Portraits of shamans from around the world

By Benazir Wehelie, Special to CNN

Updated 0323 GMT (1123 HKT) December 7, 2016

Baruch Osorno, a shaman from Mexico, poses for a portrait. Photographer Flore-Aël Surun photographed shamans from all over the world at a festival in France earlier this year.
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Baruch Osorno, a shaman from Mexico, poses for a portrait. Photographer Flore-Aël Surun photographed shamans from all over the world at a festival in France earlier this year.
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Vera Sakhina, a shaman from Siberia.
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Vera Sakhina, a shaman from Siberia.
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Ayangat, a shaman from Mongolia.
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Ayangat, a shaman from Mongolia.
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Ayangat's son, 9, is the youngest shaman in Mongolia.
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Ayangat's son, 9, is the youngest shaman in Mongolia.
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Frederic Roure, a shaman from Switzerland.
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Frederic Roure, a shaman from Switzerland.
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Tiegniery Diarra, a shaman from Mali.
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Tiegniery Diarra, a shaman from Mali.
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Domi Farinelli, a shaman from Belgium.
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Domi Farinelli, a shaman from Belgium.
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Abdellah Akharraz and his wife, Gnawa, are shamans from Morocco.
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Abdellah Akharraz and his wife, Gnawa, are shamans from Morocco.
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Bhola Nath Banstola, a shaman from Nepal.
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Bhola Nath Banstola, a shaman from Nepal.
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Anja Normann, a shaman from Sweden.
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Anja Normann, a shaman from Sweden.
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Story highlights

  • Flore-Aël Surun made portraits of shamans at a festival in France
  • The shamans she met had messages of peace and hope, she says

(CNN)The moment Flore-Aël Surun set foot in the Festival du Chamanisme in Genac, France, she had a beautiful feeling, she said.

The Festival du Chamanisme, or Shamanism Festival, is an annual event that brings together shamans from around the world. Surun made portraits of some of the people who attended this year's festival.
    "I was attracted to this (festival) because in my work, I always try to talk about people who act for peace," Surun said. "I really wanted to make a testimony about the friendship between all these people."
      A shaman is believed to be a spiritual being, someone who is able to access altered states of consciousness to interact with and influence the world around them. Many shamanistic traditions involve shamans entering into trance-like states to perform rituals, such as when trying to heal somebody.