Shamanism of the Americas

new religious movement

indigenous religion in the USA

In Mesoamerican and Toltec spiritual traditions, a Nagual (from the Nahuatl word nāhualli) refers to a human being who can access spiritual power through transformation or deep connection with their tonal counterpart. This ability is not merely about shapeshifting but also about guiding spiritual development and fostering personal transformation by bridging the physical and metaphysical realms.

a traditional healer and spiritual leader

Mexican shaman healer (1894–1985)

thumb|right|Urarina shaman, 1988 The Urarina are an indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon Basin (Loreto) who inhabit the valleys of the Chambira, Urituyacu, and Corrientes Rivers. According to both archaeological and historical sources, they have resided in the Chambira Basin of contemporary northeastern Peru for centuries. The Urarina refer to themselves as Kachá (lit. "person"), while ethnologists know them by the ethnonym Urarina.

American psychologist (1940–2024)

Venezuelan female deity

thumb|Curandera performing a limpieza in Cuenca, Ecuador

Peruvian painter and vegetalista

belief found in many indigenous Mesoamerican cultures that a person upon being born acquires a close spiritual link to an animal, a link that lasts throughout the lives of both creatures

spiritual leader and healer in Mapuche culture

thumb|Don Solón Tello singing an icaro to a child in a traditional medicine ritual in the northern Amazon of Peru Icaro () is a South American indigenous and mestizo colloquialism for magic song. Today, this term is commonly used to describe the medicine songs performed in vegetal ceremonies, especially by shamans in ayahuasca ceremonies.

Shipibo vegetalista in Peruvian Amazonia