As a matter of safety, when I began learning shamanism, I was clearly and unequivocally instructed to work only with spirits classified as “benevolent.” Little did I know that breaking this rule would, several years later, change the course of my practice entirely. The spirit that helped me most was not one that fit neatly into the category of “good.” It was something older, and more complicated, than that word allows.
This page is about a question that quietly shapes everything in shamanic practice: are spirits good or evil — and what happens when you realise that the map you were handed does not match the territory you actually walk in. It is not an argument for recklessness. It is an argument for seeing spirits as they are, rather than as a comforting binary would prefer them to be.
The Three Worlds and the Wild Middle
In core shamanism we speak of three worlds we can journey to: the Lower World, the Middle World, and the Upper World. Typically only benevolent spirits are found in the Lower and Upper Worlds — which is exactly why beginners are sent there first. The Middle World is another matter. I always tell my students that the Middle World is like the Wild West. Here you will find the good, the bad, and everything in between: powerful and powerless ancestors, plant spirits, lost souls, and beings that fit no tidy label at all.
This is why the instruction to work only with benevolent spirits exists, and why it matters. It is genuinely crucial to evaluate critically — with the help of your own helping spirits — which spirits you should work with and which to avoid before engaging with anything in the Middle World. The caution is sound. What is questionable is the philosophy underneath it: the assumption that every spirit can be sorted cleanly into “good” or “evil” in the first place.
Why the Good-and-Evil Split Is a Western Import
The theory of core shamanism, as defined by Michael Harner and the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, was designed largely for working with spirits inside our Western culture — and we Westerners initially understand very little about shamanism. Our culture is saturated with magic, and we constantly confuse the two. Magic is not shamanism. That confusion is worth naming plainly, because it is the source of a great deal of muddled and sometimes unsafe practice.
Shamanism most likely originated in Siberia, among cultures such as the Ulchi; the last practicing Ulchi shamans are no longer alive. Related forms are found across the Americas, carried there long before they developed into what we now call shamanism. The works of Carlos Castaneda are fascinating, entertaining and full of wisdom — and unfortunately far from true. If you genuinely want to learn shamanism, it makes sense to look at how it was actually practiced at its origins. Referring back to those roots is only fair, and it reveals something important: the rigid sorting of spirits into good and evil did not exist there in this form. Most shamans worked far more in the Middle World, and with Middle World spirits that simply did not belong to either category.
Are Spirits Good or Evil? Beyond the Dualistic Map
In my own work I encountered such a spirit belonging to my ancestors — a spirit that protects my ancestral line, that is good when it is appropriate to be good, and that defends when defence is what the situation requires. This, in my experience, is far closer to the actual reality of spirits than the binary we are taught. They are neither purely good nor purely evil. Depending on context they may attack or defend, and the real work is to communicate with them appropriately and respectfully, for the good of the greater whole.
Think of it the way you already think of people. A protective grandmother is not “evil” because she would fight to defend her family; a guard dog is not malevolent because it bites an intruder. Force in service of protection is not the same as malice. Much of what frightened, dualistic spiritual teaching labels “dark” is simply power that has a defensive function — the very power a person may need to reclaim. One of my first shamanic teachers advised me never to communicate with Middle World spirits at all. One can only imagine the mistake I would have made had I obeyed. That spirit turned out to be not only a protector but a great teacher.
Working Safely With Middle World Spirits
Moving beyond the good-and-evil map is not permission to wander the Middle World unprotected. It is the opposite: it asks for more discernment, not less. A few principles hold this together in practice.
- Build relationship with your helping spirits first. Before you meet anything ambiguous in the Middle World, you need trusted, compassionate helping spirits from the Lower or Upper World. They are the ones who help you evaluate what you meet. If you are new to this, begin with the beginner’s guide to shamanic journeying.
- Ask, rather than assume. Instead of sorting a spirit into good or evil on sight, ask your own helping spirits about it, and ask the spirit itself about its function and intention. Discernment is a conversation, not a snap judgement.
- Read function, not surface. A spirit that appears fierce may be a defender; one that appears pleasant may not have your wellbeing at heart. What matters is what it does and whom it serves — the same way you judge a person by their actions over time.
- Take full responsibility for the power that comes with it. Reclaiming a protective ancestral force means being accountable for how you use it. That responsibility is the real safeguard — far more than a label ever was.
I believe we can all communicate with the beings of our ancestral lines and reclaim our power — if we are ready to take full responsibility for the power that comes with it. Without the spirits belonging to our ancestral line, we are, in a real sense, incomplete.
Moving Beyond Dualistic Thinking
To truly enter shamanism, we have to loosen the dualistic thinking that files every spirit and every experience under “good” or “bad.” The Middle World reflects a whole spectrum of qualities and intentions. When we understand that spirits can be protective, instructive, or challenging depending on context, we develop a more nuanced and respectful practice — and, paradoxically, a safer one, because it is built on real discernment rather than fear. This same maturity runs through everything in this tradition; it is part of what it means to learn shamanism honestly rather than as a set of comforting rules. Embracing that complexity is what allows a deeper relationship with our ancestral spirits and with the wider living world — the same world our animal guides move through, explored across the A–Z spirit animal guide.
Good, Evil and Shamanic Spirits: Questions People Actually Ask
Are spirits good or evil in shamanism?
In much of traditional shamanism, most spirits are not sorted into “good” or “evil” at all. Spirits of the Lower and Upper Worlds are generally benevolent, but Middle World spirits span a whole spectrum — protective, instructive, indifferent, or challenging depending on context. The rigid good-versus-evil binary is largely a Western overlay. A spirit that defends is not evil, and one that seems pleasant is not automatically safe.
Is it dangerous to work with Middle World spirits?
It can be, which is why beginners are guided to the Lower and Upper Worlds first. The Middle World holds every kind of being. The safeguard is not avoidance but discernment: build strong relationships with trusted helping spirits, consult them before engaging anything ambiguous, and take full responsibility for the power you reclaim. Approached that way, the Middle World is where much of the deepest work actually happens.
What is an ancestral protector spirit?
It is a spirit bound to your family line that guards it — gentle when gentleness is called for, and defensive when defence is needed. Such a spirit does not fit the “good” or “evil” boxes because it is protective rather than one-dimensional. In my experience these ancestral spirits can be not only guardians but profound teachers, and reconnecting with them is part of reclaiming your own power.
Is magic the same as shamanism?
No. Western culture is full of magic, but magic is not shamanism. Shamanism is a relational practice of working respectfully with spirits, rooted in traditions that most likely began in Siberia and spread across the Americas. Confusing the two is one of the most common Western misunderstandings, and untangling them is one of the first real steps in learning the practice honestly.
What power have you been taught to fear as “dark” — that might, in truth, be a protector waiting to be reclaimed?
