Shamans play numerous unique roles in the cultures in which they work. They function as doctors, seers, visionaries, dreamers, mystics. On a superficial level, they serve to cure disease. On a metaphysical level, they serve to protect the culture against malevolent forces. They act on a spiritual as well as a physical plane. In doing so, shamans claim to understand many levels of reality apart from regular, day-to-day awareness. The shaman can cure disease because of a deep familiarity with non-ordinary reality. They can draw on powers deeper than themselves and act as a conduit between the physical and spiritual realms.
Western cultures might view shamanism as superstition; however, the peoples who accept shamanism believe in the existence of the alternate realities that the shamans describe. More than a purely psychological construct for the sake of healing, the "other" world is a source of wisdom and power, a place where a shaman may access the spiritual tools to heal. "Other" worlds exist totally independent of humanity's belief in them, and the shaman's responsibility is to adventure into these realms to gather healing power for the community.
The process by which shamans enter these realms is by entering an altered state of consciousness. This is frequently done through drumming or other percussive sound. When shamans enter an altered state, they find spirits, frequently depicted as animals, whom the shamans befriend for the sake of helping the people under their care. Help can come in the form of teaching, advice and other assistance. Shamans may have a guiding spirit to help them negotiate their way through the different realms. This is not peculiar to shamans. Hypothetically, any Indian may have access to a spirit. A shaman alone, however, is able to "acquire a technique that enables him to undertake ecstatic journeys at will" (Eliade 298).
Before analyzing the shamanistic approaches to treating mental illness, o...