Nov 2, 2023 | FSS Polestar
Interesting questions often arise during discussions of Animal Spirits, such as Power Animals, and other types of Animal Spirit helpers. People are curious to know whether it’s possible to have plant spirits as spirit helpers too.
Power Animals and other Animal Spirits upon whom shamanic practitioners rely for power and protection in their work, are not nature spirits per se, but transcended spirits of the upper or lower worlds. As such they are unconditionally wise, compassionate and powerful. They are able to do healing and divination, and to bring power to clients in partnership with the shamanic practitioner.
Plant spirits, as people generally use the term, are nature spirits of the middle world. They are conditional, and may be benevolent or harmful, or may simply have agendas of their own. Shamans in many cultures work with the spirits of certain plants, both for healing and to cause harm. They also use entheogenic plants to alter their state of consciousness, as is well known.* Additionally, shamans in many cultures famously have strong relationships with particular trees. They connect with the spirits of those trees for knowledge, and to assist in their journeys to the upper world. These various kinds of plant spirits would not be helping spirits in the same way that Animal Spirits are.
If someone wants to work with a plant spirit of the middle world, they should do so with the understanding that it is not an unconditional spirit. It would be wise to prioritize learning about that spirit first from their Upper or Lower World helping spirits. Bear in mind that in cultures where shamans work with plant spirits as a matter of course, they have thousands of years of culturally specific shamanic knowledge and traditions upon which to draw in their work. They are able to know exactly what they are doing in ways that are not possible outside of that cultural context.
All that said, it’s not impossible that a person who knows how to journey could encounter a plant spirit in the Upper or Lower World, which would be an unconditional spirit in the core shamanic view, and which could be seen as a helping spirit.
Robbie Staufer, MA, MS
FSS Faculty
* Harner, Michael. The Jívaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls. University of California Press, 1972. Hallucinogens and Shamanism. Michael Harner, ed. Oxford University Press, 1973.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Oct 6, 2022 | FSS Polestar
When Michael Harner first introduced The Way of the Shaman in 1980, shamanism was little known outside of academia. The renaissance of contemporary experiential shamanism is largely due to his pioneering work over the last several decades researching, developing, and originating the methodologies of core shamanism.
As a result of Dr. Harner’s groundbreaking work, today tens of thousands of the Foundation’s students and many thousands more who have learned from these students are practicing shamanic methods of direct revelation from the spirits—a welcome phenomenon that offers hope for our Earth and its inhabitants. At the same time, the rapid growth of interest in shamanism and the resulting proliferation of programs and trainings that claim shamanic roots has resulted in much confusion and misunderstanding about what core shamanism is and about its power and efficacy.
As taught in the workshops and training programs of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, core shamanism:
- Consists of the universal, near-universal, and common features of shamanism, together with journeys to other worlds, a distinguishing feature of shamanism.
- Offers students the opportunity to learn and practice authentic, powerful, and effective shamanic healing and divination methods to high ethical standards–working with guidance and power provided by the compassionate helping spirits.
- Is an independent spirituality, a path of direct revelation from the helping spirits.
The Foundation’s training in core shamanic methods provides the basis for a shamanic practice. To practice successfully, however, in addition to the methodology, one must build strong connections with the helping spirits, who provide the power for effective healing. These connections develop in strength over time through disciplined training and experience. Ultimately, we have found that success as a shamanic practitioner is dependent upon:
- Developing spiritual power through working with the compassionate helping spirits over a period of time.
- A disciplined and ethical application of the core shamanic healing methods taught in the workshops and trainings under the guidance of one’s own helping spirits.
For more about Foundation training, see the Getting Started guide: https://shamanism.org/workshops/shamanic-training-getting-started.pdf
A great starting point for learning about core shamanism is the FSS workshops FAQ page: https://shamanism.org/workshops/faq.php. Many common questions are addressed, such as:
What is a shaman?
https://shamanism.org/workshops/faq.php#faq1
What is core shamanism?
https://shamanism.org/workshops/faq.php#faq2
What about the quality and authenticity of the Foundation’s training programs?
https://shamanism.org/workshops/faq.php#faq4
If I complete the training programs of FSS, will I be a shaman?
https://shamanism.org/workshops/faq.php#faq11
FSS ONLINE TRAINING. We now offer fully experiential online training via Zoom in the Shamanic Healing and Knowledge & Power series. FAQ Shamanic Healing Online Training Program.
In future Polestar columns we’ll talk about a number of these issues in detail, including some inspiring examples of the power of core shamanism in practice.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Sep 19, 2022 | FSS Polestar
The original article, Fire Season 2000: Spiritual Help for the Burning West, was written by Nan Moss and the late David Corbin. (©Shamanism, Fall/Winter 1999, Vol. 12, No. 2.) It was revised and expanded by Nan Moss in September 2020. While originally written in 1999 during the drought in the Western United States, which experienced a series of calamitous wildfires, with drought and fires sweeping many areas of the world, this article is especially relevant today. Then, as now, many shamanic practitioners are moved to ask the compassionate helping spirits for assistance in restoring balance and relieving suffering. We offer this personal story from Nan Moss, one of our longtime faculty members, as an example of compassionate ethical partnership with the spirits in helping to restore balance and harmony in one particular situation. Read the article.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Mar 1, 2022 | FSS Polestar
Please see TRAINING IN SHAMANIC METHODS TO HELP UKRAINE below for opportunities to train with others to apply shamanic methods to help Ukraine and its people. If you are doing something to help and would like to share with the shamanic community, please visit Core Shamanism Chronicles: Help for Ukraine and leave a comment.
The Foundation for Shamanic Studies has been receiving requests for advice and assistance from people who would like to work together with others to respond shamanically to the tragic events unfolding in Europe. We have also received announcements of various group efforts and shamanic ceremonies that are being organized by others. The situation in Ukraine and Russia, and increasingly across Europe, is truly heartbreaking. How it will resolve is unknown, but it is clear that many are suffering, and will be feeling the effects of these events for a long time to come. We are grateful to be part of a caring and compassionate community that is motivated by such a strong desire to be of service.
It is important to remember that in situations of great complexity involving many thousands of people, animals, lands and waters, we cannot always know what is best, or what should and should not be happening. It’s also important to remember that the ethical practice of shamanism relies on having conscious and informed permission from any individual for whom we want to do shamanic work. These two factors mean that, if we want to be effective, we cannot simply send our helping spirits into a complex situation and ask them to bring about the outcome that we would like to see. Appropriate ethics are an essential part of the effective and powerful use of shamanism – without knowledge of ethics, one may do more harm than good. Please see this FSS Polestar entry.
For those who know how to journey and have connections with helping spirits of the Upper and Lower Worlds, and who understand the ethical considerations, the spirits are a source of enormous wisdom, power and creativity. They are able to guide and inspire us towards powerful and effective ways to take action in ordinary reality to help alleviate the pain and suffering that are occurring around the world. This would be an important time to journey and seek their guidance, and perhaps to form groups with other shamanic practitioners. More about working with the spirits for ordinary reality solutions.
May balance, unity, and harmony be restored and compassion prevail.
In spirit,
Susan Mokelke
President
Thanks to Robbie Staufer for drafting this response.
TRAINING IN SHAMANIC METHODS TO HELP UKRAINE: If you would like to join with others interested in applying shamanism and the power of the spirits to find ordinary reality ways to help, please see the Shamanism for Inspired Local & Global Change calendar. Scroll down to the calendar listings and look for an offering that displays “Focus on Ukraine.”
For updates on shamanism and Ukraine and other important issues, add your name to our email list on the home page. To subscribe, go to shamanism.org, scroll down to the “FREE E-NEWS” on the bottom right and enter your email. Or, join the Circle of the Foundation as a member.
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Oct 27, 2021 | FSS Polestar
The Shaman’s Song and Helping Spirits
A podcast with Susan Mokelke
From the series, Curious and Curiouser with Robin Johnson: a Great Mystery Podcast Series
October 25
This informative interview opens on a personal note, as Susan Mokelke tells the story of her path towards shamanism. It continues with discussions of some of the most widely asked questions about shamanism: the prominent role of songs and drumming; children and their animal spirits; shamanic healing in nature; and the innate ability of all humans, with training and practice, to access the worlds of the compassionate spirits.
For more from Robin Johnson, visit her website: greatmystery.org
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
Apr 22, 2021 | FSS Polestar
What is a shaman? How does one become one?
The re-emergence of shamanism in the West has been largely driven by the pioneering work of the late anthropologist Dr. Michael Harner, founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. His lifetime of research, experimentation, and personal exploration led him to develop Core Shamanism, an authentic and powerful form of shamanic practice that is not bound to culturally-specific ceremony and ritual. Its emphasis is on universal, near universal, and common features of shamanism, making it the ideal methodology for present-day practitioners to engage in shamanism while respecting the rites and customs of native peoples. Since shamanic knowledge was overwhelmingly lost to Western society centuries ago due to religious oppression, the Foundation’s programs in Core Shamanism are particularly intended to help contemporary people reacquire access to their rightful spiritual heritage through quality workshops and training courses.
What is shamanism?
As shamanism has grown in popularity, confusion about what it is, and specifically who and what a shaman is, has also grown. The term “shaman” is often loosely applied to anyone claiming an affinity for a natural lifestyle or a nature-based spirituality.
Michael Harner, after noting that “definitions are often a contentious matter,” went on to provide the following: “Shamanism is universally characterized by an intentional change in consciousness to engage in purposeful two-way interaction with spirits. Its most distinctive feature, which is not universal, is the out of body journey to other worlds.” He pointed out that not all shamans journey, or journey in the same way, but “what they do share is disciplined interaction with spirits in non-ordinary reality to help and heal others.” (Cave and Cosmos, pp. 47-48.)
Animism vs. shamanism
Where things often get confusing is in understanding the difference between animism and shamanism. Animism is a worldview that posits the aliveness of all things in the universe, as well as the unity and harmony of all life. It sees humans as a part of the living universe, but not superior to any aspect of it. This view is universally accepted in shamanism. That said, though all shamans could be considered animists, not all animists are shamans. This is because they don’t necessarily do what shamans do (see above).
Who can be called a shaman, and how do they that achieve that status?
In traditional shamanic cultures, shamans do not proclaim themselves as such. Someone who works with spirits to help their people is often named a shaman by that community if they are successful in their work.
”Shamans are often called ‘see-ers’ (seers), or ‘people who know’ in their tribal languages, because they are involved in a system of knowledge based on firsthand experience. Shamanism is not a belief system. It’s based on personal experiments conducted to heal, to get information, or do other things. In fact, if shamans don’t get results, they will no longer be used by people in their tribe. People ask me, ‘How do you know if somebody’s a shaman?’ I say, ‘It’s simple. Do they journey to other worlds? And do they perform miracles?'” (Michael Harner, Shamanic Healing: We Are Not Alone, p. 1.)
The preferred term for modern persons who engage in shamanism is “shamanic practitioner.” This denotes someone who has learned the methods and discipline of shamanic practice, and works to help and heal others with these methods. If a shamanic practitioner is successful with clients over time, other people may call them a shaman, but it is considered inappropriate to name oneself a shaman.
How does one become a shaman?
Michael discusses this at length in his book Cave and Cosmos (pp. 177, 179, 182). Traditional methods include inheriting shamanic status from an ancestor; becoming a shaman through life-threatening illness or initiation; being born with shamanic gifts which are recognized and supported by elders; learning directly from the spirits; and in some cultures, the Shuar, for example, knowledge of the way to power is bought from a master shaman. There are many paths, including study and practice with reputable teachers. But the path one travels to become a shaman is not as important as a powerful relationship with your own compassionate helping spirits.
To sum up, here are two essential characteristics of those who practice shamanism:
- The ability to shift consciousness at will, to interact with spirits from non-ordinary reality for the purpose of helping and healing others. (This is accomplished in 90% of the world’s shamanic cultures through sonic driving like drumming and rattling.)
- The understanding, through direct experience, that everything in the universe is interconnected, alive, and has spirit.
Contemporary shamanic practitioners are those who successfully practice and embody the above characteristics, and who have ongoing relationships with highly-evolved, compassionate spirits who provide spiritual power, knowledge, and wisdom throughout life. A practitioner of shamanism who works with these highly-evolved spirits and succeeds in helping and healing members of their tribe or society, may be recognized and named a shaman by their community.
Narrye Caldwell & Robbie Staufer
FSS Faculty
RESOURCES for further study of shamanism
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Polestar logo design by Carolyn Fee ©2010 Foundation for Shamanic Studies
FSS Polestar highlights some of the questions we are frequently asked about contemporary shamanic practice. “Polestar” is defined as “something that serves as a guiding principle.” It reflects our commitment to helping practitioners stay oriented to authentic shamanic methods and ethics, while maintaining their own independent spirituality, which comes from learning directly from the compassionate spirits. Send us your practice-related questions for consideration for Polestar. Use our CONTACT FORM, and put “Polestar” in the subject line.
