by Lupa
So you wanna be a shaman for a living? Well, here’s the deal: in the United States at least, the dominant culture doesn’t have a shamanic niche. Indigenous cultures have their own sacred people (often lumped under the Siberian Evenk term shaman), but if you look in your average phone book you’re not likely to see a heading for “Shamans, Medicine People, and Healers.”
Moreover, the most common religion of the land, Christianity, isn’t exactly a hotbed of overtly shamanic activity. Many adherents would be vehemently opposed to seeing a shaman on the grounds that it goes against their beliefs. Plenty of other folks would avoid seeing a shamanic practitioner because they simply don’t believe that rituals and journeying will have any practical effect on their lives.
So what’s a would-be shaman to do when the community you want to serve isn’t automatically on board? Well, you can do what a lot of shamanic folk do and hang out your shingle as-is. You’ll have to do a lot of explaining, and for the most part there’s not a lot of money in it. You certainly won’t be able to take anyone’s insurance as payment. And you’ll likely always have a pretty limited clientele.
For some people, that’s perfectly acceptable. But what if you want to be able to help a broader spectrum of people in your community? Look at the specific role that shamanism plays in other cultures; then look at your own culture and see what vocations have similar roles. Here are some of the ways shamans interact with their communities:
Shamans act as intermediaries. They may bridge the spiritual and physical worlds or bridge humans and non-human nature. They can also mediate between their community and a neighboring community, though they may also take leadership roles in times of war. Shamans are generally pretty comfortable in the in-between places.
Shamans are often healers of the body, mind, and/or spirit. They may use herbs and other medicines, use sacred rites and charms, and even travel to the spirit world on behalf of their clients. This is probably the best-known shamanic role, but it is far from the only one: most shamans do not limit themselves to being only healers.1
Shamans may be the keepers of community lore and traditional practices. This most often presents as oral tradition, though sacred artwork and other records are common throughout indigenous communities worldwide, and in the twenty-first century, computer-based technology is a perfectly acceptable tool for furthering this knowledge base. Shamans also apply this lore in everyday life, such as for rites of passage.
Every community has its scapegoats, and even as important as a shaman may be to the people, in some cultures shamans are outcasts, living on the fringes and carrying the sins of everyone else. Their Otherness can also serve as a mediating force, questioning the community when it becomes too dogmatic in adhering to particular standards.
Matching Skills to Modern-Day Roles
You may have to get a little creative in your interpretations of the aforementioned roles, but if your goal is to serve as many people and as diverse a clientele as possible, here are some potential careers to look into:
Counselor: A counselor is someone who helps people mediate between themselves and their psychological health. Almost 20 percent of the American population has some form of mental illness in their lifetime, and unfortunately it often goes undertreated or even untreated. Yet even mentally healthy people sometimes have periods of great distress in which outside help may be sought, such as after the death of a loved one or after experiencing a traumatic accident. As a counselor, you can help people negotiate the sometimes perilous pathways of the mind. You’re not “fixing” them; rather, you are their guide through their own emotions and thoughts. You also have recourse to a wide range of tools to help; depending on your training and credentials you can draw on everything from behavior-based therapies to rites of passage to (in certain circumstances) medications in order to help relieve symptoms.
Doctor/Nurse/Other Medical Professional: Western medicine often gets a bad rap in spiritual communities, yet most spiritual people will still go to the emergency room if their appendix bursts. As a medical professional, you have access to the vast body of knowledge and technology built up over decades of research and development. However, you also have the training to discern whether a given treatment will be good for your patient or not. The best doctors are those who treat their patients as though they are the experts on their own body’s idiosyncracies; you partner with the patients to get them the most suitable treatment. Even if you can’t go to medical school, just getting basic first aid training can help you be of greater service to your community in this capacity.
Clergy: When experiencing difficult times, many people turn to the clergy of their faith to find solace and answers. This isn’t limited to the big monotheist religions, either. Most spiritual paths have some sort of priest or other specialists who are particularly knowledgeable in lore and how to best care for their people. As a trained clergy person, you’re able to leverage the hope and healing of your faith to support those in need and help them carry on until they’re able to stand on their own again. And you’re also able to enact sacred rites in your path; these may be crucial to the health of your community as a whole as well as the individuals who are a part of it. Some Pagan clergy particularly resonate with the role of shaman, though those of other faiths may also find it inspirational.
Artist/Writer/Musician: Faerie lore speaks of human musicians and other creatives being taken away into the fey realms and sometimes returning years later, much richer in talent and spiritual growth. There is something transformative about arts in general, both for the artist and the audience. As a creative, you’re able to tap into emotions through expression, and if all goes well you can evoke a particular response. Sometimes this may be rallying the community around a given cause. Other times you can offer people a respite from their daily stresses by presenting a creation of great beauty. And all the while you may feel as though you are tapping into an alternate reality through your imagination—in some cases that may be exactly what’s happening! Your creations don’t have to be overtly shamanic in nature to be effective, though; any medium will work so long as it effectively conveys your intent.
Scientist: Science is another one of those things often shunned unfairly by spiritual people. Sure, physics may emphasize that you can’t actually physically turn into another species of animal no matter how many rituals you perform. But particle physicists are discovering some of the most amazing realities in the tiniest bits of stuff in the universe, while astrophysicists are the closest to figuring out how the universe began in the first place. Whether your chosen vocation is chemistry, biology, botany, or any of a number of other sciences, you’re able to travel into worlds most people only scratch the surface of and bring back great knowledge for the good of all. You may even explore uncharted territory and make new discoveries! That sounds pretty shamanic to me.
Comedian: The jester and the sacred fool are just two of the characters who have spent their lives questioning the communities they live in. Far from being useless and lazy bums, they serve a critical role by bringing up criticisms of the people, forces, and behaviors in power in a society, often using humor to make their point more digestible. There are very good reasons we want to know that the emperor has no clothes—he’s only human, so his edicts can be questioned by the people, even the most humble jester. And even if the humor isn’t pointedly political, the comedian offers a valuable gift to the people: laughter. In a world where we may feel overwhelmed by negative news and stress, a few moments of joy can mean everything.
These are just some of the roles in modern society that can serve similar functions to shamanism. With enough imagination, you may be able to combine your desire to serve as a shaman with just about any vocation you take on.
It is very important that if you’re going into a more specialized path, such as being a doctor or counselor, that you get the proper training and credentials. Just because you practice shamanism doesn’t mean you get to practice medicine without a license. Even herbs, for example, can be harmful if the wrong amount is taken or if an herb conflicts with another medication the client is taking. So make sure you research a potential career very carefully before embarking, and if a certain amount of training is required to use a particular title, don’t call yourself that until you’ve gotten the proper credentials.
When you’re in school or undergoing other training, don’t make everything about shamanism, either. Immerse yourself in this world of learning, whether strictly academic or not. Don’t let your agenda be the primary goal. If you’re in art school, allow yourself to explore all the media that are presented to you, and play with a variety of themes in your work, not just spiritual ones. In fact, it’s best to challenge yourself and break out of your comfort zone. That flexibility and breadth of experience will make you an even more effective shamanic practitioner, as you’ll have more resources, internally and externally, to draw upon when helping your clients.
Finally, don’t feel that you’re stuck if you can’t get into your chosen career. I always wanted to be a veterinarian, but my math skills are abysmal, which means there was no way I would make it through veterinary school. But I played to my strengths in the humanities and was still able to write about my spiritual work with animals. This also helped me expand my horizons beyond the critters and into the beauty of nature in general. There are always options, even if you just end up educating yourself through books and other resources.
Whatever path you choose, I wish you the best of luck!
1. To be very clear, shamanism and other such practices are not meant to be replacements for professional medical care, and this essay should not be seen as an excuse to stop going to your doctor, therapist, or other health care provider.