Shamanism encompasses a broad and ancient spectrum of practices found across many cultures, from Siberia and the Arctic to Africa, the Americas and Asia. At its heart lies the figure of the shaman — or trance-practitioner — who deliberately enters non-ordinary states of consciousness, journeys between the visible and invisible worlds and brings back healing, guidance or spiritual resources for the community. These varied traditions differ in ritual content, cosmology, techniques and symbolism, yet share fundamental features: altered states, mediation with spirit(s), healing and communal service. For example, some traditions emphasise ecstatic drum-trance and soul-journeying, others focus on possession or spirit-embodiment, others again on divination or mediation of healing energy.

Beyond their cultural and symbolic richness, shamanic practices have also been studied for their social, psychological and therapeutic value. Research shows that shamanism often plays a stabilising role in communities: offering meaning, cohesion, ritual space for processing trauma or loss, and pathways for healing beyond purely biomedical models. Studies of shamanic trance suggest these states are non‐pathological, distinct from everyday consciousness, and may hold therapeutic potential. In contemporary settings, scholarship is exploring how shamanic methods might support well-being, facilitate collective resilience (for example in disaster contexts) and open new modes of mind-body-spirit integration.