How to Use shamanism in a Sentence

shamanism

noun
  • That felt a bit like shamanism.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Chansley’s belief in shamanism has surfaced in court in the past.
    — Joe Walsh, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2021
  • This is magic, shamanism, over which language and rational laws do not rule.
    — Leilah Bernstein, Los Angeles Magazine, 23 June 2017
  • In addition to her artistic journey, Fae has been studying forms of shamanism for nearly a decade.
    — Seth Combs, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Feb. 2024
  • The rumors of Choi Soon-sil’s shamanism largely stem from what is known about Choi Tae-min.
    — Katharine H.s. Moon, Foreign Affairs, 1 Dec. 2016
  • The individual was buried with rich burial goods and a costume that Posth says could indicate some sort of shamanism.
    — Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 13 Feb. 2023
  • Rather Moscow is a city west of Siberia in dire need of reform and anarchy, cheerful skies and irony, and perhaps a touch of shamanism, too.
    — The Economist, 21 Dec. 2019
  • The elderly man shared his knowledge of shamanism, yoga, kung fu, and peyote, which Castaneda wrote about in several books.
    — Los Angeles Magazine, 23 Apr. 2018
  • The film weaves elements of feng shui and traditional shamanism in its story of an ominous grave investigation.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Some weird ones, like occultism, shamanism, and various Eastern spiritual paths.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 27 Oct. 2021
  • As such, technicians at Miraval are versed in shamanism and energetic healing, as well as in more standard practices like massage.
    — Vogue, 1 Nov. 2017
  • The Shuar are the Indigenous people of the region, legendary warriors known for shamanism and for shrinking the heads of their enemies.
    — David Kushner, Outside Online, 28 Dec. 2020
  • Such is the case of Huautla, in the state of Oaxaca, a town well known among tourists for its shamanism and its Day of the Dead traditions.
    — Rodrigo Cervantes, The Arizona Republic, 31 Oct. 2020
  • Henrikson ruminates on other purposes the trees might have served, including rites of passage for young adults, shamanism and even astronomy.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 23 June 2018
  • In the 21st century, the dramatic changes of the modern world in such a traditional society have inspired a revival of shamanism.
    — Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Mar. 2024
  • Mountains in Korea are sacred places in animism and shamanism, whose traces can still be seen in Korean Seon Buddhism.
    — Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Dec. 2021
  • Menla offers an array of group retreats focusing on everything from Buddhism to yoga, shamanism, and even conscious dying.
    — Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 20 Mar. 2021
  • No doubt this part of Rytkheu’s story has origins in the real epidemics of the past as well as traditional beliefs in mysterious little people and shamanism.
    — Nancy Lord, Anchorage Daily News, 16 May 2020
  • Historically, politics and religion in Korea have been closely intertwined, and shamanism has taken deep root as a form of folk belief.
    — Joan MacDonald, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Cohen eventually took a 4-week intensive on Jewish shamanism, and soon started blending games with his religious practice.
    — Eli Reiter, Wired, 21 Jan. 2021
  • The film, which is rooted in Korean shamanism, really took shape when Kang and Appelhans started digging into the mythology.
    — Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025
  • Before his sudden, accidental death, Jacob was a maverick researcher whose work connected neuroscience with shamanism.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 9 Sep. 2019
  • Growing up in a Hmong family that practiced shamanism accustomed Mai Der Vang to seeing things in both a literal and figurative way at the same time.
    — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 23 June 2017
  • Since these types of stones are not typically found in this region of Panama, researchers have suggested the collection was carefully curated for a specific purpose, such as shamanism.
    — Breanna Draxler, Discover Magazine, 15 Jan. 2013
  • Yupik and Chukchi people practiced shamanism, and lived in a time that human history was supposed to have surpassed, without literacy, temperance, science, or gender equality.
    — Bathsheba Demuth, The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2019
  • The unusually public and hostile feud — which has included allegations of plagiarism, chart rigging and shamanism — has led to hundreds of millions of dollars being wiped off Hybe’s market value.
    — Jin Yu Young, New York Times, 12 May 2024
  • Norse paganism had a strong element of shamanism, which — to reduce a complex, ancient global practice to one single sentence — allows a worshiper to directly experience the spirit world rather than passively worship it.
    — Katie Rife, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2022
  • Her practice pulls from Traditional Chinese Medicine, shamanism, Ayurveda, and current studies of energetics.
    — Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2021
  • Korean shamanism, like many traditional religions, features a belief in an ongoing relationship between humans and a spirit world inhabited by demons and deceased ancestors.
    — Katharine H.s. Moon, Foreign Affairs, 1 Dec. 2016
  • If Wishes Could Kill represents shamanism in a similar way to Exhuma, depicting its shaman characters as low-key warriors capable of great sacrifice and power.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 24 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shamanism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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