Shamanism

Shamanism is a religious practice centered on a shaman who is a cultural mediator and peacekeeper useing healing, divination, trance, magic and their knowledge of their cultural beliefs and religious traditions to communicate on behalf of their community with the spirits, including the deceased. Shamans believe they can alleviate unrest, assuage unsettled issues, predict the future, solve social problems and immersing in a lifelong study of plants heal the sick. They are believed to achieve powers using trance or ecstatic religious experience. Regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, shamans are viewed as counselors and religious leaders among indigenous groups in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and the Americas. They typically enter a trance state or have an ecstatic religious experience during a ritual and practice divination and healing. They are generally believed to be able to communicate with the otherworld and escort souls of the dead to the netherworld.