From the icy steppes of Siberia to the Amazon rainforest, the shaman remains one of humanity’s most fascinating spiritual figures. At the crossroads of the sacred, traditional medicine, poetry, and mystical vision, he acts as a mediator between the world of humans and the world of spirits.
by contact1
The word "shaman" likely comes from the Tungusic term šamán, brought to Europe by 17th-century Russian explorers. In traditional societies, the shaman is a healer, advisor, seer, guardian of myths, and sometimes a spiritual leader. Their role extends beyond religion: they heal bodies, soothe souls, and maintain the cosmic balance between human beings, nature, and the unseen forces.
In many cultures, the shaman is chosen by the spirits themselves. This calling can appear through dreams, an initiatory illness, visions, or a near-death experience. Anthropologists have often described this transformation as a "symbolic death" followed by a spiritual rebirth.
Shamanism is not a single religion, but a constellation of spiritual traditions found on several continents. Practices vary enormously: Siberian trance drums, Native American vision quests, Amazonian ayahuasca ceremonies, Mazatec sacred chants, or Korean mudang rituals.
Today, shamanism is experiencing a resurgence of global interest. However, this popularity also raises debates: cultural appropriation, spiritual tourism, the use of psychotropic substances, and the commodification of the sacred.
True shamanic traditions remain deeply connected to Indigenous peoples and their ancestral cosmologies. (Panaprium)
Great Figures of World Shamanism
This list brings together historical, spiritual, or ethnographic figures recognized in shamanic or related traditions.
The dates given are sometimes approximate, as some traditions are oral.
| Name | Birth & Death | People / Tradition | Contry / Region | Caracteristics | Connections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Elk | 1863 – 1950 | Oglala Lakota | United States | Sioux medicine man, spiritual author of Black Elk Speaks | Black Elk – Psychologies |
| María Sabina | 1894 – 1985 | Mazatèque | Mexico | Healer using sacred mushrooms during veladas | Biography of María Sabina |
| Davi Kopenawa | né vers 1956 | Yanomami | Brazil | Defender of the Amazon and Yanomami cosmology | Institut socioambiental – Davi Kopenawa |
| Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq | né en 1947 | Inuit Kalaallit | Greenland | Inuit spiritual teacher and guardian of northern traditions | Angaangaq’s official website |
| Aama Bombo | XXe siècle | Tamang | Nepal | A major female figure in Himalayan shamanism | Introducing Aama Bombo |
| Rolling Thunder | 1916 – 1997 | Cherokee / métis | United States | Healer and environmental activist | Rolling Thunder – Native Tribe Info |
| Frank Fools Crow | 1890 – 1989 | Lakota | United States | Guardian of sacred Lakota rites | Fools Crow – Native Tribe Info |
| Wallace Black Elk | 1921 – 2011 | Lakota Sioux | United States | Spiritual heir of Black Elk | Wallace Black Elk – Chamanismo en el Mundo |
| Sun Bear | 1929 – 1992 | Chippewa / Ojibwé | United States | Founder of the Bear Tribe Medicine Society | Sun Bear – Native Tribe Info |
| Brooke Medicine Eagle | née en 1943 | Crow / Lakota | United States | Feminine spirituality and Earth traditions | Brooke Medicine Eagle |
| Joseph Rael | né en 1931 | Picuris Pueblo | United States | Visionary and spiritual author | Joseph Rael Official |
| Dhul-Nun al-Misri | v. 796 – 859 | Soufisme mystique | Égypte | A figure associated with ecstatic practices akin to shamanism | Dhul‑Nun al‑Misri – Panaprium |
| Carlos Castaneda | 1925 – 1998 | Anthropologie mystique | Peru / United States | He popularized the modern image of the shaman with Don Juan | Carlos Castaneda Foundation |
| Corine Sombrun | née en 1961 | Chamanisme mongol | France / Mongolia | Scientific research on cognitive trance | Corine Sombrun |
In many traditions, the shaman is considered a liminal being: he traverses worlds, genders, states of consciousness, and the boundaries between life and death. Among some Inuit peoples studied by anthropologist Bernard Saladin d’Anglure, the shaman is even seen as a “third gender,” capable of moving between the polarities of masculine and feminine.
The Lakota heyoka—sometimes called the “sacred clown”—perfectly embodies this paradoxical logic. He acts against the grain of norms: he laughs in the most serious ceremonies, dresses lightly in the cold, and speaks backwards to reveal a hidden truth. The apparent disorder then becomes a higher form of wisdom.
Shamanism and Modernity
The contemporary resurgence of shamanism is partly explained by a global quest for embodied, ecological, and experiential spirituality. Many seek a reconnection with nature, dreams, ancestors, or altered states of consciousness.
However, Indigenous peoples regularly remind us that a shamanic ritual is neither a spectacle nor a mere psychedelic experience. Traditional ceremonies are embedded in complex cosmologies, initiatory lineages, and profound community responsibilities.
Reference works on shamanism
Black Elk Speaks
Autobiographical book by the Lakota holy man Black Elk, collected by John G. Neihardt in 1932. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Shamanism and the Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
One of the greatest academic works on world shamanism, originally published in 1951 by Mircea Eliade. (CNIB)
The Falling Sky
Major testimony from Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa on Amazonian spirituality, the destruction of the forest, and Yanomami cosmology.
Diary of a Shaman Apprentice
Related works by Corine Sombrun
The shaman remains a universal figure of the threshold: healer, seer, poet, and guardian of mysteries. Behind the myths and modern fantasies, they recall an essential ancestral intuition: human beings are not separate from the living world, but connected to a vast invisible web where memory, nature, and spirit converse.
Throughout the centuries, these women and men have embodied an ancient wisdom: listening to the world before seeking to dominate it.