It was as though a gate was open and the flood could no longer be contained. My daughter died, and yet due to my experiences, I, in my grief, was consoled. It stopped me in my tracks. It is still propelling me on my path. Many other events joined with it to move me to look toward the shamanic journeying method as a way to access and harness my natural inclinations.
Many shamanic practitioners train and work in a specific cultural tradition.
However, I understand that your approach is more contemporary and does not require formal identification with one cultural form. Trying to adopt another's culture is a difficult thing. It is the problem of translating beliefs from one world to another. What we can do, however, is to try to understand how powerful belief systems are, and thus adopt our own in a sensible and rewarding manner. In a tribal setting, the shaman is the person who enters altered states in order to obtain information for the benefit of his community as healer, ritualist, seer, and advisor.