Find out if you are aligned with the principles of shamanism. Read the seven core beliefs here:
1. The belief that everything and everyone is part of a pattern and thus interconnected.
2. The belief in the existence of an alternate reality, often referred to as the spirit world or dream time by traditional people, or as non ordinary reality by modern mystics.
3. The belief in the ability of some individuals to achieve transcendent states of consciousness and enter the alternate reality for problem solving and healing of self and others; this belief is usually accompanied by a strong desire to personally experience the alternate reality.
4. The belief in the existence of spirit helpers and teachers who reside in the alternate reality. Although most modern mystics tend not to affiliate with organized religion, Jesus of Nazareth is regarded as a spirit teacher of great power, and most profess the belief in some form of supernatural godlike being or consciousness.
5. The belief that everything, both animate and inanimate, is imbued with a personal supernatural essence or soul; thus, everything everywhere is aware and thus “minded” to some degree.
6. The belief in the existence of an impersonal power or vital force that pervades all things and is expressed as life force in animate beings–the mana of the Polynesians, the chi of the Chinese, the prana of yoga, the num of the Kalahari bushmen, or the baraka of the Muslims.
7. The belief in the existence of a personal energy body that can be perceived by some as an aura and can be enhanced through the energy centers within it–called chakras and meridians in Eastern thought."
Adapted from Visionseeker, by Hank Wesselman, PhD (Hay House, 2001).
