By the archaeological evidence, magick before civilization was practiced by tribal men and women, who learned to talk with spirits, both alien spirits and spirits of the dead. The term shaman originally referred to the wise men of certain Siberian hunter-gatherer tribes, but it has been adopted to mean any wise person from a tribal culture who uses altered states of consciousness to travel to other realms and contact spirits.
     They were the lynchpin of tribal society, responsible for maintaining the tribe’s social bonds. Since they could communicate with the ancestors, they served as their representative, passing on traditions and keeping the tribe’s history.
     They also maintained the bonds by leading group ritual. The shaman talked to the plant spirits and learned the properties of plants and the processes of turning them into a sacrament. The sacrament almost always consisted of a mixture of alcohol and psychedelics. The shaman used the sacrament in their own spirit quests, and distributed them to the entire tribe in times of celebration. Using ritual that contained dancing and drumming, the tribe would build a communal consciousness.
     The shaman also provided healing and divination for the tribe through contact with the spirits.