Shamanic healing is an ancient, earth-based spiritual practice found in various forms across countless indigenous cultures worldwide. It is one of the oldest forms of healing on the planet.
It operates on the principle that all physical, mental, and emotional ailments have a corresponding root cause in the spiritual realm. From a shamanic perspective, symptoms like depression, anxiety, or chronic illness are signs of a spiritual imbalance, a loss of power, or a disconnection from one’s soul.
The Shamanic Worldview
To understand shamanic healing, one must first understand its cosmology. Shamanism views reality as existing in multiple, interconnected layers, often referred to as the Three Worlds:
- The Lower World: An earth-based realm of nature, instinct, and connection. This is where spirit guides often appear as power animals and where one can retrieve lost soul parts.
- The Middle World: This is our everyday, ordinary reality. However, the shamanic healer perceives the spirit or energetic aspect of this world, not just the physical.
- The Upper World: A celestial realm of divine, transcendent energy. This is the home of spiritual teachers, guides, and ascended masters.
The Role of the Shaman
The shaman (or shamanic practitioner) is an intermediary—a walker between worlds. They are not the source of the healing; they are the facilitator.
A shaman’s primary skill is the ability to intentionally enter an altered state of consciousness to travel into the spirit worlds. This is called the shamanic journey. This state is often induced by the monotonous, rhythmic sound of a drum or rattle.
During the journey, the shaman partners with their own compassionate, helping spirits (such as their power animals and teachers) to diagnose the spiritual cause of the client’s problem and retrieve what is needed for their healing.
Causes of Illness (Shamanic Perspective)
In the shamanic view, illness and distress are often traced back to three main spiritual causes:
- Soul Loss: This is the most common cause. When we experience trauma (a car accident, abuse, a painful breakup, a difficult surgery), the shamanic belief is that a part of our vital life force, or soul, fragments and flees in order to survive the ordeal. This soul loss results in symptoms like depression, apathy, feeling “not all there,” chronic illness, or addiction.
- Spiritual Intrusions: These are blocks of misplaced energy that do not belong in a person’s body. They could be negative thoughtforms, astral larvae, or spirits, often from the environment or from other people (like an argument), that have become stuck in the client’s energy field. This can manifest as localized pain, illness, or outbursts of anger.
- Loss of Power: This is a disconnection from our spiritual allies. In the shamanic tradition, we are all born with a guardian spirit, often a power animal, that provides us with protection, wisdom, and vitality. A loss of this connection can leave a person feeling vulnerable, unlucky, and drained.
Common Shamanic Healing Techniques
Based on the spiritual diagnosis, the shaman and their guides will perform a specific healing.
- Soul Retrieval: This is the classic shamanic technique. The practitioner journeys (often to the Lower World) to find the lost soul part, compassionately convinces it to return, and “blows” it back into the client’s body, restoring their vitality.
- Extraction Healing: If a spiritual intrusion is found, the shaman works with their guides to “pull” this misplaced energy out of the client’s field and safely neutralize it.
- Power Animal Retrieval: The shamanic healer journeys to reconnect the power animal with the client, restoring their personal power and protection.
- Psychopomp: This is the practice of guiding spirits who are “stuck” in the Middle World (ghosts) to a place of peace, often done to clear a person’s home or energy field.
What a Shamanic Healing Session Looks Like
A client remains fully clothed, lying comfortably on a mat or massage table. The shaman will typically sit or stand beside them. The room is often darkened.
The majority of the session is conducted while the shaman is on their journey, which is audible as steady, rhythmic drumming or rattling. The practitioner may also shake a rattle over or around the client’s body, or gently blow on their chakras (crown, heart) to deliver the retrieved soul parts or remove intrusions.
Personally, I see shamanic healing as one of the deep roots of all energy medicine. While Reiki is often a “passive” channeling of universal energy, shamanic healing is an “active” practice of journeying, retrieving, and clearing. I have also integrated many shamanic principles into my own work, and use several of their healing techniques, as they provide an effective framework for restoring balance to the soul.
