shamanism is independent of religion
    but the experience is interpreted in terms of the shaman's culture / religion
the shamanic paradigm
    chosen or decides to become a shaman
        chosen by crisis
            healed
    exists within a culture [embedded]
    the shaman as healer
        physical, psychological, spiritual, social
        reconnects the disconnected
    animism
        - the attribution of conscious life to natural objects
            or to nature itself [AHD3]
    power as a gift
        use of it to benefit community
        obligation to pass it on
    helpers / allies
        totems & power animals
        transitory
    journey
        gives free reign to the intuition [see Psychology & Intuitive Thought]
        for knowledge
        soul retrieval
    axis mundi
        the world tree
            the upper world
                guides, helpers, teachers, the natural powers
            the middle world
                the every day world
            the lower world
                the dead, the animal powers, disease
    can return from journey at will
    dual mind
        in the other world and this world at the same time
        mediates between the mundane world & the spirit world
    shamanic abilities in addition to normal abilities
altered states of consciousness
    many states, not one
anyone can learn to journey
    humans hardwired for it
    thru rhythm
        delta waves [AHD3]
            - 4 to 6 cps
            - from Greek Hebrew delet, door
        drum, rattle, chanting, or dance
            the shaman's horse
    psychotropic drugs
        - having an altering effect on perception or behavior
    vision quest / meditation
    fasting
    sensory deprivation
    dreams
        "big" dreams
            indelible
    daydreaming
 
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy - Mircea Eliade
Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self - Sandra Ingerman
The Way of the Shaman - Michael Harner