Sometimes I receive emails and messages asking about what a shaman is, wanting to understand more. Some people mention that a spiritual teacher or healer once told them they were a shaman, maybe in a past life, or perhaps they have a shamanic mission in this lifetime. Honestly, when I first heard that being a shaman was a kind of identity symbol or a status for serving humanity, I was puzzled. To me, being a shaman isn’t an identity symbol, it’s not a label, it’s not a past-life profession, but rather, it’s a tool.

When the term ‘shaman’ becomes a label of identity, I think everyone has different imaginings and expectations of what it symbolizes. What does it mean to say ‘I am a shaman’? Does it mean I am a person filled with mysterious powers, or that I am here to serve sentient beings, or perhaps to fight evil forces?

There’s also a belief that shamans have a responsibility to protect the earth, to advocate for all living beings and marginalized communities, and to guard the teachings of the earth’s origins.

How romantic and mysterious these ideas are! Just by putting on the label of a shaman, life suddenly becomes meaningful!

However, I’ve found that those who turn shamanism into an identity label are usually still searching for their place in the world. Who am I on this earth, in the universe? Why am I here? What is the meaning of my existence? People with this tendency often feel they don’t belong here, that they’re not human, perhaps they’re aliens, living on Earth but feeling disconnected from others and even from their own bodies.

Why is this? Through exploring with some of my clients, I’ve found that usually, from the very beginning of their lives, their existence has never been acknowledged or recognized, especially during pregnancy and the first seven years of life, which were marked by extreme criticism, humiliation, insecurity, being unseen, and subjected to verbal/physical violence or illness and death… From the very beginning, people were symbolized as danger. Especially the mother who was supposed to protect and cherish them. Therefore, people who grow up like this often experience dissociation or feel they don’t belong in this world.

As a result, they are deeply attracted to identity labels, especially those mysterious, alien, and detached from reality… because these narratives and labels fit well with their dissociation from the real world and provide them with meaning for their existence, giving them an excellent position.

From a realistic perspective, everyone who comes into this world is here to serve humanity, whether or not we have any title. Perhaps you’re a great doctor who saves many lives, perhaps you’re a homemaker raising children at home, perhaps you’re a street vendor selling vegetables and food, perhaps you’re an unknown office worker, perhaps you’re a pet owner with two cats or two dogs, perhaps you have a green thumb and take care of beautiful potted plants or gardens. The scope of how we serve the world may vary, but everything around us coexists through our existence.

Each of us can begin to touch the sacred in life, connect with all things, cultivate beautiful relationships, and protect the earth through shamanic or other spiritual practices. I believe this is the right and daily life of everyone born into this world, not just a few people with identity labels.

Sometimes, the existence of identity labels makes us feel special and helps us see where we stand in the world. But when we are clear about our place in the world, whether or not labels exist becomes unimportant, because we have already fulfilled the meaning and mission of our existence in this world through action, through embodying our purpose!”