Journeying – Spirit journeying, soul flight, or ecstasy are often taken to be essential and even definitive features of shamanisms. Neo-shamans, particularly practitioners of the core shamanism proposed by Michael Harner and taught by the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, significantly influenced by Mircea Eliade, view what Harner has termed “journeying” as crucial to their mode of shamanism and universal to all shamanisms. But while the practice is common in the locus classicus of Siberia, not all shamans journey in this way, and to emphasize this feature over others neglects the diversity of shamanic practices. Ioan Lewis coined the term soul projection to label this aspect of shamans’ work.
SOURCE:
Historical Dictionary of Shamanism by Graham Harvey and Robert J. Wallis 2007
