Shamanism

Through this journey, the shaman is able to enter another's reality to retrieve the other's life force, receive guidance and support and remove unwanted inclusions/attachments from the person for healing and growth. In contemporary, historical or traditional shamanic practice the shaman may at times fill the role of priest, magician, metaphysician or healer.

Personal experience is the prime determinant of the status of a shaman.
Knowledge of other realms of being and consciousness and the cosmology of
those regions is the basis of the shamanic perspective and power. With this
knowledge, the shaman is able to serve as a bridge between the mundane and
the higher and lower states
The shaman lives at the edge of reality as most people would recognize it and most commonly at the edge of society itself. Few indeed have the stamina to adventure into these realms and endure the outer hardships and personal crises that have been reported by or observed of many shamans.


A shaman may be initiated via a serious illness, by being struck by lightning, or by a near-death experience (e.g., the shaman Black Elk), and there usually is a set of cultural imagery expected to be experienced during shamanic initiation regardless of method. According to Mircea Eliade, such imagery often includes being transported to the spirit world and interacting with beings inhabiting it, meeting a spiritual guide, being devoured by some being and emerging transformed, and/or being "dismantled" and "reassembled" again, often with implanted amulets such as magical crystals. The imagery of initiation generally speaks of transformation and granting powers, and often entails themes of death and rebirth..


http://www.faqs.org/faqs/shamanism/overview/
http://www.shamanicconnection.com/shamanism.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism