Shamanism
Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world.
A practitioner of shamanism is known as a shaman. There are many variations of shamanism throughout the world and several common beliefs are shared by all forms of shamanism. Shamans are intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds.
According to believers, they can treat illness and are capable of entering supernatural realms to provide answers for human beings. The functions of a shaman may include either guiding to their proper abode the souls of the dead (which may be guided either one-at-a-time or in a cumulative group, depending on culture), and/or curing (healing) of ailments.
Usually in most languages a different term other than the one translated 'shaman' is applied to a religious official leading sacrificial rites ('priest'), or to a raconteur ('sage') of traditional lore. There may be more of an overlap in functions (with that of a shaman), however, in the case of an interpreter of omens or of dreams.