The term ‘shaman’ originates in the language of the Tungus-speaking peoples of Siberia, who are hunters and reindeer-herders. In cultures across the world, they often have a number of roles in their communities: medical practitioner, mystic, priest and spiritual adviser. Sometimes respected and other times persecuted, shamans are both strange fey figures and ordinary citizens. A shaman is one who has been chosen by beings and spirits of other, often precarious, realms. They are empowered or taught by spirits to fly to spiritual realms in the sky or to follow dark paths in dangerous subterranean dimensions. Other features of shamanic spirituality across the world include being flayed to the bone and then restored and reborn; acquiring (often through sacrifice) the power to battle harmful spirits and to save the people from disease and starvation. Yet, these powerful spiritual figures also hunt, cook and complete household chores alongside their kinsmen. This is because these worlds and realms of spirits that the shaman interact with are not distant or far removed from our world. They are, in fact, the origin and cause of goings-on in this world.