Honoring the Healing Path Through Shamanic Stories and Spirit Journeys
- Brainz Magazine
- Jul 3
- 6 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Ash Miner's passions for music and animals resulted in 2 bachelor's degrees and 3 master's degrees before she applied that knowledge to shamanic healing and teaching. A self-published author of the book The Answer to Everything: Earth Wisdom & Beauty, Ash hopes to one day found a healing sanctuary for people and animals who have survived trauma.
When I was invited by Brainz Magazine to write 11 articles for them about shamanic healing, I immediately went on a walk in Nature and asked my Helping Spirits how I could best honor this opportunity, honor this healing path, describe this spiritual practice, and responsibly share what I can.
“Share in the old way,” they said, “with teaching stories.”
That is what I aim to do for the next 10 months. We will embark on a shamanic journey together, you and I, following a fictitious character informed by my own healing and that of my clients. We will see how shamanism helps her heal, helps her grow up with acceptance in a conflicted world, helps her act freely as her authentic self, and brings the magic of life to the light of awareness. After a brief story, I will analyze the teachings to ensure there is clarity of intent. There is no cultural appropriation here; you will not read about how other people do something. The healing ceremonies will be drawn from my personal experience with my Spirits or core shamanism, as described by my teachers, Sandra Ingerman and Jonathan Horwitz, and their mutual teacher, Dr. Michael Harner, before them – may he rest in peace.
Common language
Before we get to that story, we need a common language and understanding. Even the word shaman is rife with objections, so it’s important to know why I choose to use it here. My Spirits and I have our own language, and the common title of shaman from the Tungus tribe in Siberia is entirely different for us; we don’t use it. However, the word seems to have caught on like wildfire; so, in the absence of another easily recognizable term in the English language, it is the one I use. You could also say medicine man or woman (different peoples have different gender statistical likelihood, but nearly all welcome both genders in this role), healer, spirit doctor, leader, spiritual guide, or simply, “Go see that guy over there.”
The word shaman means one who sees in the dark or one who knows. They are often storytellers, wisdom keepers, and leaders in their community. I choose to follow the common courtesy of never referring to myself or anyone who is not from Siberia as shamans, but rather shamanic practitioners. Shamanism is a spiritual practice, not a religion. There is no dogma, no hierarchy of intermediaries, and no set way to work – other than with your own Helping Spirits, – usually in shamanic journeys to the Spirit World. If you would like to learn how to do this, I am offering regular basic workshops, The Roots of a Shamanic Practice, both internationally over Zoom and in-person near Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Shamanism is a global phenomenon where indigenous peoples who never interacted with each other – or even knew of each other’s existence – came up with incredibly similar practices, principles, and ethics for the work. Shamanism is based on the animistic belief that everything that exists has a spiritual component, a consciousness that can be accessed through deep connection to the web of life, shamanic journeys to the Spirit World, and simply listening with our soul’s senses rather than only the senses of our physical body.
For the purposes of these teaching stories, the word soul will refer to an individual’s spirit body, and the word spirit will refer to the greater collective. For example, as an individual, I have a soul. Humanity, as a collection of individuals spanning time, has a spirit. As quantum theories and more in-depth analysis of nature continue, science is catching up to these animistic beliefs, proving that plants communicate to each other in altruistic ways, trees via the mycelium of mushrooms, and that rocks do, in fact, have differing attributes for absorbing, retaining, and expending energy among so many more things as time goes on.
You may notice I capitalize words in an odd way, creating proper nouns in unusual places. This is deliberate, a nod to the beingness of the word, rather than a simple noun. If you love Nature as I do, you will probably enjoy this style of writing immensely, even if it takes some getting used to. This was first introduced to me by another of my teachers, Zara Waldebäck, who is a fantastic shamanic practitioner, teacher, and incredibly intuitive writer to the point of genius.
Shamanic tools
The tools shamanic practitioners use can vary widely, but there are some common ones to learn for the teaching stories to come and to consider adding to your toolbelt, if shamanism calls to you. First and foremost is the drum, the heartbeat of the Earth held in the hands, the way to shift consciousness without plant medicine and a psychedelic experience. Monitoring brainwaves, scientists have confirmed what ancient peoples all over the world already knew: monotonous drumming at certain beats-per-minute shifts the brain into theta waves, where shamanic journeys can occur. Similarly, a rattle can be great to both “shake things up a bit” in an energetic space, as well as provide the same monotonous rhythm as a drum for journeying. Some shamanic practitioners enjoy dancing while journeying, employing the use of a fringed eye mask to help see and be “in the dark” at the same time. Some like to sing into and through their journeys, primarily using songs taught by their Spirits, for which cultures from South America to Scandinavia have special names and are not to be shared without permission. There is, of course, plant medicine, such as ayahuasca and peyote, which are popular names for plants capable of expanding the physical mind’s experience into a more spiritual one.
Then there are altars, a designated space that represents the heart of a person’s practice. These altars can be simple or elaborate, but generally have offerings that recognize universal Helping Spirits. For the elements, most typically four: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These often correspond to a direction, not because of the Native American medicine wheel, which can vary by tribe, but because of the practicality. In the northern hemisphere, my Spirits share that I am to put Air in the North, where the cold wind blows, and Fire in the South, where warm breezes originate. East and West are determined by proximity to Water. In the Americas, East for the Atlantic Ocean, West for the Pacific Ocean. And Earth is always there for us, where and when we need her. That alone could provide lots of inspiration for items to put on one’s altar, especially considering our relationship to the specific land where we live and what is common there in terms of flowers, stones, leaves, tree bark, etc. I also have representatives for each of my Power Animals and Spirit Teachers on my altar, so no two practitioners’ altars will look the same, nor should they.
It is important to note that for many indigenous peoples around the world, from Native Americans to Scandinavian Sami to Australian Aborigines, western colonizers outlawed the use, ownership, and presence of their drums. It was only in the late 20th century that this ban, enforced with violence to the drums and even death to the people, began to be rolled back and undone, but the damage was permanent. The drum ban had been in effect for so long that those who did not risk carrying on the practice underground lost connection to its ancient traditions and history entirely. They had to begin again, from scratch. Remember, in animistic cultures, everything has a spirit, a life. These drums were, like wise elders, cared for, and sometimes even passed from one generation to another. You cannot get that back if you have been forced to destroy it or have forgotten it existed. You cannot simply make a new drum and call it the same. Each drum was (and is) as much a guide as the healer who held it.
Read more from Ash Miner
Ash Miner, MS, MM, Shamanic Practitioner & Teacher
Ash Miner's personal journey of healing PTSD led her to shamanism. Despite being a total skeptic, she knew in 1 session this was her path, and had been since she was a very little girl. Ash has spent years studying extensively, completing US training by Sandra Ingerman, as well as with Jonathan Horwitz and Zara Waldebäck in Sweden. She has found her true calling in teaching and offering shamanic healing to human beings, animals, and the Earth. Her extensive background in music education and performance, as well as animal behavior, provides a scientific framework for her soul work. She specializes in healing song and healing story. Her mission is to demystify shamanism to make it an approachable healing modality for all of humanity.
