In Therapeutic Shamanism, no. In traditional cultures ‘shaman’ was an honorific title given to someone by their community, never one a person gave themselves, and it went with a lifetime of training and practice in a culture that supported it. Most people practising shamanism in the West today are called shamanic practitioners instead, a name anyone can grow into with time and practice.
Where does the word ‘shaman’ come from? #
From Siberia. The anthropologist Piers Vitebsky traces it to the language of the Evenk, a small Tungus-speaking people of hunters and reindeer herders, where it first named a religious specialist of that region only; by the early twentieth century it was being applied to medicine men and women in North America, and later it spread far wider still.1 The word is often said to translate as something like ‘one who knows’, or ‘one who can see in the dark’, meaning someone who sees what others cannot see, or choose not to see.2
There is a lot of debate, scholarly and otherwise, about what exactly shamanism is,3 which is part of why the question of who may use the title comes up so often. See What is shamanism?
Who decided that someone was a shaman in traditional cultures? #
Their community. In tribal cultures the title was generally not one a person bestowed on themselves but an honorary term bestowed on them by their tribe or community.4 It described a role a person had grown into and a standing others recognised. A child with an aptitude for it was usually noticed early, because the role was so important and so rare, and from then on the gift was nurtured: trainees were often excused much of the hunting and gathering that everyone else shared, so that they could give their time to it.
In some tribal cultures the role was hereditary, and even where it was not, the training was long and arduous and generally began in early life. A shaman then spent their whole life living shamanically, in a culture which wholly supported it.5 Anyone who became a shaman in those times had been living and breathing it, day in, day out, since childhood. See How were shamans traditionally trained? and Are shamans born or made?
Why do Western practitioners use the term ‘shamanic practitioner’? #
Out of respect for that difference. For most Westerners shamanism is something they come to later in life, and with the demands of modern life it is usually at best a part-time practice. Claiming to be a shaman, against that background, is simply not understanding or respecting the immense level of skill and knowledge that being a shaman really involves.6
So, in core shamanism, the usual term for a Westerner is ‘shamanic practitioner’. It is a bit like Buddhism: few people who practise Buddhism will become a Buddha, but everyone can be a Buddhist practitioner. In the same way, few people become actual shamans, but anyone can become a shamanic practitioner with time and practice.7 A Buddhist who appointed themselves a Buddha would rightly be frowned on by their community, and a Westerner claiming to be a shaman is a bit like someone bestowing a knighthood on themselves, which does not mean a thing “(other than that maybe they have delusions of grandeur)”.6
What did Michael Harner say about the title? #
The usage goes back to the anthropologist Michael Harner, the founder of core shamanism, from which Therapeutic Shamanism grew. Harner suggested, as a mark of respect, reserving the word ‘shaman’ for people in indigenous cultures who lived and breathed shamanism, and using ‘shamanic practitioner’ for modern Westerners practising core shamanism.8
In his own book The Way of the Shaman (1980), Harner told readers that those who practised his methods with discipline were “in the process of becoming a shaman”, but that the status itself could only be given to them by the people they tried to help, through recognised success in healing.9 There Harner was readier than the Therapeutic Shamanism books to speak of his readers as becoming shamans, and on the central point he and they agree: the title comes from others, never from oneself. See What is the Foundation for Shamanic Studies?
Why does claiming the title go against what a shaman is? #
Because it lacks humility. Paul Francis gets a lot of emails from people saying they have realised they are a shaman, or were a shaman in a past life, as if it were something a person could simply decide to be. Appointing oneself a shaman is close to the opposite of what a shaman is. The role was one of service to the community, not of status, and the title brought no special standing or specialness with it; conferring it on oneself is a form of self-aggrandisement that runs against the whole spirit of shamanism.
None of this stops anyone learning and practising shamanism. It is a statement about a title, not about who may practise. See What do tribe and belonging mean, and what is the shaman’s role in a community?
Isn’t the contrast between chosen and self-elected shamans too neat? #
Some anthropologists think so. The anthropologist Manvir Singh notes that commentators, neo-shamans among them, like to say that neo-shamans elect themselves whilst traditional shamans are chosen. He finds such comparisons often counterproductive, because they present people in rich, industrialised countries as dynamic and inventive and everyone else as inheriting unchanging traditions, when shamanic practices everywhere change and adapt.10
The case for keeping the distinction rests on the title rather than on any ranking of people. In tribal cultures the title was generally given by the community and not claimed, and the difference in training, immersion and support between a lifelong shaman and a modern part-time practitioner is real.11 Using ‘shamanic practitioner’ is a way of honouring that, and of leaving the title where it belongs, with the people a shaman serves. See What is neo-shamanism, and how does it differ from traditional shamanism? and What is ‘plastic shamanism’?
Is a shamanic practitioner a lesser thing to be? #
No. It is the honest name for what most people practising shamanism today are, and it is open to everyone: we can all be shamanic practitioners, and helping people become one is what the Therapeutic Shamanism books are for.12 The practices, the relationship with a Power AnimalPower Animal. The Oversoul of a wild species, met as a single Lower-World being and bonded with in a deep, committed, usually lifelong soul-bond of unconditional love. The practitioner’s first and foremost Guide: Panther, not “my panther”. Read the full answer and the GuidesGuides. The Lower-World and Upper-World beings a practitioner works with and learns from, of whom the Power Animal is the first and foremost. True Guides are ethical to their core; the shaman’s power comes from the depth of these bonds, not from the shaman. More about this, and the healing they bring are the same real things whatever a person is called. For learning to journey, The Shamanic Journey and the First-Steps course are the places to begin. See How long does it take to learn shamanism, and are there short cuts?
