understand what is happening to them and will, therefore, feel overwhelmed by fear.
But it’s through training that the Shaman-in-making becomes a master of the sacred; of being abe to effectively find, protect, and use the creative but intense energies of the sacred for therapeutic or other beneficial purposes.
Here are some of the signs you might experience if you’re being called to the Shamanic path:
1) You feel a strong connection to nature
Shamans understand “the web of life”; that everything on Earth is deeply interconnected through the web of Spirit. Nothing embodies this understanding better than nature, how it nurtures us, and how we nurture it in a mutually dependent relationship.
2) You enjoy solitude and find it hard to fit in with others
Shamans in most cultures were solitary individuals (often living in the outskirts of the village), and they were often considered eccentric or “different.”
However, they were respected because of the wisdom they shared. Because of their unique gifts and sensitivities, Shamans could never fit into typical society because they acted as the bridges between this world and the unseen worlds.
3) You’ve experienced a near-death, out-of-body or mystical experience
To be a Shaman you must experience a complete “death and rebirth,” and often this can present itself as a temporary illness or shocking crisis of some kind that ignites an existential crisis.
It’s through overcoming and healing from this terrifying ordeal that the Shaman-to-be surrenders everything they know as true for whatever wisdom they’re meant to learn.
4) You’ve felt a subtle healing energy in your hands
Many Shamans are born with the capacity to act as “curanderos,” as masters of living energy. In other words, they have the ability to control and manipulate the energy in their bodies and the bodies of others.
Carrying healing energy is often manifested as having good circulation of blood in your hands. Your hands will almost always feel warm to the touch (or even boiling hot) and you might sometimes feel subtle energy emanating from them.
5) You have the ability to “read” others
Some Shamans are born with the gift of “vision” or the capacity to look at other people and see the illness they may be carrying or spiritual obstacle they must overcome.
People with a shamanic calling frequently report psychic abilities such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, or other paranormal experiences.
6) You have ancestors who were healers or medical herbalists
Many cultures believe that the gift of being a Shaman is inherited and can only be passed down through generations.
Of course, in today’s world, it’s almost impossible to know whether any of our ancestors were healers as our recent ancestors, much like ourselves, never claimed and cultivated this Shamanic gift.
7) You have vivid or prophetic dreams
Some Shamans are born with the natural ability to travel between realms, to bring back information, and even see visions of future events through their dreams.
8) You are visited by spirit animals
Animals or hybrid animals (half animal half human) play a big role in the Shaman’s journey. Spirit animals serve as Guides that share vital information and serve as reminders whenever we require their help.
9) You see things that others can’t see
The ability to access other realms and hidden dimensions can start at a very early age. To be an effective Shaman you must have the fluidity of mind to be open and receptive to new information.
It’s this unique trait that has resulted in many Shamans being labeled and prescribed as mentally ill by modern medicine.
10) You have physical abnormalities that set you apart
In the past, many physical characteristics such as being born with extra fingers, toes or with a caul (thin membrane) covering your head at birth were considered spiritual signs or omens that a person has a special relationship with the spirit world.
11) You feel a calling to help, heal or ease the suffering of others
Ultimately, Shamanism can be seen as a practice of balancing or self-correcting our relationship with others and the natural world around us.
Whenever a Shaman sees suffering, they’ll feel a strong desire to heal it in order to re-establish that lost harmony within the web of life.
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The fact that you’re looking up or reading this article on Shamanism is a sign you’ve been guided to learn about something very few people are interested in.
These signs may be general and can happen to a lot of people, but in truth, many of us are being called by spiritual forces, yet few of us answer that calling.
Some may be able to go through life without listening to this spiritual calling, while others might experience depression and physical illness the more they close off and neglect to listen.
So what happens once you do listen to your calling, how can you find training? Ideally, nothing is more effective than training and learning under a mentor or spiritual guide. Shamanism is a spirituality that is experienced, not thought about or theorized. The internet can be useful in allowing you to look up local practitioners that may offer apprenticeships, though be discerning and aware as this field is open to much trickery.
For those who can’t find local mentors, I’ll continue writing and training further in future articles. This might not be the same as a real-life apprenticeship, but it provides the fundamental information necessary to prepare you for your (usually unexpected) initiation.
My great grandfather was the last of our shamans. He was unable to pass down his knowledge because he was murdered for being seen as a traitor to his people for going on a spirit journey to see if the missionaries way was a good way. When he said it was 3 days later was shot from behind. I sense and feel it in my blood. I answered yes to all questions but hot hands.
This is me , all of it too a tea. Im to this day still ignoring numbing myself with drugs . I had ayhawaska in Peru to try give drugs away , I faced my worst fear I never knew I had , the next day I left my body as an orange ball of energy which instantly connected to more orange balls, starting at 1 ,3 ,10 to billions it was extraordinary. At the time I was trying to figure out what was happening as I remembered at that brief moment when I joined to the first and remember hearing my mates voice who was positioned next to my vacated body in the room but telepathically but although I didn’t really catch what he said , because of the 1000 more i was connecting with every second . And I felt the the balls that were humans I heard a voice and felt spirits of animals i felt trees plants everything living on this earth I was now connected to I can explain it like if telstra had network towers diagonal and parcelled in rows so each of the towers four corners are conected to another four other towers… Read more »
this is all crap i am shaman wakantanka i do not need your approval thought you might help me in spiritual journey and we all do including yourself no one has all the answers you cannot scam me friend
Dear Angelica sorry to hear what you’ve experienced with your own family especially with your brother, does he have other kids besides his son. Why is he the way he is sounds like he’s not happy with his life. He actually sounds like a narcissist person. You keep doing what you feel is right, and God will bless you. If you don’t mind I’d like to know more about your experiences and about your family.
This is a gift from The Spirit! I have been a minister, pastor and exhorter (exorcist) for over 35 years (even as a young man, I always felt the “calling” to spiritual pursuit), which includes many verifiable cases of “miraculous” or “spiritual healings” to an untold number of congregants by the laying on of hands, often breaking into “tongues” as I performed the healing process. I never once doubted that the healing would come (both spiritual and other unknown maladies). As a child I remember going with my grandmother into the garden, or sometimes the woods, to collect certain herbs, etc. She would explain to me what she was doing, but as a child, I understood little. My great-grandfather (Lipan Apache was a “medicine man”, and people would often gather at his house where he would perform the rituals he was spiritually led to perform. At one point he asked for me, and looking me over, took my hands and spat in them. I can never remember what he said, as he spoke only the Apache language. I have always wanted to pursue this further, and while stationed in Arizona, I would often go with my Navajo friend to the… Read more »
So, can you say that Jesus is the supreme Shaman?
I want to learn more.
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Yes this article is very helpful, always felt it but never paid attention. I went see a man who told me a powerful shaman spirit is laying claim to me. Also my deceased grandmother has been trying to contact me to pass on gifts and tell me to continue with search into healing plants that I have been growing. I stopped everything when my husband died besides the obvious emotional upheavel, his death left me practically destitute. Between the desperation of having to survive finacially and the very strong pull into the esoteric world I get muddled up pretty badly. I basically have to do the self hep thing to get where I am going and rely heavily on the intuition and vibrations I feel. Yes I can read people especially holding my hands over theirs and closing my eyes to see the pictures, this I have done more as a party trick so to speak but yes have helped people doing this. Twice I have put my hands over sore parts of peoples bodies and alleviated their pain doing this, then doubt comes and I don’t do it again. I was told by this man I saw to stop… Read more »
My daughter died. I was abused my whole life by different people. At 31 I had a stroke and was in a coma for five days. I had to learn how to walk, talk, swallow food. After a year I got back to doing everything again. I pushed! I just started learning how to live. My life is epic. I need someone to listen. I have been connected to the spirit my whole life. I just didn’t know what it was. I can’t stand pain in others. I feel it. I want to help with my story and my art and help people learn how to heal. If you’re interested in my story, let me know because I’m ready to share. I’m also tired but can’t stop. Because that is living.