Paths of the Earth

Neo-Shamanism & Animism

Neo-shamanism and animism are related ideas, but they are not one religion. Neo-shamanism describes a range of modern practices inspired by accounts of spirit-mediated ritual from different cultures; some people also use the more specific name core shamanism. Animism describes ways of understanding and living in relationship with beings beyond humans, which may include animals, plants, places, ancestors, or spirits. A person can be an animist without taking part in any shamanic practice. Indigenous religions sometimes described by outsiders with these terms are living, distinct traditions with their own names and authorities.

Explore this guide: History · Practices · Tools · Symbols · Words and phrases · Related approaches · Practitioners and locations · Sources

History: living traditions, academic terms, and modern movements

Older, place-based traditions. People have long related to ancestors, animals, rivers, forests, and other beings in religious life, but they have done so through particular languages, families, lands, and histories. There is no single ancient “animist church” or worldwide shamanic lineage. The English word shaman is usually traced through Siberian Tungusic languages, especially Evenki, where it referred to a particular kind of ritual specialist. European scholars extended the word to compare unlike specialists elsewhere. Many communities have their own terms and may reject that umbrella label.

How “animism” became a category. In Primitive Culture (1871), the British anthropologist Edward B. Tylor used animism as a theory of souls and spiritual beings and placed it in a supposed progression from “primitive” religion toward modern science. That evolutionary ranking has been rejected. Later scholars and Indigenous thinkers instead drew attention to relationships, personhood, and obligations among human and other-than-human beings. Nurit Bird-David’s 1999 essay “Animism” Revisited helped move academic discussion toward a relational account grounded in a specific community’s life. This scholarly shift did not create the traditions it describes, and no community’s worldview can be inferred from a single English word.

The rise of neo-shamanism. Twentieth-century comparative writers, countercultural movements, and popular books introduced many Western seekers to ideas presented as “shamanic.” Carlos Castaneda’s books became influential in the late 1960s and 1970s, though their portrayal of Indigenous instruction has been widely disputed. Anthropologist Michael Harner published The Way of the Shaman in 1980 and promoted “core shamanism,” a system of methods he described as shared across cultures. He founded a training center in 1979 and the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in 1985. Workshops, recordings, and later online communities spread several Western forms of neo-shamanic practice across North America and Europe and elsewhere.

Calling these modern movements “revivals” does not establish that their ceremonies are unchanged ancient rites. Researchers compare contemporary workshop spirituality with Indigenous practices rooted in particular lands and communities, and have documented disagreement about borrowing symbols, ceremonies, or authority without consent. Meanwhile, Indigenous peoples have maintained and renewed their own religious traditions on their own terms. Modern Pagan and ecological animists have also developed distinct practices that may draw on the later relational scholarship rather than on Harner’s methods.

Common practices, with important differences

In some neo-shamanic settings

  • Guided or self-directed “journeying”: a practitioner uses rhythmic sound, quiet focus, and imagery to seek spiritual insight or relationship with a helper. This is especially prominent in core-shamanism training; its meanings and aims vary.
  • Drumming circles and group reflection: people practice together and later discuss experiences. Some work alone, and attendance at a workshop does not make someone a ritual leader in another community.
  • Spirit and ancestor relationships: prayer, reflection, and offerings can be part of a practitioner’s own path. They do not grant authority to perform another people’s restricted rites.
  • Rituals of support or transition: some practitioners offer spiritual care, remembrance, or ceremony for life changes. Such practices differ between teachers and should be described as spiritual practices, not as a single standardized medical treatment.

In animist traditions and contemporary animist practice

  • Relations with place: learning the names, seasons, and histories of a local river, forest, or landscape; asking how to act well within it. Specific peoples’ protocols for visiting, gathering, or offering take precedence in their own territories.
  • Reciprocity and responsibility: gratitude, restraint, care for habitats, or a culturally appropriate offering may express an ongoing relationship with other beings.
  • Ancestors and community: remembering forebears and observing communal ceremonies where one belongs. Forms differ considerably; some animist worldviews exist within other named religions.

There is no universal animist ritual, and an animist does not have to drum, journey, worship the same gods, or identify as Pagan. Some neo-shamanic practitioners are animists; others understand their journeys psychologically or through another spiritual framework.

Tools used in common practices

For some neo-shamanic work: a frame drum, rattle, or rhythmic audio recording can structure a journey; a comfortable place to sit or lie down and a notebook can support reflection. The Foundation for Shamanic Studies lists a drum or rattle for its introductory workshops. Tool use depends on the teacher and setting. A drum made or decorated within a specific Indigenous tradition has its own history and meaning; its design should not be treated as a universal pattern to copy.

For animist practice: attention, local knowledge, and relationships matter more than an equipment list. A field notebook, a walking route, or a small place for remembrance may be useful for some contemporary practitioners. Offerings, vessels, or musical instruments belong to particular community practices; none is required of all animists. Respect for land and the people who care for it is more informative than purchasing a “shamanic kit.”

Common images and their limits

No emblem represents all neo-shamans or animists. Modern books and workshops often use images of a tree, drum, animal, or river to evoke movement between worlds or relationships with place. World-tree stories occur in some Siberian traditions, with different meanings even across nearby peoples. Drums and their markings likewise have particular histories. An animal that matters to one person or community is not a fixed symbol for everyone else.

For a contemporary animist, a named local tree, waterway, or creature may be meaningful through a lived relationship rather than because it belongs to a universal chart. Indigenous motifs should be identified with their makers and communities instead of relabeled as generic “shamanic symbols.”

Common words and phrases

  • Neo-shamanism: a broad term for modern approaches developed outside a single continuing Indigenous lineage; people differ in whether they adopt it for themselves.
  • Core shamanism: the particular cross-cultural training approach developed by Michael Harner and taught by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. It is one modern approach, not a name for every Indigenous practice.
  • Shamanic journey: in many Western workshops, a focused visionary or imaginal experience often accompanied by rhythmic sound.
  • Spirit helper / “power animal”: terms used in some neo-shamanic training for relationships experienced as sources of guidance; the second is not a universal Indigenous title.
  • Animism / “other-than-human person”: scholarly and contemporary language for recognizing agency or personhood beyond humans. Different communities describe those relationships in their own words.
  • Reciprocity / “spirit of place”: modern English phrases for giving back in a relationship or speaking of a particular place as a presence. They are useful descriptions, not shared prayers.

There is no common sacred language or required greeting for these two broad categories. Use a community’s actual name for its practices when known, and label contemporary workshop terms as such.

Related approaches, rather than official subclasses

  • Core shamanism: Harner’s structured modern method of journeying and related training.
  • Eclectic neo-shamanism: individually assembled practices, often crossing modern spiritual and ecological influences; methods and claims vary widely.
  • Contemporary Pagan or ecological animism: practice centered on relationships with land, ancestors, and other-than-human beings; it may stand on its own without shamanic journeying.
  • Lineage-based Indigenous traditions and revivals: named living religions with their own teachers, languages, and protocols. These are not subclasses of neo-shamanism; the umbrella labels are sometimes applied to them by outsiders.

Because animism is a way of relating that can occur within many religions, there is no agreed list of denominations under “Animism.” The same person may also belong to a different named religious tradition.

Approximate numbers and concentrated areas

How many? No credible global survey counts active neo-shamanic practitioners or all people whose traditions include animist relationships. In the 2021 England and Wales census, 7,889 people were classified under the write-in religion “Shamanism” and 802 under “Animism.” These are two separate self-described religious affiliations, whether or not the respondents practiced. “Shamanism” does not distinguish Indigenous from neo-shamanic paths; many people with animist beliefs identify with a different religion or use no religion label. Adding the two figures would not produce an active-practitioner count, and neither can be projected into a worldwide total.

Where? Modern neo-shamanic workshops and research are documented in the United States, Europe, and Australia, with communities also connecting online; those observations do not prove which country has the most practitioners. Animist worldviews occur in many living traditions. Examples studied by scholars include Sámi perspectives in northern Europe, Ese Ejja relations in the Bolivian Amazon, and Indigenous approaches to personhood in the Philippines. Each example belongs to its own community and should not be used to imply one worldwide concentration of “animists.” No comparable location-by-location count exists for either broad category.

Sources and further reading

This guide offers historical context for two broad labels. Each living community defines its own ceremonies, boundaries, and relationships.

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