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Shamans are the first line of help that a villager looks for in many situations, and there is still a strong presence of shamans both in the villages and the towns.
Of course, in the last ten to fifteen years the health of the shamanic traditions has declined, all the problems caused by the rise of the neo-political movements which are found in Nepal have discouraged many local healers, and made it difficult for them to practise their art of healing.
Many people have had to leave their birth places and migrate to the towns or even to neighbouring India to look for their livelihood. Almost the whole country has been affected, and the oppression and lack of respect for the traditional ways, which the political movement has instigated, has forced some shamans to give up their ancient practices completly.
But despite this decline, shamanism is still a living tradition in Nepal. Shamans traditionally have a promanent role in Nepalese society. Their main role of course is to access the spiritworlds, and work as mediators between the spirits and individuals, or the society as a whole. They are the centres of the society, and they advise on the social and health affairs of the people. They are musicians, herbalists, match-makers, diviners, protectors and much more beyond.
Shamans are creators of sacred space within an individual, to bring in healing energies. In some societies they also do the work of a psychopomp, accompanying and guiding the souls of the dead to their next lives.
