The third core function of shamans is that of the sensemaker, which combines elements of seer (or feeler, sensor, hearer, as all the senses can be useful ways of gaining information), sensemaker, and spiritual leader, though it is difficult to tease these elements apart., There is also in the sensemaking role an aspect of the storyteller, in that the ideas generated by intellectual shamans need to be understood by – to make sense to – those who read or listen.

In the capacity of sensemaker, spiritual leader, or storyteller, as with the other functions of healing and connecting, intellectual shamans function as seers, ‘seeing’ into reality as it is, holistically as described in the last chapter, and taking on the role of truth-telling as they see, feel, or otherwise experience it. They serve as sensemakers, making sense for others of these new realities as they see them, essentially as meaning-makers and interpreters – i.e., storytellers of what they see, particularly with respect to the cultural mythologies relevant to their work.