CORE SHAMANISM

Term used byMichael Harnerand colleagues, includingSandra Ingerman, at theFoundation forShamanic Studiesto define the key features of shamanism, specifically thejourneytoother worldsin a willfully induced (controlled)altered state of consciousness“in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons” (Harner 1990 [1980], 20). The emphasis on the shamanic journey derives fromMirceaEliade’s understanding of shamanism as an “archaic technique ofecstasy.” The approaches of both Harner and Eliade are problematic in their universalizing of diverse and discrete, culturally situated shamanisms into a monolithic category to be palatable to Western audiences. Harner has reached tens of thousands of practitioners globally in workshops teaching core shamanism, in whichdrumming(and other monotonous orrhythmicsounds) is used to induce ashamanic stateof consciousness. Core shamanism arguably has the greatest currency as a shamanic practice today, not only among Westerners but also those indigenous communities reviving their own shamanic traditions with the assistance of core shamanists, including someNativeAmerican, Saami, Inuit, andCentral Asiantribes.