A Note on the Word ‘Shaman’ (Updated)

2019

The word 'shaman' has come to us through many cultures over the past 400 or so years, from Sanskrit to the Tungus language in North Asia to Germany and Russia. 

In the Western lexicon, it has come to be an umbrella term for a person who performs certain functions in a position of service to their community - namely, a person who can communicate with the spirit worlds and effect change there, who enters trance states and who performs healing and divination. Synonyms in English could be 'medicine man or woman' or 'healer' or even 'witch-doctor' (though that’s a bit derisive). What's important is that the word in this context has become an adjective, where it was originally a title. 

Many traditional cultures have specific titles for such persons like, Seidhkona (Mythic Norse), P’aqo (Andean), Kahuna (Hawaiian), Awenydd (Welsh Celtic) to name a few, though not all of these positions will perform exactly the same duties. A 'medicine' worker is as unique as the culture that sprung them. What ties them all together is an animistic world-view.

It's interesting to note that a lot of these cultures have a separate term for 'witch'. So although it is tempting to compare a witch to a shaman they are in fact singular paths with some very important differences in practice and in philosophy. 

The word shaman tends to misapplied to Native American healers which has angered many communities. This topic is closely related to issues of cultural appropriation. 

For the sake of simplicity we selectively use this word at Gifts for Mystics, however we recognize that its proper use is currently under debate in the wider social arena.

2020 Update

After much consideration, we no longer support the use of the root word shaman nor any version of it “shamanist, shamanic, shamanic practitioner, shamanka etc” unless referring to or used by a practitioner of Siberian, Russian or Mongolian “shamanism”, which is where the roots of the word and practice originated. Since there is a history of oppression and attempted eradication of the shaman in these areas, and since there is a modern recovery effort to preserve these customs and traditions, it may be inappropriate that the word be used outside of its cultural context. Even though the word is an English word and its specific roots are somewhat shrouded in history, these debates may be just semantics and could potentially be missing the point. Ultimately, we stand by any culture rising up from oppression and rediscovering/reclaiming their roots and traditions and all of that which makes them them - and though we love and support an enthusiastic cultural exchange, we stand firmly against cultural appropriation.

We uphold the hope that all Western cultures may also go back to their pre-colonial and pre-Christianized roots and find what makes them them. There was an animistic folk-medicine tradition in every culture and bloodline worldwide at one point. We encourage you to find yours.

As to the new terminology to replace this very ubiquitous and cross-cultural umbrella term well, it’s not easy. We’ve heard many versions: soul-medicine practitioner, folk-medicine practitioner, spirit-medicine practitioner - some folks are using the culturally-specific terms mentioned above when they are trained in those medicine-ways. Some people still do use shaman, when that term has been given to them by their teachers. It’s a work in progress. A new term will emerge - must emerge - if we are disentangle our practices from the colonialism of our ancestors.