Within shamanic traditions, spirit-based healing rests on the understanding that illness often arises from spiritual disharmony—such as soul loss, spirit intrusion, or a depletion of protective power. The shaman serves as an intermediary between human beings and the spirit world, entering altered states of consciousness through means like drumming, chanting, dancing, fasting, or plant medicines. In these non-ordinary states, the shaman journeys to spiritual realms to consult helping spirits, which may appear as power animals, ancestors, deities, or nature spirits. Illness is thus approached not only as a physical or psychological issue, but as a disturbance in the person’s spiritual relationships and energy field.

A central aspect of this work is spiritual diagnosis. In trance, the shaman discerns whether the root of suffering lies in soul fragmentation, intrusive energies, loss of guardian spirits, ancestral imbalance, or broken taboos. Divinatory practices—visions, dreams, omens, or ritualized methods of casting—may guide the shaman in understanding what kind of intervention is required. The shaman’s effectiveness is understood to depend less on personal will and more on the depth and integrity of the relationship with helping spirits, who provide both insight and power for the healing.

From this diagnosis flow several core healing methods. Soul retrieval addresses the belief that trauma or shock can cause parts of a person’s soul or vital essence to flee; the shaman journeys to locate these lost aspects, negotiates their return, and ceremonially restores them to the patient, often by blowing or singing them back into the body. Extraction healing focuses on removing intrusive or harmful spiritual energies that are perceived as lodged in the body or energy field; these may be drawn out through actions such as sucking, brushing, or sweeping, then ritually disposed of or transformed. Power restoration involves bringing back protective spirits—often described as power animals or guardian beings—to strengthen the person’s vitality and resilience.

Shamanic healing also extends to the wider web of relationships. Disturbances may be traced to unresolved ancestral issues or restless spirits, and the shaman may act as a psychopomp, guiding such spirits to appropriate realms so that both the living and the dead can find peace. Rituals of offering, purification, and blessing are used to restore harmony between the individual, the community, the ancestors, and the natural world. Through chanting, drumming, incense, symbolic objects, and communal ceremony, these practices reaffirm a sense of cosmic order and belonging, so that healing is experienced not only as relief of symptoms but as renewed connection, meaning, and spiritual balance.