Shamanism is a worldview in which it is assumed that everything around us has a soul. Not only people have a soul. Also animals, trees, stones, the elements and even landscapes.
In shamanism there are three worlds: the Upper, Middle and Lower World. The Middle World encompasses the everyday reality for us humans. Everything that not only has a soul but also a form can be found here. People, animals, plants, stones, the elements or celestial bodies not only have a soul, but are also materialized. And because they are materialized, we can see them. In the upper and lower worlds there are souls too - also called spirits.
In contrast to the Middle World, the souls in the Upper and Lower Worlds are not materialized. Accordingly, we humans cannot see them with the naked eye. Therefore, these worlds that are invisible to us are referred to as “non-everyday reality”. But just because we cannot see the spirits in these worlds does not mean that they do not exist. The most important premise of shamanism is therefore: spirits are real!
If everything has a soul, then everything can connect through the soul. And that's exactly what happens in shamanism: the shamanic practitioner puts himself into a trance-like state in order to come into contact with spirits on the soul level. In this way, healing can take place or answers to important life questions can be found in non-everyday reality - that is, in what is invisible to us. The goal is to bring things back to their natural balance.
Shamans work with their allied spirits. These are unconditionally compassionate. This means that they work exclusively for the benefit of the greater whole and do not pursue their own agenda. These allied spirits provide their knowledge to bring the course of things into a natural balance.
This form of “problem solving” is as old as humanity itself. For at least 40,000 years, shamans have been serving the community worldwide and mediating between the worlds of people and spirits.
And this is where my path to shamanism began: As a biologist, I have always wondered how nature creates all the incredible things. The diversity of highly intelligent life forms. My time with the Ainu in Japan brought the most obvious explanation: all of nature is animated by a universal intelligence.
While in biology only people, animals and plants are considered alive, shamanism also includes stones, the elements, the landscape or celestial bodies. Every little grain of sand has a soul and is in contact with everything else. This is also how nature communication works.
If you want to know more about Shamanism I highly recommend the following authors and link: