About Core Shamanism

Shamanism: The Ancient Way of Health and Healing

Over tens of thousands of years (many anthropologists have dated the practice back over 100,000+ years), our ancient ancestors developed a spiritual-based system for personal empowerment, problem-solving, physical and spiritual healing, and overall vitality and well-being. Although Shamanism is not a religion, it is the “ancestor” to all forms of human religion.

Shamanism, which has been practiced in every culture and across every continent on Earth, is a form of spirituality that is based upon living in balance (it’s all energy) with all other interconnected forms of life (the “Web of Life”) who inhabit this planet. Shamanism holds that all life is animated, intelligent, accessible, mysterious, and divine. Shamans believe that this intelligent Spirit-guided life-force energy is omnipotent, formless, and omnipresent.

Shamanism has survived the ages (and the comings-and-goings of specific civilizations, nation-groups, and countries) because the “healing” is experiential, based upon “divine” revelation, and can adapt and respond to the unique needs of the situation at hand. Traditionally, the health of individuals and the community as a whole was the responsibility of the Shamans (the “Medicine” People). (The word “Shaman,” pronounced shah-maan, comes from the language of the Evenki people, a Tungusic tribe in Siberia, and it means “one who sees in the dark.” It is a word that was adapted widely by anthropologists to refer to people who enter an altered state of consciousness, similar to meditation or deep prayer, at will; people who “journey” into non-ordinary reality in order to acquire knowledge and power (in the form of energy) to help others. )

Shamans always have been – and still are – the “healers” within their tribes and communities. They were the “seers” and the “sages” whom the people turned to for balance and harmony in relationships, for healing remedies, and for knowledge about critical decisions that needed to be made on a daily basis (such as, “where shall we hunt to find food?” and “where shall we set up our summer camps?”). Over the centuries, Shamanic practices have proven to be successful in enabling people to achieve physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy balance – to not only continue to exist in an often extremely harsh environment, but to THRIVE within that environment. 

Shamans develop the ability to enter a deep state of “non-ordinary” reality consciousness (that is, outside of what is experienced in the regular “waking” state of time and space) with discipline and purpose in order to directly seek spiritual/divine guidance, gain insight or energetic power, and/or to determine the core of physical, mental, emotional, and/or spiritual imbalances. (The Australian aborigines call the non-ordinary reality the “Dreamtime.” It is referred by as the “Other World” in Celtic traditions, or as the “Spirit Worlds” by Native Americans and other indigenous peoples. Modern quantum physics has proven that there are, in fact, many worlds, dimensions, and “realms” that overlap and interact with one another. Shamanic Practitioners merely serve as a “bridge” between the different dimensions.)

This non-ordinary reality that Shamanic Practitioners learn to access exists just beyond our everyday perceptions. [Keeping in mind the scientific demonstration that the Universe is pure movement, with no distinction between light (patterns of energy) and matter (patterns of energy) and is pure vibration loaded with the potential to manifest into an infinite array of patterns – the Quantum Inseparability Principle -- would attest that what we call “non-ordinary” reality is simply our reality accessed by using all of our innate senses. As Einstein pointed out, energy is equal to matter (E=MC2) – so “solid” objects that you can see, feel and touch, are matter AND energy, which you cannot see, feel, or touch.] 

Shamanic Practitioners see all physical, mental, and emotional imbalances as manifestations of spiritual imbalances. Unlike western medicine specialists, Shamanic Practitioners do not see their clients as separate parts working separately or disconnected symptoms; they see their clients as WHOLE people; people connected and interconnected to the entire web of life.)  

Core Shamanism: True Universal Health Care

U.S. Anthropologist Michael Harner, based on decades of research on similar, and often nearly identical, techniques spontaneously practiced all around the world by indigenous people (people who had no way to contact or interact with one another), termed this “Core Shamanism,” as described in his ground-breaking book, “The Way of the Shaman” (1990). During his treks around the world (in-depth learning from shamanic cultures in the Upper Amazon, in Saamiland, Mexico, the North American West and the Canadian Arctic), Harner noted the amazing transcultural, universal, principles and practices of this spiritual healing system. “Core Shamanism,” Harner said, “consists of the universal or near-universal principles and practices of shamanism not bound to any specific cultural group or perspective.”

Today, in the twenty-first Century, Shamanic Practitioners work more for individuals instead of tribes; more for the entire community of humankind instead of just one culture. They often practice “combination” shamanism – a combination of specific indigenous techniques and “core” shamanic techniques (techniques based upon common values, philosophies, and practices found at the core of all traditional shamanic practices).  

According to the Foundation for Shamanic Studies (FSS), where Kristina trained, Core Shamanism consists of the transcultural, universal or common principles and techniques of shamanism. It is a coherent system that is terminologically as well as conceptually consistent and taught worldwide. Core Shamanism is based on decades of research by the anthropologist Michael Harner, his colleagues and successors. This Core Shamanism offers a practice-oriented approach to Shamanic work that focuses on the essence. It is not bound to any particular cultural group or perspective. Rather, Core Shamanism enables especially those people who have lost their shamanic roots (like so many people in the Western world) to reconnect with those roots. It is thus an excellent way to gain access to one’s own spiritual heritage and to shape this process in a self-determined and spiritually independent way.

Kristina, as a Core Shamanic Practitioner, offers her clients a direct path to spiritual energy healing and physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual balance in life; helping clients move into a positive “Energy2Matter” existence. The “dis-eases” of modern life that shamanic practices have been proven to help with include: anxiety, stress, fear/phobias, addictions, chronic pain, dealing with loss/grief, personal empowerment, trauma, fatigue, and recovering from accidents (and so, so much more). 

Shamanic practices are not meant to supplant Western medicine, but serve as a less invasive way with demonstrable success. These practices are considered a form of Complementary or Alternative Medicine (CAM), and, as such, they are recognized by the National Institute of Health as “conducive to health and wellness.”

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