Shamanism is an ancient system of healing, whereby a shaman enters an altered state of consciousness allowing him to consult with guardians and helpful spirits. When this takes place the shaman is able to slip through a doorway and enter otherworld dimensions, he is guided by his guardian spirit and spirit helpers, while in the spiritual dimension he draws upon enormous power and can see the cause of disease in a patient and also know the cure. When the shaman helps a recently deceased person cross over, this work is called psycho pomp.
Superstition paints a very dark picture of witches, they are described as old, bent, unattractive, bow legged, stringy haired practitioners of dark magic, always accompanied by their ever faithful and equally dastardly familiar. It was believed that a witch was unable to shed tears unless succumbing to the pain of torture, whereby the witch would cry and at this point it was said they lost their powers. Severe punishments for practicing witches were imposed from the seventh century and in the twelfth century the death penalty was brought in.
