Abram 9: "The traditional magicial cultivates an ability to shift out of his or her common state of consciousness precisely in order to make contact with the other organic forms of sensitivity and awareness with which human existence is entwined."
"It is this, we might say, that defines a shaman: the ability to readily slip out of the perceptual boundaries that demarcate his or her particular culture--boundaries reinforced by social customs, taboos, and most importantly, the common speech or language--in order to make contact with, and learn from, the other powers in the land. His magic is precisely this heightened receptivity to the meaningful solicitations--songs, cries, gestures--of the larger, more-than-human field."