• Healing - working to restore balance and harmony to body, mind, and spirit through working with compassionate helping spirits
• Psychopomp - helping those who are transitioning into or out of this reality in birth and death
• Ceremony making - facilitating important ritual and festivity to mark specific occasions
• Art - the creation of shamanic tools such as musical instruments, tools or regalia

The fascinating thing about shamanism is that although it has been practiced on all inhabited continents of the earth with people living oceans apart, many of the stories, techniques, methods, and experiences are just the same. After thousands of years, some universal practices still being used include the use of: monotonous percussion to reach altered states, smoke from a variety of plants to clear and cleanse energies, and medicinal herbs to treat illness.

SHAMANISM'S WORLDVIEW
Shamanism is not a religion but it has a life view that is common around the world

• Everything is alive
• Everything has a soul
• Everything is connected and interdependent

CORE SHAMANISM
Core shamanism is a trans-cultural form of shamanism that combines healing and problem-solving techniques from around the world. Because Core Shamanism does not have a specific cultural perspective, it frees you up to re-member and explore lost spiritual or ancestral roots, discover a new spiritual path, or enhance a spiritual or religious practice you may already have. 


WHAT IS A SHAMAN?
The word shaman (pronounces sha-mahn) comes from the Tungus tribe in Siberia and translates to "the master of the fire." In many cultures the elements represent our being (e.g. earth=body, water=blood, air=breath) and fire often represents our spirit. A shaman is one who has mastered the ability to work in alliance with spirits. This means that they have managed to temper and come into right relationship with the ego, and become a clear and empty vessel through which compassionate helping spirits work. 

The basis of shamanism is the understanding that parallel realities co-exist along with our own, something that quantum physicists and science have also agreed upon. These places are sometimes known as the Spirit World, Non-ordinary Reality, Heaven, the Collective Unconscious, imagination, or Dreamtime. A Shaman is a therefore a mediator who has mastered the ability to enter and exit other realities at will and with discipline to gather guidance, information or healing for the good of individuals, communities or places.

The word shaman is not gender specific and both men and women have been equally called to the path. In some cultures men and women work together as couples as this is seen as the ultimate in balancing the sacred masculine and feminine energies.