What is a shaman?

What is Shamanic Healing? 

This is my take on how I feel about shamanism in my own personal experience, with my life experience. As a spiritual teacher we can only ever teach from our own experience, about the lessons that we have learnt ourselves, the journeys we have take, the paths we have walked. 

Shamanism is an ancient way of spiritual healing, a practise that is present in so many different cultures across the globe. A practise that went underground for a long time, as colonialism, as religion went forth and permeated the World as the way to be, we, as a species became more and more separated from the World around us and ourselves. 

Our cultures supposedly evolved, we had the electric lights, that came in to separate us from our natural body clocks, the central heating and air conditioning came to separate us from the seasons, they make our lives more comfortable, but how can we live in synch with the natural world in our air controlled bubbles? Where is the connections to the change in seasons? The rhythm of life? 

I love my central heating, but in winter now, I crave a walk in the cold, to refresh my spirit, I have a cold shower every day and I like to feel the cold, it connects my body back to the nature around me, the natural cycles of the earth. I don’t wrap up at night anymore, I let me body feel the natural cooling of the evenings so that it can revive the hormonal changes that occur when the night cools. This is another blog, I will stop now!

Shamanic practitioners live in tune with the cycles of the earth, with the cycles of their life, however uncomfortable that may be. We feel, we are aware, we are not in denial. We are able to tap into energy, the energy that is all around us. They are the souls that people feel drawn to, that have strong and natural empathy, that feel others pain so much, they are the ones that can’t watch the news as the suffering stays with them all day. It becomes too much to bear. 

Shamans feel a deep calling to protect mother earth, all beings, to serve. In the old tribes, the shaman had all their needs looked after, they were provided with a roof above their heads, food, clothing, everything they needed so that they could spend their time and energy in service. 

There was a 2 way flow of energy. Many modern western shamanic practitioners or spiritual workers feel disconnected with money and don’t value themselves, or what they provide. This is a journey that I have recently been on myself. I now understand that if my needs and my family needs aren’t met financially, I cannot dedicate the time and energy to doing this work. I have gotten over it now! I accept that I live in a World where money is an expression, a token of energy spent. I have spent years, studying and still am, growing, honing my skills, reading, this all costs money and my energy. 

So to any spiritual workers here, own that. You have spent much time and energy getting to where you are, you deserve to have that flow back to you and receive the support back. 

A shamanic practitioner can work with their own energy as well as others, I will say we as I am one! I have just realised that I was writing in the Third person. As I type spirit is moving through me and asking me to own it, to speak from my heart. As I type, I feel a deep connection, it flows up from my heart, into the back of my eyes, it flows up from my heart meridian through my fingers, the hands are an expression of the heart centre. 

I am able to face problems physical, emotional and mental and use all the healing tools and practises that I have, to let go of doubt and fear, to heal.  I don't do this alone though I have my guides in the physical and ethereal realms, the energy workers that help me. 

In Shamanic cultures, especially the original people (indigenous cultures known incorrectly as Native Americans), there is a practise called a vision quest, where you go into the dark alone, into the wilderness for some time and be with the world, with yourself, with your thoughts, you find yourself again, you remember who you are, you reconnect. 

I feel that my encounters with breast cancer were that, a long vision quest. Although, I received my shamanic training and initiation before that, that time of my life was pivotal in facing death, darkness, the void. 

To become a shaman, you learn verbally,  (i still like to teach verbally) rituals and practises used by our ancestors, they learnt this medicine directly from source, from great spirit.

I have not been initiated by an indigenous Shaman, so I cannot label myself a Shaman, with respect for the culture and also my white privilege. But I have been taught practises that have been passed down to my teachers from the original people. 

I don’t believe that we should have a certificate to say that we are a shamanic practiioner. Can we move between the worlds, can we feel, can we help, can we help to heal? That must be experienced , you know when you are in the presence of a shamanic energy worker. People often tell me after seeing me they see more clearly, they feel inspired, uplifted, lighter, more whole, just  better than before. They tend to learn something about themselves or a way of being. 

When I see a shamanic energy worker, I can tell who they are because of the light in their eyes, I can feel when they are speaking from the heart, from source.

When you work with a shaman who has worked with another shaman, you are part of that lineage. I am sure from past lives, we all have all lineages from our ancestors, from so many different cultures. In this lifetime, I have been initiated into the Lakota healings by Julie Ann Hart and also with my teachings with Pip Waller, in soul retrieval, shamanic healing and plant medicine, (Eliana Harvey,  Michael Harmer, Leo Rutherford, and Eliot Cowan)

As a true energy worker, ie a child which we all are, I was so sensitive, I saw things, I saw energy move, I felt everyones energy all around me, I didn’t know what was happening, it felt scary and I started to learn to disconnect . I will never forget crying and screaming in class I was at junior school when I learnt about the pipelines going through Native American lands, it felt like it was happening to me and it was, we are all one. Life felt a little too much, so I subconsciously blocked it. I needed to at the time. 

This physical world that we live in isn’t as real as we think, there is an undercurrent of energy, a grid, a matrix like system that flows around and through, with energy, we are always interacting with it on an unconscious level. 

The energy worker is conscious, I go in and interact with this world. I am a bridge from this World, to this energy.

I see these beings everywhere, not necessarily trained, but still creating healing and transformation all around us. Some yoga teachers, some essential oil workers, natural shamans. Just being them flowing and connecting. 

For me being a shamanic worker feels magical, I feel in flow when I am connected. I do lose it, I do veer away sometimes, as I have another lesson to learn, as I go through another self sabotage, but each time I come back a bit quicker, each time I choose to suffer less. 

For me shamanism is a way of being it is who I am, I believe it is who we all are, I see so many souls coming back to it, that is what I am here for. 

As we come back to our empathy and compassion, that is where the shamanic healing lies. We are seeing a deep pull back to nature, as we are in the face of losing it. It is not unusual to hear someone admit that they hug trees to express how they feel uplifted by nature, they are feeling the connection, the longing to go back to a simpler life. We see more people waking up to the suffering of animals, feeling it and choosing to not eat them or drink they fluids. 

We know how special nature is, we know that we are nothing without her. We are stewards of the earth. The earth supports us every day, the sun gives us light, these are elements and ways of showing gratitude in the medicine wheel, a ritual for gratitude and also self transformation that I love to teach. 

In Community, and tribes, we know that when we are in the energy of polarity, of separateness, the truth is lost. The magic is lost. We are all one, that is where the love and the healing lives. 

We also work in many different ways, for me all the ways I work are shamanic, yoga is shamanic, it reconnects and transforms, essential oils and plant medicine (not in the traditional western sense), talking, coaching, community, all shamanic practises, as mentioned before, it is a way of being, a way of living. 

When I come to the yoga mat, I don't come with the intention to stretch, I come with the intention to change, to grow, to transform. The same when I come to the mat, or when I apply an essential oil to a pulse point. I do so with the intention to flow into who I am meant to be, with no limits, as a magical wonderful being that we ALL ARE. 

I am sure that if you have read this to the end you feel a calling back to some of the old ways. 

Welcome home sister. 

Welcome home brother

PS: If you click on the Medicine Wheel in the Sidebar, you can learn more.