An altered state of consciousness is simply one where the observer is not separate from the observed, that there is no naming of "things," and there is the recognition that All Is One.; that there is consciousness and language in all things. Shamanism, then, is the use of altered states of consciousness for the purpose of healing. Generally speaking, it involves traveling to other realms and making contact with Spirit helpers. Even modern physics acknowledges the interconnectedness of all life. It does not restrict itself to a linear model anymore. Quantum concepts are more in harmony with the shamanic view than with Newtonian physics.
Leslie Gray