"And
while I stood there I saw more than I can tell, and I understood
more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes
of things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must
live together like one being." Black Elk
“There
is something bigger outside ourselves that can help to give us
the answers we need to feel full in our hearts. We are not alone”
DP
The word “shamanism”
is being increasingly utilized the world over and conjures up
a variety of images based upon a person’s background and
experiential framework. Paraphrasing excerpts from an interview
of my work by Cynthia Ploski, published in chapter four of her
book, Conversations with my Healers,
I hope to provide greater insight and clarity for those seeking
answers.
Q: How did you move into shamanic healing work?
In the late 1980’s I became very ill and went to someone
who practiced a technique known as “shamanic healing.”
At that point, my life changed—it was like we got rid of
things that were holding me back. It worked on me, re-empowering
me….it created a path for me to where I was driven to connect
with the people who did this training. I’d been seeing a
Mayan medicine teacher before that and every time I saw him it
seemed my life reflected positive changes so I was comfortable
pursuing it further. The workshops I went to were conducted by
Dr. Michael Harner and his staff of the Foundation for Shamanic
Studies, although there are other people who also do this type
of training. In the basic training I learned how to journey to
connect with spiritual teachers, or power animals, and start getting
my own answers. It was a way for me to bring myself back to my
own self and out of my illness. This training, and others I’ve
since taken, has moved my life in a whole new direction.
Since
1990, I have been offering my services in shamanic healing work,
and over the last 15 years, I have been fortunate enough to study
with medicine teachers and shaman from a variety of traditions.
Based on these teachings, and with spirit’s guidance, I
have also created a series of cross-cultural spirituality and
shamanic technique workshops.
See
“CLASSES/EVENTS” for more details. click here
Q: How would you define a shaman? How would you define a journey?
I want to preface what I am saying about the role of a shaman
by stating that I don’t call myself a shaman. I would never
call myself that. I am a practitioner that does shamanic healing,
and perhaps a woman who does medicine work, or even a woman who
walks the worlds, because I know these things to be true for myself.
But I will never advertise myself as a shaman or give myself that
title. I leave that term for the elders and for the shaman I have
met and honor.
A lot of terminology and information on shamanism can be found
in books by Dr. Harner and others (see suggested reading at bottom
of page). But, to paraphrase him, a shaman is a person who enters
an altered state of consciousness, to make journeys into what
are known as the lower, middle, and upper worlds (non-ordinary
reality.) They enter these alternative realities intentionally
to work with helping spirits, bringing back information for the
healing of individuals, the community or the earth itself. This
altered state of consciousness, sometimes achieved in indigenous
cultures with psychotropic substances, is most often reached by
using what is called “sonic drive,” use of repetitive
sounds, most often with drums, rattles, and other percussion instruments,
though some cultures also use singing or chanting.
Shamanism is based on animism-the belief that all things are alive
and have an essence or spirit that can be contacted and that there
is more to us than just our physical selves; that nature is alive
with spirits, everything is interconnected and that different
worlds exist within this one we know. Shamanism is not a religion
in and of itself; rather, it is the oldest form of spiritual discipline
in the world and found in part of human culture for tens of thousands
of years.
I believe that we all ultimately come from heritages that were
tribal in nature and every tribal community possessed shamanic
wisdom and contained some source of shamanic work. Dr. Harner
teaches what he calls “core shamanism” and is very
clear that it is not based on, or meant to imitate, any one tradition.
There is a basic core of teachings and beliefs, common to all
shamanic practices.
In shamanic communities there are certain categories of work the
shaman does. One is divination, shifting into non-ordinary reality
to seek out answers to questions and find lost objects. Another
is shamanic healing: this includes extraction of spiritual intrusions
(things that don’t belong inside of us); soul retrieval,
where due to any number of events in our lives, parts of our souls
leave as a survival mechanism and need help returning; and power
animal retrieval, where a person can experience a loss of spiritual
power and we find and bring back a helping spirit manifesting
in animal form whose characteristics and qualities are such as
to help the suffering individual. Another category of shamanic
work is called “psychopomp.” It is helping people
die, moving the soul from life into death, helping them make that
journey. We are helping the soul make that choice and get to the
Light. Souls are often trapped between this world and that as
well, and need help too.
In all of these cases, we work in conjunction with the spiritual
realm or with “spirits.” Spirits are defined in shamanism
simply as those things or beings which are normally not seen by
people in an ordinary state of consciousness. But, in shamanism,
it is not simple nature worship at all, but a two-way spiritual
communication. Spirit is a loaded term and it can take a lot of
people off guard; sometimes it helps people more comfortable if
I call them angels, guardian spirits, guides, divine/source energy,
God energy, names like that. It’s the God energy though
and it can take a myriad of forms. The whole point is that it’s
something bigger than me. Its something where I move outside of
myself and Spirit works through me. It’s not possession.
We work hand in hand. I’m a facilitator, or bridge, between
worlds. There is a trust that comes for me the more that I do
it. For years, I questioned its validity and wondered if I was
just imagining it. But the validation has come from the truth
of the information I receive. Dr. Harner says that it doesn’t
matter where it comes from; what matters is the information we
receive. It shouldn’t be analyzed; there are certain guidelines
we need to follow, but trust it. Everyone can journey. Everyone
can learn to get their own answers from their own spiritual realm.
The intention in working in the shamanic realm, for me, has to
do with empowerment. It’s about becoming whole again, becoming
re-empowered, regaining fullness, and feeling whole, which is
our right, regardless of where we are in our life walk. People
are searching for meaning in their lives, now more than ever,
so I think its part of the search. Understanding the idea that
everything is alive, that everything is whole, is a concept that
people are turning to—they are seeking something bigger
than themselves because they feel a need to be part of something.
And traditional religion doesn’t always provide all the
answers. Shamanism and shamanic practices are not at odds with
more conventional spiritual perspectives. It is just another way
of bringing people together more and helping each other heal and
be whole. Because the more whole we are, our wholeness moves out
into the rest of the planet and the more whole and healed the
planet is. And Spirit is more than cooperative, more than willing
to support our healing, our growth and our empowerment. They can
only come partway, though, so it is up to us to open up to them
to communicate, share information, and get the answers we seek
to encourage this wholeness. The more I am given the opportunity
to work with the spirits and within these sacred realms, the more
I am awestruck and humbled by what is possible…for ourselves
as individuals and for each other in community.
Suggested reading:
The Way of the Shaman, Dr. Michael Harner
Soul Retrieval, Sandra Ingerman
Shamanism as a Spiritual Practice for Daily Life, Tom Cowan
