Is Shamanism evil?

I am wonderin if I should trust shamans. I have found my spirit animal before and yhat was a beautiful experience. But do shamans practice witchcraft?

[Starpixie]

Strictly speaking, no, shamans do not practice witch craft. They walk between this world and the spirit world guiding lost spirits, banishing harmful spirits and healing the living. Now there are shamans who also practice "witchcraft" as well, but like I said, strictly speaking a Shaman does not practice "witchcraft",

[Jenny Crow]

Why do you need to trust shamans, youngwarriorwholovesgod? As in any other modality, religion, tradition or path there are those who are more advanced than others with more knowledge and actual practice behind them and because of this they will, perhaps, do a better job of whatever it is they are going to do for you.

If you're asking if you can trust the shamanic practice - trust to do what, trust in what way?

Most shamans are very ethical and travel to the Otherworld to retrieve parts of a person's soul which have been broken off through trauma or other difficult situations/issues/events. If you're going to have a shaman work for you then you need to choose one you are comfortable with and feel you can 'trust'.

There are some Witches who can do this same work as a shaman, they're known as a Haegtessa or Hedge Rider.

Witches, fyi, are, on the whole, not evil people, although I've met one or two non-Witches have been quite evil, lol.

The work of a true shaman and a Hedge Rider takes years of training to do well.

[Mana Æ-Varyl]

Also, in the native shamanic traditions, one cannot choose to be a shaman, it is a calling that the current shaman of a tribe chooses a youth who had a terrible illness or traumatic experience to be an apprentice who must then go on a vision quest. Shamans are really the most vital and multi-skilled role in a tribe. They're healers(both physical and spiritual), they foretell future information important to the tribe, they keep the peace with local spirits, they teach the craft, and they do non-shamanic work too for the tribe's benefit. Being a Shaman is no honour or title, it's a necessary role that requires the Shaman to be selfless.

However, in the West, without living in a tribal society, a lot of the meaning is lost. While it is perfectly fine to practice shamanism, it is not really right for one to call themselves a Shaman and in my opinion, the term Shaman really doesn't even belong outside of the tribal context.

So overall, you can certainly trust a native Shaman to have good intent, experience, and not to be in it for personal gain. But with Western shamanic practicioners you shouldn't follow blindly, and they also lose points if they actually refer to themselves as a Shaman. They also might practice other Neopagan rituals like forms of witchcraft, which isn't wrong or evil in of itself, but might not be what you're looking for, especially if you're not a new agey-type spiritual.

Just my input from what I've studied, I haven't had the honour of integrating with a tribe, just you're average College Student, (^_-)
-Mana

[wstein]

Originally Posted by youngwarriorwholovesGod

But do shamans practice witchcraft?

As a rule they don't. It's NOT part of the basic tribal systems shamans come from. However, there is nothing to prevent them from doing so just like there is nothing from preventing Christians (or anyone else) from doing so.

Why would you think witchcraft is evil? BTW don't confuse 'witchcraft' with devil worship or Satanism.

In direct response to your question, some people are 'evil' and most are not. Shamans are people, thus some are evil and most are not. Same to be said for peoples of ALL persuasions.

[norseman]

There is a lot of confusion over shaman. First, there is the assumption that it relates to North American tribes only. Not so, shaman were to be found all over the world. During the last Ice Age, they were to be found right across Eurasia to the south of the glacial ice sheet. North American tribes and their shaman originated in Siberia and crossed over the land bridge.
Maybe the best documented evidence comes from a settlement in Britain, North Yorkshire, called Star Carr. This settlement was dated at about 8000 BC [ i.e. before Britain was an island ]. It was built in marshes formed by the confluence of several European rivers. The settlement was preserved in peat and many artifacts survived to be excavated INCLUDING 21 deer antler head-dresses of the same type as noted by Victorian explorers in the 19th century AD as worn by Siberian shaman. This evidence is also supported by Dutch trawlers dredging the floor of the North Sea and lifting many human artifacts INCLUDING carved votive objects, shamanic in appearance. So, European shaman around 8500 BC.
Jenny identifies the Haegtessa aka Hedge Riders aka Wand riders, aka Walkers on the Wind, aka Cunning Folk, many names over time and place - all refer to the same practices of journeying to the Spirit Realm to consult and all practicing a Craft which came to be known as WitchCraft by the church. These people served tribal communities as Spiritual Leaders and links to "other realms" - they survived to this day despite clumsy attempts to eradicate them by the church [ certain Cunning Folk actually joined the church as priests, a 5th column, sort-of ] Witchcraft, best to spell it correctly as Witch Craft = The Craft of the Witch. Evil came with the church !

Star Carr findings :
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk267/norseman_photo/Star%20Carr%20HD_zpsidupfdij.png

[Shaunc]

My sister in law (now deceased ) was a shaman. She was also Roman catholic. As I understand it she was basically a midwife / herbalist / first aider. She came from a small fishing village in the Philippines. In the Philippines tradition a shaman does an apprenticeship & must have also been a breech birth baby. She can't practice as a midwife until she's had a baby herself. A male shaman does the same duties except for the midwife part of it.

[Shaunc]

PS. My sister in law was not evil & as a matter of fact she was a very good girl / woman.

[PassionOfHybrid]

It depends on what you use it for.

[Riboflavin]

I am wonderin if I should trust shamans. I have found my spirit animal before and yhat was a beautiful experience. But do shamans practice witchcraft?

I suggest you examine who gave you your concept of evil, and why. In christianity/biblical terms, any consorting with any spirit, or any form of sorcery is considered sinful and/or evil. Shamanism would be evil by biblical standards.

If you're christian and actually believe the bible in its entirety then pretty much anything that isn't praying to jesus or a breathing exercise is evil. Now if you only somewhat believe the bible and want to cherry pick then it's whatever you decide. Personally I think the bible is a book of lies with some truth mixed in it but that's just me. I only mention this because from your name and question it sounds like you come from a christian background.

For my part I don't believe any "thing" that exists is inherently evil, but how that thing is used, or not used, determines a person's character.