In many shamanic traditions, the emergence of a practitioner is not a matter of personal decision alone but of being “called” and then recognized. This calling may manifest through vivid dreams, visions, encounters with spirits, or a profound life crisis such as severe illness or psychological breakdown, often interpreted as a shamanic illness or spiritual crisis. Such experiences are typically interpreted by elders or established shamans as signs that the spirits are summoning the person to shamanic work. In some cultures, this vocation may also be linked to hereditary succession, where shamanic abilities and responsibilities are believed to pass through family lines. Whatever its form, the calling is generally confirmed by the community or by respected spiritual authorities, rather than being self-proclaimed.

Once a calling is recognized, a long period of apprenticeship and training usually follows. This may last for many years and involves learning to enter altered states of consciousness through drumming, chanting, dancing, fasting, solitude, or other ritual means in order to journey to spirit realms. Under the guidance of an experienced shaman, the apprentice learns to communicate with helping spirits, such as power animals or ancestors, and to understand the cosmology, myths, taboos, and ritual protocols of the tradition. Training often includes mastery of diagnostic skills to perceive the spiritual dimensions of illness or misfortune, as well as healing methods such as soul retrieval, extraction of harmful energies, psychopomp work, and protective or cleansing rites. Alongside these practices, many traditions emphasize learning songs, sacred stories, divination methods, and, where appropriate, herbal and natural healing knowledge.

The transition from apprentice to practicing shaman is frequently marked by initiatory ordeals and tests, which may include periods of isolation in nature, night vigils, or symbolic death-and-rebirth experiences. In some accounts, spirits themselves are said to perform a decisive initiation in visionary states, dismembering and reassembling the initiate or instructing them directly. However dramatic or subtle these events may be, they serve to deepen the practitioner’s relationship with the spirit world and to affirm their readiness to assume responsibility. Essential to this role is a strong ethical foundation: knowing when and how to intervene, seeking consent, avoiding harm and dependency, and maintaining humility in the face of spiritual power.

A person is regarded as a practicing shaman when they begin to serve their community consistently as healer, diviner, and mediator with the unseen. This service may involve addressing the spiritual causes of illness, seeking guidance on hidden matters or future trends, locating lost objects, and maintaining balance between people, land, ancestors, and spirits through ritual. Community recognition and acceptance are crucial; without this social and spiritual validation, many traditions would not consider someone a true shaman, regardless of technical skill. Even after becoming established, a shaman’s path remains one of ongoing learning, regular offerings and rituals to sustain alliances with helping spirits, adherence to tradition-specific disciplines, and periodic correction or guidance from elders and peers.

In more modern or neo-shamanic contexts, some individuals pursue this path through workshops, structured training programs, or mentorships that teach core techniques such as journeying, trance work, and communication with spirit guides. These approaches can transmit valuable methods and frameworks, sometimes drawing on what has been called “core shamanism,” yet they often lack the full ancestral, land-based, and communal matrix that shapes shamanic roles in indigenous settings. Regardless of context, the role demands mental and emotional stability, a genuine desire to serve others, deep respect for the traditions from which practices are drawn, and a willingness to devote many years to disciplined practice and spiritual development.