Articles on Traditional and Contemporary Shamanism

Many of the following articles are from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies' journal, the Shamanism Annual. The journal is provided to our members at no charge as one of the Circle of the Foundation benefits.
The journal provides a voluntary membership directory and a list of drumming circles to help develop a worldwide community for healing and mutual help. More about the Shamanism Annual, including submission guidelines for writers.

Shamanic Healing in the Treatment of PTSD

By S. Mokelke, JD; N. Caldwell, MTCM, L.Ac; A. Solomon, MSW, LCSW; S. Williams, MA
Shamanic healing is finding a well-deserved place as an effective complementary healing modality for people who struggle with the disabling effects of trauma in general, and for Veterans with combat related PTSD in particular.

Shamanism and Personal Transformation

By Susan Mokelke
Shamanism is a kind of dance between the inner personal dimension and outer community action. As you grow in understanding and compassion, you work differently in the world.

The Healing Power of Song

By Susan Mokelke
It is not surprising that songs and shamanism are synergistic for healing. The shaman sees with the heart and music speaks to the heart. When a song is imbued with the compassion of the helping spirits, it offers powerful healing for body and soul.

Spiritual Help for the Burning West

By Nan Moss
While originally written in 1999 during the drought in the Western United States, which experienced a series of calamitous wildfires, with drought and fires sweeping many areas of the world, this article is especially relevant today.

A Personal Look at Core Shamanism

By Timothy Flynn
I became a member of the tribe of “shamanic worshippers” shortly after graduate school. We’re spread around the globe, from the United States to Canada to Austria to Singapore.

Shamanism and the Spirits of Weather

By Nan Moss and David Corbin
“Though I have held a passion for weather all my life, and thought I recognized the aliveness, the spirit in all things, I saw that I still carried our culture’s world view of weather a purely physical forces….”

The Reality of Spirits

By Edith Turner
In the past in anthropology, if a researcher “went native” it doomed him academically. My husband, Victor Turner, and I had this dictum at the back of our minds when we spent two and a half years among the Ndembu of Zambia in the fifties.

What Core Shamanism Has Given Me

By Timothy Flynn
This morning I got up at dawn for my daily spiritual practice. It has developed from a variety sources including dance, meditation and martial arts…my relationship to non-ordinary reality, as communicated by the FSS nourishes my practice.

Why Study Core Shamanism?

By Susan Mokelke
For many years, I worked with an organization concerned with global community. Our work stemmed from a belief in the principle that “all is one.”… It was wonderful, useful, inspiring work.

An Evening with an Inuit Elder

By Alesia Kunz
Mr. Henry Kablalik, Inuit elder from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada, demonstrating the divination technique of “head lifting.”

Shamanic Training in Digital Space

By Susan Mokelke
With a global reach, shamanic training in digital space offers humanity a profound and effective tool for learning shamanic practice and how to connect with the compassionate helping spirits.

My Path in Shamanism

Roger Walsh and Charles S. Grob interview Michael Harner for his story of how he became involved with shamanism, its study and practical applications.

History and Work of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies

By Michael Harner
Asked to [summarize] the history of the Foundation by then editor of Shamanism, Bill Brunton for this special twenty-fifth anniversary issue, including a glimpse into the future, I went over past issues of the journal and came across the following piece published almost a decade and a half ago…

Shamanism and Creativity

By Sandra Harner
One of the great surprises that shamanism affords is the joy of the unknown and that the unknown is joyous. There is a sense of wholeness that proceeds from the creativity that is inherent in the shamanic journey.

The Shaman Unbound: A Teaching Miracle

By Susan Mokelke
Over the course of the more than 25 years that the Foundation has been offering the Thee Year Program of Advanced Initiations in Shamanism and Shamanic Healing, we have witnessed countless examples of amazing teachings provided by the spirits.

Core Shamanism and Daily Life

By Susan Mokelke
“I am often asked if there is an article that explains what core shamanism is and how it can be used in everyday life. This article is intended as an introduction to the subject.”

A Core Shamanic Theory of Dreams

By Michael Harner
Presented August 14, 2010, at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies Shamanic Dreamwork workshop, San Francisco, California. Michael Harner, who originated core shamanism and pioneered the return of shamanism and shamanic healing to the West, recently formulated this general shamanic theory of dreams.

Power Animal Retrieval

By Lora Jansson
“I have to admit I have special fondness for power animal retrieval. Clients seem to like it as well. [W]hen I tell them I am going to do one, they grin like kids…”

Michael Harner: An 80th Birthday Tribute

By Susan Mokelke
We asked people whose lives have been touched by Michael’s work to contribute to an 80th birthday book for Michael. The outpouring of responses was fantastic. This tribute includes some of those responses along with a chronology of Michael’s work.

Passion Projects: What Fuels the Heart

By Lora Jansson
“I am a woman who is in love with Bear. This is a vital love that is fed by gratitude to Bear for all of the cures he has performed…for all the gentle ways he has held me through the darkest times…”