I would say yes and no. This is a tough question. I learned from so many different teachers, both indigenous and not indigenous. The scope of education and exposure I recieved did deepen my skills in a way that I have no way of knowing if the lack of exposure would have done. In a way, who you learn from reflects what your skills and focus may and will be. Your skills and their needs will draw to you who you need to help you manifest them. I think that trusting whom you come in contact with is more important then whether that person is indigenous or not. Most people who are not indigenous shamans, however, have often been exposed and worked with indigenous people and for that reason alone, I think it is not a question much worth worrying about.

Hi, at one time I would have loved to have been trained by an 'indigenous shaman', but like most people i haven't been in the right place or had the money to travel to find one. Add that to family commitments and I came to feel that if it was meant to be, it would be. So since experiencing what is known as a 'calling' around 5 years ago, i simply went it alone. It's great to have a 'real teacher' who you trust and can confer with, but at the end of the day YOU are your greatest teacher. Having had no choice but to trust in spirit, i can confirm from personal experience that the guidance I have received has been just as clear as from any verbal 'instruction'. In fact, the Astral training has been far more valuable - from ecstatic to downright terrifying on occasion - than any mind altering drug,
If it is right for you that you meet with an indigenous shaman, then know that this will happen. Simply ask then trust to spirit. If it doesn't happen, know that another method of training is in your life path. And always remember you have choice, either way. I know I've got a long way to go, but I'm just going to enjoy the journey - lets face it, we can never stop learning.

My answer is no.

I believe shaman are fundamentally here to serve our communities and that is why shaman arise in 'western' communities without direct physical and temporal links to indigenous shaman.

My expereince of shamanic practice is that it is an entirely intuitive form of healing and that my job as a shaman is, in most respects, to get out of the way so that the healing can come through. Who are to say whether the guiding and helping healers of Spirit are indigenous or not? And what does it matter? Also, the ego identity of the shaman doesn't matter, i.e. his or her race, culture etc. It is the authenticity of the shamanic expereince that counts.

I think yes. I had lots of initiations but cant use them for much . its been painful I think that these ten years are wasted unless I find someone that actually are a teacher and knows his/her stuff otherwise I think that my experiences are nothing but potential that never came to be nothing really useful.

there needs to be a real life teacher in this picture that I can point to , to say it did not just happen inside my head all of it.

unless I find someone like that people would just see my initiation process for sickness and isolation and mental problems. to some extend it was .

also study with someone that knows cultural aspects fully are important.

I given up on meeting someone like that so I refuse to work any further into shamanism. unless spirit guides a teacher to me I just stay away from these things.

I think no. while it would be great to learn from a siberian or sami shaman i agree with geoff that "It is the authenticity of the shamanic expereince that counts."

The original Old Norse says that Thorgrim the Nose prepared his seiðr “með allri ergi ok skelmiskap.” While skelmiskap means indeed ‘devilry’ or ‘evil-doing’, ergi features a man who has been buggered, so that it seems that Thorgrim the Nose received sodomy while preparing his seiðr. Many of the stories tells about sexual and human sacrifies. The seiðr is also connected to Norse Mytologi, the asàr such as Odin, Loke Frigg etc. Also runic magic is included. There is not much of this no longer.

well worth the read. I found shamanportal.org very informative as I have been researching a lot lately on practical matters such as you talk about… Best regards!

I am always investigating online for tips that can benefit me. Thanks shamanportal.org Best regards!

Regards for sharing the information with us on shamanportal.org. Good luck!

Given personal experience I would have to say - absolutely not!

Twenty three years ago I found myself on an unwitting shamanic journey that took me to the brink of my life. I say unwitting because I had no idea what was going on, only that something calling itself Serpent Maker was calling me and causing me to have prophetic visions, past life experiences or time travel journeys where I experienced myself numerous times as a member of an ancient tribe (two different tribes: one from Neolithic Scotland and the other from North America). In addition to this I was speaking an ancient tongue and was constantly accompanied by a snake or serpent of one kind or another. I might add that my names (I came to discover) are all, in one way or another, associated with the snake. Flynn for example is Celtic and the crest of Flynn bears a right hand holding a serpent.

Culminating on at a lunar eclipse (whereon I knew I would "shed a skin" of some kind) I was given a prognosis of two months to live (diagnosed with leukemia). However I knew I wasn't going to die that it was the means of an initiation to the power of my mind. I might add I had (through Serpent Maker's instruction) used the eclipse to converge with many (heart fully, mentally and spiritually) for healing - the planet. Not realizing (prior to organizing this convergence) that I would inadvertently be the focus of that healing.

There is, obviously, much more to it than this, but within six weeks I was leukemia free.