Baby Steps
31st July 2015, 13:49
Shamanic reflections 1
Dusk settled in the ancient forest. We lit a fire and laid out the candles. Four people dressed in white. As it got darker and the fire caught, its light shone onto the canopy, creating the sense of almost being inside a house of trees and leaves.
We blessed the area, opened our sacred space and poured libations to placate the local forces, as well as calling in our guides and ancestors.
The work we were doing that night was facilitating a healing. My role, along with others was to hold the light to assist. We felt great power in that place, our drumming seemed to call up nature in its entirety, with all her strength and beauty. Spiritual energies that one would experience in a sanctuary in the big city were magnified tenfold.
During the silent part of the ceremony, we hear animals come & go, checking us out. A toad enters the circle, completely unintimidated by the fire & the four stationary white figures.
At the end of the work, we closed down with much gratitude, and, as often happens, we were blessed with a light sprinkling of rain.
How did I , a clerical worker from the heart of ‘Babylon’ arrive at this beautiful point? The steps I took are immaterial. The observation that I feel I am walking the path that Spirit intends for me is the point. For me, Shamanic practise has opened me up not to a philosophy or belief system, but to direct experience of Spirituality beyond books and festivals. I have rationally observed changes within myself, new manifestations & healings, many of which are not the product of a specific spiritual project or focus, but are a result of working with Spirit, and raising my vibration.
Over the last ten years I have manifested contact with advanced souls and Shaman. I am immeasurably grateful. I think at this time of awakening there are many seekers who can benefit from this kind of work. As the old restrictive Religions collapse, we must not throw out the baby with the bath water. Spirituality is thriving, and people are increasingly raising their vibration in various ways.
What I have learned from encounters with a fully-fledged Shaman, is that this is great to see, but there are concerns. Within the New Age flowering that is happening, there are certain not so beneficial forces operating. There are imperfect, ill-considered practises taking place that need ‘cleaning up’. There are many ‘false light’ people and teachings. Shamanic tools for discernment and protection have never been needed more than now.
In the emerging paradigm where science and spirituality will merge, particularly in the world of healing, the congruent Shamanic perspective will be essential.
In the following series of conversations with a Shaman (7th Breath centre of learning) we will focus on various aspects. The first will serve as an introduction.
Greetings and blessings.
Q1: Does everybody have the potential to develop their own Spiritual and Psychic abilities?
“Spiritually – yes. Making the choice to work on yourself may result in you becoming more harmonious and in tune with creation, the laws of the universe, so that your behaviour, beliefs and thinking alters and progresses. How you portray yourself in this world changes. You embrace better the principals of living and accept yourself more. Nobody is perfect, and we are all here to learn and develop. You learn not to be judgmental. A lot of Spiritual work can be simply fixing things that have gone wrong. That is when we make our greatest leaps in terms of development.
As far as psychic gifts are concerned, everybody is different. In an orchestra there are many different instruments, and not all of them play at the same time.”
Q2:What kind of positive changes do you see for those who start practically working on their own Spirituality?
“Their whole demeanour changes, like from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Initially, the caterpillar focusses and struggles on just acquiring the basics to survive, and feed itself, until it enters its pupa, it then transforms and comes out as a butterfly. It now manifests beauty, it has the ability to dance free in the world.
After it emerges from the pupa stage, it’s ability is now to fly, and touch the world, as an expression of beauty. This metaphor is an opportunity for people to look at their own lives and see where they are at.
These are the kind of changes I see in people who work seriously. They become less stressed out, more content, more comfortable within themselves.”
Q3: What kind of challenges do you see for those starting to do this work?
“The most important one is to be true to yourself. To have the courage to seek your true self without fear. To use the path-way of Shamanism to achieve this.
With every ritual, ceremony or development that you go through, it is a life or death battle. You are constantly fighting to eradicate the lower vibrational , destructive aspects of self so that you can allow true life to be manifested through yourself.
We form constructs either through negative experiences, or conditioning etc, then our challenge is to deconstruct or dissolve them to form new ones. For example a child says that when it grows up it wants to be this or that. A lot of effort is put in to fulfil that construct, but it may not be its pathway in adult life. As time passes it puts a lot of energy into the construct, but is it still working in the here and now? If not, what part of it do we need to dissolve to allow it to serve us better? We are always looking for a more efficient construct, a program update in order to more truly manifest who we really are”
Q4: How do you recognise a spiritual calling?
“Once you have embraced an enhanced awareness of Nature and Energy, and that your habits have changed, and you are now attracted to Nature, for example if you are having a stressful situation and you are drawn to go into nature, then you are already working hand-in-hand with nature, this may already be answering your calling. Otherwise life can just be chasing money, objects, or status, with no regard for spiritual matters.”
Q5: How were you first attracted to Shamanism?
“For me it was a gradual process. I did not recognise it as Shamanism initially, the specific structure of Shamanism with it’s history and it’s cultural context as a belief system. I started doing a lot of practises that I found through meditation, and responses that I was getting back from Spirit and nature, and the healing sessions that I was doing.
Then I found that these practises all went under the ‘umbrella’ of Shamanism, and it’s beliefs; so I started to explore Shamanism a bit more. From doing this I learned that Shamanism was practised by my ancestors, both on my Mother’s side (Native American) and my Father’s side (African).”
Q6: How much practice and study does it take to become a fully initiated Shaman?
“ It’s a lifetimes work. You have to go through various stages of development, for example healing yourself, finding out who you really are, understanding your purpose, and discovering your tools or gifts to work with, and from there finding what additional tools you can acquire to facilitate the work that you may have come here to do.
You may come from a lineage of Shamans, and you may recognise that you have gifts but that is no guarantee that you are a shaman or can become one.
Once you feel something calling you, a magnetic pull to that belief system, awareness and consciousness; seeing the world in a Shamanic way, from there you need to find a teacher, someone who can guide you and keep you safe as you go through your transformation. This will involve certain ceremonies, rituals, and initiation. It also involves a lot of testing where you will be challenged on all levels: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. The higher you rise, the greater the forfeit. The more difficult the challenges are, the greater the pitfalls. Great growth is possible, or you can pay for mistakes by losing your sanity, your loved ones, or suffering personality changes. The higher that you seek to climb the tree, the greater the risk, also the reward.”
Q7: What kind of healings have you witnessed in Shamanic practise?
“Across many cultures, I have experienced different approaches of achieving the same goal. For example in Africa there were many examples, leprosy being cured, a child with Hydrocephalus, people with kidney disorders, broken bones, etc healed through the use of Rituals, Spiritual practise, and Herbs. I know a woman who’s womb had been removed after a complicated child birth, to then go on and give birth again to a healthy child after Shamanic treatment! I have also experienced a lot of work around Demonic possession.
Regarding mental health, an indigenous Shaman would view this illness very differently. For example, schizophrenic symptoms could be seen and dealt with as signs that the person was a sensitive, and experiencing spiritual influence from guides or entities, and with the correct guidance and support could be trained to develop as a Shaman, and through the stabilisation of their soul can go on to develop into a powerful Shaman.
In the Shamanic world they do not have a standard medical diagnostic system, as each illness has a complex and unique set of circumstances associated with those symptoms. It is through unpacking this myriad of challenges, you get a greater understanding of what lesson that person supposed to gain from the experience.
Q8: What Mal-practise do you see amongst non-initiated Spiritual practitioners?
“Yes there is a lot of this. Generally some workers mislead people by getting their hopes up by misleading them to believe that they are achieving something when they are not. You can come across a lot of sales patter , talk and BS while they are counting your money, and you end up just being a number.
A lot of books and articles are written by people who have had little or no genuine experience of Shamanic development. A lot of people have gone to South America, had an Ayahuasca experience , or lived for a period with the natives and start describing themselves as Shaman when they are not. They then do expensive workshops with little content or value.
I have seen spiritual healing meet ups where everything was ego based. Basic safeguards were not being practised. These practitioners are not fulfilling their responsibility to their clients and to Spirit, by not doing this work in the right way.”
Q9: Is there a dark side to Shamanism?
“Hell yes!
Shamanic technique is like a knife. It can be used to save life or take life. The structure of the knife does not change. What changes is the person holding it- or directing the forces.”
Q10: Can you offer some basic advice to those exploring their own Spirituality
“Firstly, be discerning when searching for a teacher. Check them out, but trust your instincts. If you resonate with them, you should be able to feel energetically that you will be able to work with them and develop. You will feel it igniting within you. During that learning period, commit to the teacher 150% without question.
When the time comes that you start to question that teacher it may mean that you have gained what you came to gain, and it is time to move on. Or that you have reached a limitation in your own capacity to learn.
Sometimes you may find something before you are ready, it is important to recognise this and pause and reflect, but try always to gain from what you experience. The onus is on the individual- you are responsible for your own development, nobody else. You have to do the work- the Teacher is only a guide.”
TO THE READER: WHAT DOES THIS INFORMATION PROVOKE WITHIN YOU? THAT IS THE KEY.
Dusk settled in the ancient forest. We lit a fire and laid out the candles. Four people dressed in white. As it got darker and the fire caught, its light shone onto the canopy, creating the sense of almost being inside a house of trees and leaves.
We blessed the area, opened our sacred space and poured libations to placate the local forces, as well as calling in our guides and ancestors.
The work we were doing that night was facilitating a healing. My role, along with others was to hold the light to assist. We felt great power in that place, our drumming seemed to call up nature in its entirety, with all her strength and beauty. Spiritual energies that one would experience in a sanctuary in the big city were magnified tenfold.
During the silent part of the ceremony, we hear animals come & go, checking us out. A toad enters the circle, completely unintimidated by the fire & the four stationary white figures.
At the end of the work, we closed down with much gratitude, and, as often happens, we were blessed with a light sprinkling of rain.
How did I , a clerical worker from the heart of ‘Babylon’ arrive at this beautiful point? The steps I took are immaterial. The observation that I feel I am walking the path that Spirit intends for me is the point. For me, Shamanic practise has opened me up not to a philosophy or belief system, but to direct experience of Spirituality beyond books and festivals. I have rationally observed changes within myself, new manifestations & healings, many of which are not the product of a specific spiritual project or focus, but are a result of working with Spirit, and raising my vibration.
Over the last ten years I have manifested contact with advanced souls and Shaman. I am immeasurably grateful. I think at this time of awakening there are many seekers who can benefit from this kind of work. As the old restrictive Religions collapse, we must not throw out the baby with the bath water. Spirituality is thriving, and people are increasingly raising their vibration in various ways.
What I have learned from encounters with a fully-fledged Shaman, is that this is great to see, but there are concerns. Within the New Age flowering that is happening, there are certain not so beneficial forces operating. There are imperfect, ill-considered practises taking place that need ‘cleaning up’. There are many ‘false light’ people and teachings. Shamanic tools for discernment and protection have never been needed more than now.
In the emerging paradigm where science and spirituality will merge, particularly in the world of healing, the congruent Shamanic perspective will be essential.
In the following series of conversations with a Shaman (7th Breath centre of learning) we will focus on various aspects. The first will serve as an introduction.
Greetings and blessings.
Q1: Does everybody have the potential to develop their own Spiritual and Psychic abilities?
“Spiritually – yes. Making the choice to work on yourself may result in you becoming more harmonious and in tune with creation, the laws of the universe, so that your behaviour, beliefs and thinking alters and progresses. How you portray yourself in this world changes. You embrace better the principals of living and accept yourself more. Nobody is perfect, and we are all here to learn and develop. You learn not to be judgmental. A lot of Spiritual work can be simply fixing things that have gone wrong. That is when we make our greatest leaps in terms of development.
As far as psychic gifts are concerned, everybody is different. In an orchestra there are many different instruments, and not all of them play at the same time.”
Q2:What kind of positive changes do you see for those who start practically working on their own Spirituality?
“Their whole demeanour changes, like from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Initially, the caterpillar focusses and struggles on just acquiring the basics to survive, and feed itself, until it enters its pupa, it then transforms and comes out as a butterfly. It now manifests beauty, it has the ability to dance free in the world.
After it emerges from the pupa stage, it’s ability is now to fly, and touch the world, as an expression of beauty. This metaphor is an opportunity for people to look at their own lives and see where they are at.
These are the kind of changes I see in people who work seriously. They become less stressed out, more content, more comfortable within themselves.”
Q3: What kind of challenges do you see for those starting to do this work?
“The most important one is to be true to yourself. To have the courage to seek your true self without fear. To use the path-way of Shamanism to achieve this.
With every ritual, ceremony or development that you go through, it is a life or death battle. You are constantly fighting to eradicate the lower vibrational , destructive aspects of self so that you can allow true life to be manifested through yourself.
We form constructs either through negative experiences, or conditioning etc, then our challenge is to deconstruct or dissolve them to form new ones. For example a child says that when it grows up it wants to be this or that. A lot of effort is put in to fulfil that construct, but it may not be its pathway in adult life. As time passes it puts a lot of energy into the construct, but is it still working in the here and now? If not, what part of it do we need to dissolve to allow it to serve us better? We are always looking for a more efficient construct, a program update in order to more truly manifest who we really are”
Q4: How do you recognise a spiritual calling?
“Once you have embraced an enhanced awareness of Nature and Energy, and that your habits have changed, and you are now attracted to Nature, for example if you are having a stressful situation and you are drawn to go into nature, then you are already working hand-in-hand with nature, this may already be answering your calling. Otherwise life can just be chasing money, objects, or status, with no regard for spiritual matters.”
Q5: How were you first attracted to Shamanism?
“For me it was a gradual process. I did not recognise it as Shamanism initially, the specific structure of Shamanism with it’s history and it’s cultural context as a belief system. I started doing a lot of practises that I found through meditation, and responses that I was getting back from Spirit and nature, and the healing sessions that I was doing.
Then I found that these practises all went under the ‘umbrella’ of Shamanism, and it’s beliefs; so I started to explore Shamanism a bit more. From doing this I learned that Shamanism was practised by my ancestors, both on my Mother’s side (Native American) and my Father’s side (African).”
Q6: How much practice and study does it take to become a fully initiated Shaman?
“ It’s a lifetimes work. You have to go through various stages of development, for example healing yourself, finding out who you really are, understanding your purpose, and discovering your tools or gifts to work with, and from there finding what additional tools you can acquire to facilitate the work that you may have come here to do.
You may come from a lineage of Shamans, and you may recognise that you have gifts but that is no guarantee that you are a shaman or can become one.
Once you feel something calling you, a magnetic pull to that belief system, awareness and consciousness; seeing the world in a Shamanic way, from there you need to find a teacher, someone who can guide you and keep you safe as you go through your transformation. This will involve certain ceremonies, rituals, and initiation. It also involves a lot of testing where you will be challenged on all levels: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. The higher you rise, the greater the forfeit. The more difficult the challenges are, the greater the pitfalls. Great growth is possible, or you can pay for mistakes by losing your sanity, your loved ones, or suffering personality changes. The higher that you seek to climb the tree, the greater the risk, also the reward.”
Q7: What kind of healings have you witnessed in Shamanic practise?
“Across many cultures, I have experienced different approaches of achieving the same goal. For example in Africa there were many examples, leprosy being cured, a child with Hydrocephalus, people with kidney disorders, broken bones, etc healed through the use of Rituals, Spiritual practise, and Herbs. I know a woman who’s womb had been removed after a complicated child birth, to then go on and give birth again to a healthy child after Shamanic treatment! I have also experienced a lot of work around Demonic possession.
Regarding mental health, an indigenous Shaman would view this illness very differently. For example, schizophrenic symptoms could be seen and dealt with as signs that the person was a sensitive, and experiencing spiritual influence from guides or entities, and with the correct guidance and support could be trained to develop as a Shaman, and through the stabilisation of their soul can go on to develop into a powerful Shaman.
In the Shamanic world they do not have a standard medical diagnostic system, as each illness has a complex and unique set of circumstances associated with those symptoms. It is through unpacking this myriad of challenges, you get a greater understanding of what lesson that person supposed to gain from the experience.
Q8: What Mal-practise do you see amongst non-initiated Spiritual practitioners?
“Yes there is a lot of this. Generally some workers mislead people by getting their hopes up by misleading them to believe that they are achieving something when they are not. You can come across a lot of sales patter , talk and BS while they are counting your money, and you end up just being a number.
A lot of books and articles are written by people who have had little or no genuine experience of Shamanic development. A lot of people have gone to South America, had an Ayahuasca experience , or lived for a period with the natives and start describing themselves as Shaman when they are not. They then do expensive workshops with little content or value.
I have seen spiritual healing meet ups where everything was ego based. Basic safeguards were not being practised. These practitioners are not fulfilling their responsibility to their clients and to Spirit, by not doing this work in the right way.”
Q9: Is there a dark side to Shamanism?
“Hell yes!
Shamanic technique is like a knife. It can be used to save life or take life. The structure of the knife does not change. What changes is the person holding it- or directing the forces.”
Q10: Can you offer some basic advice to those exploring their own Spirituality
“Firstly, be discerning when searching for a teacher. Check them out, but trust your instincts. If you resonate with them, you should be able to feel energetically that you will be able to work with them and develop. You will feel it igniting within you. During that learning period, commit to the teacher 150% without question.
When the time comes that you start to question that teacher it may mean that you have gained what you came to gain, and it is time to move on. Or that you have reached a limitation in your own capacity to learn.
Sometimes you may find something before you are ready, it is important to recognise this and pause and reflect, but try always to gain from what you experience. The onus is on the individual- you are responsible for your own development, nobody else. You have to do the work- the Teacher is only a guide.”
TO THE READER: WHAT DOES THIS INFORMATION PROVOKE WITHIN YOU? THAT IS THE KEY.