What is Shamanism?

It has been my recent experience that many who I have come into contact with are not familiar with the term "shamanism" and so I thought I would share a short explanation of the term. I shared this on my facebook page but I thought it worth sharing here as well.

Shamanism is a term used to describe the oldest belief system known to man. It is an earth based belief system that dates back 100,000 years. Before our concept of what we now term "God", we humans have always had a knowledge that there was something greater than ourselves. When we lived close to the earth and in relatively small communities with few conveniences, our hearts were closer to our Creator or the Source of all that is. Our now familiar way to communicate with God is through prayer or meditation, but in the beginning of our concept of a Higher Power or Powers, we communicated through the ritual of "journeying", which is, through the repetitive beat of a drum, we would go into an altered state of consciousness and connect with our Spirit Helpers.

Don't be afraid of that term, going into an altered state of consciousness. We do this all the time. Have you ever been driving and arrived somewhere with no memory of the process of getting there? Every time you pray or meditate you alter your state of consciousness. This is not anything to worry about or be afraid of. Many times people have had fear of negative energies dissuade them from engaging in this way of communicating with our Higher Powers, but the fact is that as long as you have an intention of connecting with the Highest Powers, there is no danger in attracting negative influences.

One of the beliefs in shamanism is that we are all one. We are one with the plants and animals, with the earth which gives us life and food, and that everything has consciousness. It is possible to communicate with the energies of these brothers and sisters on our earth and receive wisdom for our daily lives. That is how ancient peoples knew which plants had healing properties and which ones to stay away from. We are all in this life together and we can all work together to make earth a happy and pleasant experience for all of us.