There’s a stirring in the world. I feel it, and I’m willing to bet you feel it too. It’s a deep, quiet hum beneath the noise of our modern lives, a pull towards something more real, more connected, something that speaks to the very essence of who we are. For many, this is the beginning of a spiritual journey. For some, it’s the ancient call of the shaman, a path of walking between the worlds.
When you hear the word “shaman,” what comes to mind? For most, it’s an image from a movie: a tribal figure, adorned with feathers and bones, chanting in a trance around a fire. And while that image holds a piece of the truth, it’s a very small piece of a much larger, more intense reality. The shamanic path is not about a costume or a ritual, not really. It’s a path of direct experience, of radical self-awareness, and of service to the world. It’s a path I’ve walked for over thirty years, a journey that has taken me from the feet of enlightened masters like Amma and Osho to the quiet depths of my own soul.
The Call to the Path
No one decides to become a shaman. The path chooses you. It begins with a feeling, a sense that the world as you've been taught to see it is not the whole picture. It's a feeling of being an outsider, of not quite fitting in, of knowing there's a deeper reality just beyond the veil of the ordinary. This is the shamanic call. It's a stirring of the soul, a whisper from the universe that it's time to wake up. And let me tell you, that whisper can feel like a fucking freight train when it hits. You might be sitting in a corporate meeting, nodding along about quarterly reports, when suddenly you feel it ~ this electric knowing that none of this matters compared to what's really going on beneath the surface. It's unsettling. It's beautiful. Sometimes it's both at once. The call doesn't come with a manual or a roadmap. It just comes, usually when you're least prepared for it, demanding that you pay attention to things most people pretend don't exist.
For me, the call came not as a whisper, but as a roar. It was a period of my life where everything I thought I knew, everything I had built my identity upon, crumbled to dust. Career, relationships, beliefs ~ all of it fell apart like a house of cards in a hurricane. It was a painful, disorienting time, but it was also a raw gift. The kind of gift you don't want but desperately need. It forced me to look beyond the surface of my life, to ask the big questions: Who am I, really? What is the purpose of all this? And here's the thing about rock bottom ~ it's solid ground. You can't fall any further. It was in the ashes of my old life that I found the path, or rather, the path found me. Because that's how it works, isn't it? The calling doesn't arrive when you're comfortable and settled. It shows up when you're broken open, when your defenses are down, when you have no choice but to listen.
The shamanic journey begins not with a grand vision or a powerful ceremony, but with a simple, honest question: "Is this all there is?" It's the same question that hits you at 3 AM when you're staring at the ceiling, wondering why your perfectly good life feels like you're sleepwalking through someone else's dream. You know what I mean? That restless ache that no amount of Netflix or retail therapy can touch. The shamanic path doesn't start with mystical experiences or ancient wisdom ~ it starts with being fed up enough with the ordinary world to finally admit something deeper is calling. And here's the thing: that question isn't a sign you're broken or ungrateful. It's your soul knocking on the door, asking if you're ready to remember who you actually are beneath all the bullshit we pile on ourselves.
What Are the “Worlds” We Walk Between?
The core of the shaman's journey is the ability to walk between worlds. But what are these worlds? They are not physical places you can find on a map. They are states of consciousness, different ways of perceiving reality. Think about that for a second. We're talking about switching between completely different operating systems of awareness, like toggling between different radio frequencies. The most fundamental distinction is between the ordinary world and the non-ordinary world, the seen and the unseen. The ordinary world is where you pay your bills, argue with your spouse, and worry about your cholesterol. It's consensus reality ~ the shared hallucination we all agree to call "normal." The non-ordinary world? That's where the real work happens. It's the area of spirits, power animals, and ancestral wisdom. A place where time moves differently and the laws of physics take a coffee break. Seriously. You can't Google Map your way there, but any decent shaman knows the territory like the back of their hand.
I keep palo santo in every room, it is one of my favorite tools for shifting energy. *(paid link)*
The ordinary world is the world of our five senses, the world of traffic and to-do lists, the world of form and matter. It's the world we are taught to believe is the only reality. But the shaman knows this is just the surface. Beneath the ordinary world lies the non-ordinary world, the world of spirit, of energy, of consciousness. Hard truth. It's the world of our dreams, our intuition, our deepest knowing. It's the world where the true causes of the events in our ordinary lives can be found. Think about that for a second. Every time you get a gut feeling about someone, every time you know something without knowing how you know it, you're touching that other layer. The one most people spend their whole lives ignoring or explaining away. The shamanic practitioner learns to work through both worlds consciously, moving between them like crossing a bridge. Are you with me? This isn't mystical bullshit. This is practical knowledge that indigenous cultures have used for thousands of years to heal, to guide, to understand what the hell is really going on.
I remember one of my first conscious experiences of the non-ordinary world. I was deep in meditation, a practice I had been dedicated to for years. Suddenly, the sense of my physical body dissolved. I was no longer Paul, a man sitting in a room. I was a vast, open space, a field of awareness that was connected to everything. I could feel the energy of the trees outside, the hum of the earth beneath me, the silent presence of my own soul. It was a real and life-changing experience. It was the moment I truly understood that the world I saw with my eyes was only a fraction of the truth. What hit me hardest was how fucking obvious it all seemed once I was there ~ like I'd been walking around half-blind my entire life, seeing only the surface layer while this massive reality pulsed underneath. Think about that. Everything you think is solid, everything you call "normal" ~ it's just the tip of something enormous. And once you taste that expanded awareness, even for a few minutes, you can't unsee it. You carry that knowing in your bones.
The Modern Shaman’s Toolkit
The traditional shaman had a toolkit of rattles, drums, and sacred plants. Physical objects that created the bridge. The modern shaman's toolkit is less about external objects and more about internal qualities. Think about that for a second. We're not carrying medicine bundles or ceremonial masks ~ we're developing ourselves as the instrument. The most important tools are presence, intuition, and courage. Presence means showing up fully, even when the energy in the room makes your skin crawl. Intuition is that gut knowing that cuts through all the mental noise and gets straight to what's real. And courage? Hell, you need that just to stay in the conversation when someone's deepest pain starts pouring out. These aren't tools you can buy or inherit. You forge them through your own breaking and rebuilding.
Presence is the ability to be fully here, now. It's the ability to quiet the chattering mind and be present with what is, without judgment. But let's be real ~ this isn't some fluffy mindfulness bullshit. True presence is raw. It's sitting with discomfort without running away. It's feeling your feet on the earth while your mind wants to race ahead to tomorrow's problems or replay yesterday's failures. It's in the space of presence that we can begin to perceive the non-ordinary world. Think about that. When you're truly here, not performing being here, the veils thin. The spirits notice. The land speaks. Your ancestors lean in. This is where the real work begins. Explore more in our sacred practices guide.
Intuition is our direct line to the soul. It's the quiet voice of our inner wisdom, the gut feeling that guides us on our path. Look, I spent years ignoring that voice, thinking logic could solve everything. Bullshit. Developing intuition is not a mystical process. It's about learning to listen, to trust the subtle nudges and whispers of your own being. Your body knows things your brain hasn't figured out yet. That tightness in your chest when someone's lying to you? That's data. The sudden urge to take a different route home? Pay attention. Most of us are walking around deaf to our own inner GPS, drowning out the signal with endless mental chatter and societal programming about what we "should" do.
Courage is the willingness to face what is true, both within ourselves and in the world. The shamanic path is not a path of love and light, not in the fluffy, new-age sense. It's a path of wholeness, and that means embracing the darkness as well as the light. It takes courage to look at our own shadows, our own fears, our own pain. But it is only by facing the darkness that we can truly heal and become whole. This isn't some bullshit Instagram wisdom either ~ this is the real work. When you're sitting with a client who's been sexually abused, when you're journeying into your own childhood trauma, when you're facing the part of yourself that's capable of real harm... that's when the pretty crystals and sage bundles mean jack shit. The courage to stay present when everything in you wants to run? That's shamanic work. That's when you discover the medicine isn't in avoiding the pain but in walking straight through the center of it. Think about that. Most people spend their entire lives running from discomfort, and here we are, deliberately seeking it out because we know that's where the healing lives.
Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now remains one of the most important spiritual books of our time. *(paid link)* Look, I've read a lot of spiritual shit over the years. Most of it feels like warmed-over philosophy or new-age fluff. But Tolle actually nailed something here ~ the way he breaks down presence and cuts through the mind's constant chatter without getting all mystical about it. The guy just says it straight: stop living in your head, drop into this moment, and watch what happens. Simple but not easy, you know? What gets me is how he doesn't dress it up in fancy spiritual jargon or make you feel like you need years of meditation training to get it. He's basically saying your thoughts aren't you, your anxiety about tomorrow isn't real, and the story you tell yourself about yesterday is just noise. Are you with me? That direct approach ~ no bullshit, no prerequisites ~ is exactly why this book still hits people twenty years later. It's accessible without being dumbed down.
The Journey Inward: Shadow Work and Soul Retrieval
The most important journey the shaman takes is the journey inward. What we're looking at is the work of facing our own shadows, the parts of ourselves that we have denied, repressed, and projected onto others. It's the work of healing our own wounds, of reclaiming the lost parts of our soul. And let me tell you, this shit is not optional. You can't guide others through darkness you haven't navigated yourself. You can't call back someone else's soul fragments when you're still missing pieces of your own. The wounded healer archetype isn't some romantic notion ~ it's the brutal reality that your medicine comes from your scars. Think about that. Every shaman worth their salt has walked through hell and come back with something useful. Not because suffering makes you wise, but because the willingness to face what's broken inside you creates the capacity to help others do the same.
In shamanic terms, this is called soul retrieval. The idea is that whenever we experience trauma, a part of our soul, a part of our vital essence, leaves us in order to survive the experience. Think about that for a second. Your psyche literally fractures to protect itself ~ like a lizard dropping its tail to escape a predator. This can leave us feeling empty, disconnected, not fully ourselves. You know that feeling when something's missing but you can't put your finger on what? That hollow sensation where joy used to live? That's often a soul part that checked out during some shit you couldn't handle at the time. The shaman's work is to journey into the non-ordinary world to find these lost soul parts and bring them back, to restore the individual to wholeness. It's not therapy in the Western sense. It's retrieval work ~ going into the spirit realms with the specific intention of negotiating the return of what was lost.
I have done this work for myself and for countless others. I have seen people who have been struggling for years with depression, anxiety, and a sense of meaninglessness come back to life after a soul retrieval. It's a powerful and real healing, a true homecoming to the self. But here's the thing ~ it's not some mystical bullshit that happens overnight. The person has to be ready to receive what's coming back. They have to want their power back, their joy back, their fucking life force back. I've watched grown men weep when they feel that lost piece of themselves return. Women who hadn't laughed in months suddenly remember what it feels like to be whole. Think about that. Your soul knows when it's been fractured, and it sure as hell knows when it's been made whole again. Paul explores this deeply in The Electric Rose.
Your shadows are not your enemies. They are the lost parts of your soul, waiting to be loved back into wholeness. Think about that for a second. Every time you push away anger, shame, or fear ~ you're basically telling a piece of yourself to fuck off and hide in the basement. But here's the thing: those rejected parts don't just disappear. They hang around in your psyche like hungry ghosts, influencing your choices from the dark corners. The shaman knows this. We don't wage war against our darkness ~ we invite it to sit at the fire with us. Are you with me? Because when you stop fighting your shadows and start having conversations with them, something wild happens. They stop being monsters and become teachers. They show you where you lost pieces of your power, your joy, your authentic self along the way.
Service and Community
The shaman's journey is not a solitary one. It's not about achieving personal enlightenment and then retiring to a cave. Think about that. The shaman is a servant of the community. The wisdom, the healing, the power that is gained on the inner journey is meant to be brought back and shared, to be of service to the world. This is what separates the authentic shamanic path from the spiritual tourism we see today ~ you don't go into the otherworld for selfies or to collect cool experiences. You go because your people need something from that area. You carry their prayers up and bring medicine back down. It's a messy, demanding job that never really ends because communities are always wounded, always needing healing. The moment you start thinking the journey is about your personal spiritual achievement, you've already lost the thread.
In traditional cultures, the shaman was the healer, the seer, the mediator between the human world and the spirit world. Think about that for a second. These weren't just mystics wandering around with crystals. They were essential community members who kept people whole - body, mind, and soul. In our modern world, the role of the shaman is not so different. We are here to be a healing presence, to help others connect with their own inner wisdom, to remind people of the sacredness of life. But here's the thing... we're doing this work in a culture that's forgotten how to listen to anything deeper than Netflix notifications. We are here to be a bridge between the worlds, to help create a world where the seen and the unseen can dance together in harmony. And honestly? That's harder now than it's ever been. We're not just bridging spirit and matter anymore - we're bridging ancient wisdom with WiFi passwords, connecting souls in a world obsessed with productivity metrics.
Nisargadatta Maharaj's I Am That is one of the most direct and powerful pointers to truth ever recorded. *(paid link)* This isn't flowery spiritual bullshit or feel-good philosophy. It's a sledgehammer to the ego's carefully constructed story about who you think you are. Nisargadatta doesn't dance around the point ~ he hits you right between the eyes with the simple fact that you are not what you believe yourself to be. Know what I mean? The man was relentless in cutting through every mental concept, every identity you've wrapped around yourself like armor, until nothing remains but pure awareness itself.
The Dangers and Distractions
The spiritual path is not without its dangers. The biggest danger is the ego. The ego loves to take a spiritual experience and turn it into a story, a new identity. "I am a shaman. I am enlightened. I am special." That's the spiritual ego, and it's the most subtle and dangerous trap on the path. It's the belief that you have arrived, that you are finished. But the journey is never finished. There is always more to learn, more to heal, more to love. I've watched good people get lost in this shit for years ~ brilliant practitioners who started collecting spiritual titles like fucking merit badges. They stop listening. Stop questioning. They become the very thing they once sought to transcend: rigid, closed, convinced of their own superiority. The moment you think you've got it figured out, you've already lost the thread. Think about that. The real masters I've met? They're humble as hell, still asking questions, still getting surprised by life's mysteries.
Another danger is getting lost in the non-ordinary world. It can be a fascinating and seductive place. Seriously. I've seen practitioners disappear into astral realms and spirit dimensions, becoming so enchanted with visions and otherworldly experiences that they lose touch with basic human shit... like paying bills, maintaining relationships, or even remembering to eat. But we are here to be in this world, to be embodied, to be human. That's not some consolation prize. That's the whole fucking point. The shaman's work is to be a bridge, not to escape to one side or the other. Think about that ~ a bridge exists because of what it connects, not because it's trying to become one bank or the other. It's about being able to walk in both worlds, to be fully human and fully divine, at the same time. You bring spirit into matter. You bring wisdom into action. You live with one foot in mystery and the other firmly planted on solid ground, and that tension? That's where the real magic happens.
So, what does it mean to be a shaman in modern times? It means being a person of courage, of integrity, of service. It means being willing to walk the razor's edge between the worlds, to face the darkness and the light, to embrace the fullness of who you are. But let me tell you something - this isn't some romantic bullshit about feathers and crystals. This is about getting your hands dirty in the real world while keeping one foot planted in the invisible realms. You're the person who can sit with someone's dying mother and help her cross over, then drive home and fix your kid's broken bicycle. You hold space for healing while paying your mortgage. You carry sacred medicine into boardrooms and grocery stores alike. It's a path of radical self-responsibility, of deep connection to the earth, and of unwavering love for all of life. And sometimes? Sometimes it's fucking exhausting. But that's the deal when you choose to serve as a bridge between what is and what could be.
It is not an easy path. It will ask everything of you. Seriously - everything. Your comfort zones, your need to fit in, your carefully constructed identity. The spirits don't give a damn about your resume or what your family thinks you should be doing with your life. But the rewards are beyond measure. The reward is not power or status. Hell, most people will think you're half-crazy anyway. The reward is a life of meaning, of purpose, of deep and abiding joy that comes from knowing your place in the web of existence. The reward is waking up each morning knowing you're doing the work you were born to do. The reward is coming home to your own soul - not the soul you thought you should have, but the wild, untamed, beautifully broken soul that is actually yours.
If you feel the call, don't be afraid. Trust the journey. Trust yourself. The world needs you, now more than ever. It needs your courage, your wisdom, your love. It needs you to be the bridge. I know it sounds like bullshit sometimes ~ all this talk about being called to something bigger. But here's the thing: that restlessness you feel, that sense that there's more to reality than what most people see? That's not random. That's not your imagination running wild. That's your soul recognizing its work. The ancestors are watching. The spirits are waiting. And yeah, it's scary as hell to step into that role, to become someone who translates between worlds. But walking that edge, that liminal space between the seen and unseen ~ that's where real magic happens. Walk on, with an open heart. The path is waiting.
Practical Steps on the Shamanic Path
For those of you feeling this pull, this resonance with the shamanic way, the journey can feel both exciting and daunting. Where do you even begin? The path isn't a linear, step-by-step program. It's an organic unfolding, a dance with the mystery. However, there are practical, grounded things you can do to cultivate the awareness and skills of a modern shaman. I get it ~ you want something concrete to grab onto while you're swimming in these vast, ancient waters. The thing is, shamanism has always been about working with what's right in front of you. Your dreams. Your intuition. The weird synchronicities that keep showing up in your life. Start there, seriously. You don't need a vision quest in Peru or a $3,000 workshop to begin walking this path. The spirits are already trying to get your attention through the ordinary magic of your daily experience.
First off, cultivate stillness. Our modern world is a symphony of noise and distraction. The shaman’s first task is to learn to quiet the external and internal chatter. That's the foundation of everything. You don’t need a fancy meditation cushion or a silent retreat. Start with just five minutes a day. Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and simply notice your breath. When your mind wanders (and it will), gently bring it back. This simple act of returning, again and again, builds the muscle of presence. It’s in the stillness that you begin to hear the subtle whispers of your own soul and the world around you.
Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart is the book I give to anyone going through a dark night. *(paid link)* It's not pretty wisdom. She doesn't promise you'll come out feeling better or more enlightened. What she does is sit with you in the mess and show you how to breathe when everything's burning down around you. I've given away probably thirty copies over the years ~ friends going through divorce, death, career implosions, spiritual breakdowns. The book doesn't fix anything. But it teaches you how to not make the suffering worse by fighting it. Know what I mean?
Next, connect with nature. That's non-negotiable. The earth is our greatest teacher, our most powerful ally. The shaman understands that we are not separate from nature; we are a part of it. Go for a walk in the woods, sit by a river, put your bare feet on the ground. Do it without your phone. Do it with the intention of listening. Feel the life force in the trees, the rocks, the water. Ask the earth for guidance. You will be amazed at the wisdom that comes through when you simply take the time to connect. Look, I get it ~ we live in boxes, work in boxes, drive in metal boxes from one concrete space to another. But that disconnection is killing us slowly. The earth doesn't speak in words. It speaks in feelings, in sudden knowing, in the way your breathing changes when you're really present. Stay with me here. That oak tree has been standing for decades, weathering storms you can't imagine. What does it know about resilience? That stream has been flowing around obstacles for centuries. What can it teach you about persistence? The wisdom is there, waiting. You just have to shut up long enough to receive it.
Pay attention to your dreams. Dreams are the language of the soul, the gateway to the non-ordinary world. Keep a dream journal by your bed. When you wake up, before you do anything else, write down whatever you remember, even if it’s just a feeling or a single image. Don’t try to analyze or interpret your dreams right away. Just record them. Over time, you will begin to see patterns, to understand the unique symbolic language of your own subconscious mind. Your dreams are a direct line to your inner guidance, a nightly conversation with your soul. You might also find insight in Throning - Why Date For Love When You Can Date For Achiev....
Finally, find a community. While the journey is ultimately your own, you don’t have to walk it alone. Find like-minded people who are also on a path of self-discovery. This could be a meditation group, a men’s or women’s circle, or a workshop with a teacher you connect with. Be discerning. There are many who claim to be teachers but are only interested in power or money. Trust your intuition. A true teacher will help you, not create dependency. They will point you back to your own inner authority, your own inner shaman. You might also find insight in Spiritual Awakening Practices: Letting Go of Limiting Bel....
These are not glamorous or mystical practices. They are simple, grounded, and available to everyone. That's the real work. It's the daily commitment to showing up, to listening, to being present. Let that land. Here's the thing: it's how you build the foundation for walking between the worlds. Think about that. Every single day you choose to sit with yourself, to feel what's actually happening instead of running from it ~ that's when you start developing the muscle memory of presence. That's how you become a hollow bone, a clear channel for spirit to move through you and into the world. The shamans knew this. They didn't get mystical powers overnight. They practiced being empty, being available, being willing to let something bigger move through them. And honestly? Most people want the magic without the mundane work. But the mundane work IS the magic. If this strikes a chord, consider an deep healing session.