A shaman is a spiritual healer and awakener. Shamanism awakens for the recipient deeper states of consciousness and soul searching. These states focus upon releasing discomfort or blocks, restoring wellness and becoming enlightened. Shamans have been known as witch doctors, medicine men, medicine women, mundunugu, exorcists, magicians, sorcerers, warlocks, witches, dowsers and those who do voodoo. There are as many techniques for Shamanic work as there are cultures and individuals but, basically, most approaches balance love and power, male and female, light and dark, with the goal of invoking inner awareness, harmony and homeostasis.
Shamanism relies heavily upon ceremony and ritual to evoke the desired trance.
Many rituals involve hypnotic tools like smells, smoke, repetition, sound, suggestion and sleep deprivation. Some rely on mood altering substances. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative-Some techniques are fear based and their main thrust is cutting cords of ghosts, goblins and boogie men. I prefer to celebrate co-creation with a higher source and light. Religious exorcists are masters of the dark approach.