One of the duties of the shaman is to act as psychopomp and walker between the worlds . The shaman travels to the Underworld as well as the Upperworld for a variety of reasons; to escort the souls of the dead to their resting place and to seek wisdom from the spirits who live in the Underworld and bring it back to the people . Every shaman travels into the Underworld to fulfill the needs of the tribe and to maintain his or her power as a shaman by speaking with and learning from the spirits who dwell there . Although most Underworld journeys in modern times consist of astral travel to the metaplanes to draw on the wisdom to be learned there, modern shamans also undertake other kinds of underworld journeys every day of their so-called " mundane " lives .