9 Types of Shamanism: Ancient Spiritual Traditions You Must Know

Shamanism is among the oldest known spiritual practices in human history. Found on every inhabited continent, it has served as a foundation for healing, guidance, and communication with the spirit world for thousands of years. While the core idea of a shaman—a spiritual practitioner who enters altered states of consciousness to access non-ordinary realities—remains consistent, the way shamanism is practiced varies widely between cultures.

This article explores the different types of shamanism practiced across the world, highlighting both their shared elements and their rich diversity. From the frost-covered tundra of Siberia to the rainforests of the Amazon, each shamanic tradition reflects the unique environment, beliefs, and history of its people.

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What Is Shamanism?

Shamanism is not a religion in the conventional sense. It is a spiritual system or set of practices rooted in animism—the belief that all beings and natural elements possess a spirit or consciousness. Shamans act as intermediaries between the human world and the spirit realm. Through trance, ritual, and communication with helping spirits, they perform tasks such as healing illness, divining the future, guiding souls, and restoring spiritual balance.

Although shamanic practices differ across regions, common tools include:

• Drums and rattles to induce trance states

• Sacred plants or substances

• Spiritual journeys or “soul flights”

• Animal spirits, ancestors, or nature deities

1. Siberian Shamanism (Central Asia)

Siberia is considered the original home of the word “shaman,” derived from the Tungusic word šaman, meaning “one who knows.” Shamanism is deeply entrenched among Indigenous Siberian peoples such as the Evenki, Yakut, Buryat, and Chukchi.

Characteristics:

• Spirit journeys to the Upper World (celestial realm), Middle World (human world), and Lower World (underworld).

• Use of ritual drums, iron rings, and sacred costumes to channel spirits.

• Shamans are chosen through spiritual illness or visions and undergo strict initiations.

• Belief in animal spirits and ancestral guardians.

Siberian shamanism is often focused on healing, divination, and weather control, vital for communities living in extreme climates.

2. Amazonian Shamanism (South America)

Among Indigenous tribes in the Amazon basin—such as the Shipibo, Asháninka, and Huni Kuin—shamanism plays a central role in community health and spiritual life.

Characteristics:

• Use of ayahuasca, a sacred plant brew, to induce visions and contact spirits.

• Songs called icaros are sung to guide healing during ceremonies.

• Shamans, known as curanderos or ayahuasqueros, are trained for years in isolation, working with plants (“dietas”) and spirits.

• Focus on spiritual cleansing, soul retrieval, and extraction of negative energies.

Amazonian shamans believe plants have their own consciousness and serve as teachers, guiding both healing and spiritual insight.

3. Andean Shamanism (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador)

In the Andes Mountains, spiritual practitioners known as paqos or Andean shamans maintain ancient Incan traditions infused with both animism and cosmic principles.

Characteristics:

• Connection with Apus (mountain spirits) and Pachamama (Mother Earth).

• Use of coca leaves, mesa (altar bundles), and despacho ceremonies to offer prayers and gratitude.

• Emphasis on reciprocity and balance (ayni) between humans and nature.

• Healing involves energy clearing and connecting to natural forces.

Andean shamanism blends spirituality with ecology, placing high importance on honoring the land and its spirits.

4. Native North American Shamanism

Many Native American tribes across North America have shamanic traditions, though the term “shaman” is often replaced by culture-specific titles like medicine man, healer, or spiritual leader.

Characteristics:

• Use of sweat lodges, vision quests, and sacred tobacco or peyote.

• Animal totems, dreams, and spirit guides play central roles.

• Healing ceremonies often include chanting, dancing, and drumming.

• Elders and healers are often initiated through dreams or inherited roles.

Each tribe (e.g., Lakota, Navajo, Ojibwe) has distinct cosmologies, symbols, and rituals, rooted in deep respect for land, ancestors, and animal spirits.

5. Korean Shamanism (Muism)

Muism, the traditional spiritual practice of Korea, features shamans called mudang—many of whom are women.

Characteristics:

• Shamans act as mediums for spirits, performing elaborate rituals called gut.

• Spirits may be ancestral, historical, or nature-based.

• Possession and trance states are used to convey messages from the spirit world.

• Mudang are either hereditary shamans or those called through spiritual crises.

Korean shamanism blends ancient animism with Buddhist and Confucian influences, and is still practiced today for healing, fortune-telling, and life guidance.

6. Mongolian Shamanism (Tengrism)

Mongolian shamanism, closely linked with ancient nomadic traditions and Tengrism, centers on Sky Father Tengri and Mother Earth Etügen.

Characteristics:

• Shamans (böö) work with ancestor spirits and nature deities.

• Rituals involve drumming, costumes, and trance possession.

• Connection to sacred mountains, rivers, and fire.

• Shamanic families often pass roles down through generations.

In recent decades, Mongolian shamanism has experienced a revival after being suppressed during Soviet rule. It remains a living tradition among rural and urban populations.

7. African Shamanism

Across Africa, spiritual healers—often referred to as diviners, sangomas, or traditional doctors—serve as intermediaries between the living and the spirit world.

Characteristics:

• Use of divination tools like bones, shells, or stones.

• Communication with ancestors, spirits, and deities.

• Healing through herbal medicine, dance, drumming, and trance.

• Initiation may include spirit possession, fasting, and apprenticeships.

In Southern Africa, for example, Zulu sangomas undergo rigorous training to become vessels for ancestral wisdom, healing emotional, physical, and spiritual wounds.

8. Tibetan Shamanism (Bön Tradition)

Before Buddhism spread through Tibet, the Bön tradition practiced a form of shamanism that continues to this day, often merged with Buddhist elements.

Characteristics:

• Emphasis on rituals for purification, protection, and spirit appeasement.

• Shamans perform exorcisms, divinations, and blessings.

• Bön cosmology includes elemental spirits, demons, and deities.

• Use of chanting, sacred texts, and ritual instruments.

Bön shamans bridge spiritual worlds, working closely with nature and energy forces to maintain harmony.

9. Southeast Asian Shamanism (Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam)

Many Indigenous groups across Southeast Asia maintain animist traditions involving spiritual specialists known as babaylan (Philippines), dukun (Indonesia), or shamans.

Characteristics:

• Roles held by women, men, or gender-nonconforming individuals.

• Healing through spells, herbs, ancestral communication, and spirit possession.

• Ritual dances and offerings to appease local deities or spirits.

• Shamans are respected figures who protect the community and natural order.

These traditions are often syncretic, blending pre-colonial beliefs with elements of Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity.

Common Threads Across Traditions

Despite geographic and cultural differences, nearly all forms of shamanism share certain themes:

• Connection to the natural world as alive and sacred.

• Spiritual illness as a root of physical or mental suffering.

• Healing as energy restoration, involving both body and spirit.

• Altered states of consciousness, often induced through rhythm, plants, or fasting.

• Role as mediator, not religious leader, between humans and spirits.

These similarities suggest that shamanism may reflect a universal human need to connect with the unseen forces that shape life, death, health, and destiny.

Conclusion: Diversity Within Unity

Shamanism is not a single, monolithic tradition—it is a rich mosaic of spiritual systems shaped by landscape, ancestry, and cosmology. Whether practiced in the Arctic Circle or the Amazon rainforest, shamanism represents humanity’s ancient quest to understand the world, heal suffering, and maintain harmony with nature and the spirit realm.

Today, shamanic traditions continue to evolve. Some are being revived by Indigenous communities; others are studied and adapted (sometimes controversially) by modern seekers. As interest in holistic healing and earth-based spirituality grows, it’s essential to approach shamanism with respect, humility, and awareness of its cultural roots.

By learning about the different types of shamanism, we honor the global heritage of spiritual wisdom—and perhaps, rediscover a deeper connection to the world around us.

Suggested Readings and Sources:

1. Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy

2. Piers Vitebsky, The Shaman

3. Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman

4. Eduardo Kohn, How Forests Think

5. Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow

6. Cultural Survival (culturalsurvival.org)

7. Scholarly articles on specific Indigenous traditions from JSTOR, Project MUSE, and university presses.

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Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.