The Practical Power of the Shaman

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... live next door to you and the only clues you might haveare that they Spirit of shamanism brings harmony and magic into everyday lifeShamanism is a very practical spirituality.
A modern-day shamancould live next door to you and the only clues you might haveare that they get along well with people and animals and have agreen thumb with plants. Also, shamans have a knack for puttingpeople at ease and for saying and doing the right thing at theright time.
In his book, Urban Shaman, Serge Kahili King definesa shaman as "a healer of relationships, between mind and body,between people, between people and circumstances, between humansand Nature and between matter and spirit."If you have a taste of divine ecstasy, shamanism can teach youhow to ground it, how to bring it into your everyday lifethrough using your natural gifts and talents. Shamanism cansupport you in translating that experience, that creative energy,into physical form so it can benefit yourself and everyonearound you.
The essence of shamanism is not an esoteric,mysterious, ritualistic tradition which can only be practiced bynative peoples in a tribal environment. This ancient spiritualperspective on life is a down-to-earth, pragmatic, realisticway of living that anyone can use anywhere, anytime, includingin our modern world.Currently across the planet, the sacred knowledge of the shamanor wizard is being translated into everyday street language inorder to create more healthy, harmonious and enriching lives forpeople.
The spirit of shamanism is more of an open, flexibleattitude and approach to living than a rigid set of rules,formulas and techniques. Applying the basic principles ofshamanism opens people to new possibilities and options fordealing with modern daily challenges.From Alaska to the Andes, from Tibet to Tanzania, shamanism is aworldwide phenomenon.
Virtually every religion has its roots inshamanism, although shamanism is not a religion. It's aperspective-a way of seeing all things as sacred.
Shamanism doesnot preclude any religion. It simply says that anyone can have adirect experience of the divine without an intermediary.
Byhonoring the sacred essence of everyone and everything, one'swhole life can truly become a spiritual adventure.Omens and signsThe shaman relates to every form of life as being alive, filledwith energy and always communicating something to us. The key isin learning how to receive the communication.
"Omens are a waySpirit communicates with us in the physical world," statesshaman Ken Eagle Feather in Traveling with Power. "You candecipher omens from virtually anything, but pay specialattention to unusual occurrences, whether it's the strangebehavior of birds, or conversations in which someone sayssomething that catches your attention in a special way, or whena book falls off a shelf in front of you.
You might find thatmessages on billboards change right in front of you, so thatwhile others are reading anordinary advertisement, you end upreading a message from Spirit. Be careful about being too strictin your interpretations, though.
Remember, you are looking forguidance, not assurance. An omen might be the same for severalpeople, or it might mean several different things.
It's up toyou to create your personal omen dictionary. This open-endedresponse is called nonpatterning, and it provides the space forSpirit to communicate with you."Using personal experience as the means through which wisdom isgleaned (rather than through reading, thinking or analyzing),the shaman presents opportunities where people begin to sense areal, interactive connection with everything else that exists,even those things believed to be inanimate such as rocks,plastic, glass or metal.Everything is energyThe basis of shamanistic creation, healing and transformationhas always been the knowledge that the essential nature ofeverything is energy.
Modern science, specifically quantumphysics has only recently concluded that every living thing ismade of energy. The reason that walls and rocks appear solid isbecause they vibrate at a low, dense rate.
We know that picturestravel invisibly through the air and arrive on our TV screens.Is it such a stretch to open to the possibility that everythinghas an invisible energy within it? And that communication can betransmitted through this energy?Shamans utilize the knowledge that everything is energy tocreate in their world by using their conscious attention todirect the flow of energy within all forms of life. Energy flowswhere attention goes.
Indeed, scientists are now reporting thatthe outcome of their experiments are significantly affected bythe beliefs and thoughts of the person conducting the experiment.Since we come to this planet to evolve our soul within theparadox of this world of polarity (light and dark, inside andoutside, body and spirit), we must develop the skill to playconsciously and creatively with duality. If we are trulyperceptive, we can see how the energies of each opposingpolarity are serving us.
If we see how we are at effect of allthese dualistic energies, then we can make a choice of what tokeep and what to eliminate. This is an act of magic.
Truemagicians are those who can influence energy, whether it isinside them or in the world outside them. If we have learned howenergy moves and behaves, we have opened ourselves up to ourtrue selves.
This is what the paradoxes of our world teach us.Shamans know that humans are determiners of spirit, and thechoices, decisions and priorities that we set fashion thereality of the world in which we live.SeeingWhen shaman use their ability to "see" the underlying energydynamics of situations and relationships, they are able to "see"cause and effect connections and forces that are not visiblewhen viewing the circumstances superficially, i.e., looking onlyat the outer form. Perceiving the energy dynamics of life eventsreveals new alternatives and possibilities not previouslyapparent."The art of the (shaman) is to be able to guide, to be able toilluminate the path in such a way that the person hooks on to agreater experience-that of freedom..." Eagle Feather shares.This allows people the freedom to move beyond limits of pastperceptions into the realm of options, fresh creativity andnatural magic.A shaman would "see," for example, that the anger of asupermarket clerk resulted from the clerk's inability to expresstheir feelings.
The shaman could "see" how these emotions wereadversely affecting not only the clerk, but the people in line.Consequently, a shaman may choose to engage the angry clerk in afriendly, relaxing conversation in order to shift the situationinto flow and harmony.PowerWe have many powers within us that we can learn to use for ourown benefit and for the benefit of others. From the shamanisticpoint of view, all power comes from within.
Power comes fromauthorship (authority). Shamans become the authors of thecreations in their world by freeing themselves of programmed andconditioned perceptions.
In moving beyond customs, manners,rules and techniques, the shaman embraces the practicality of "What works, works." The shaman has little concern for howsomething works, only that it produces the results that oneintends. Shamans are the most flexible, utilitarian andefficient authors of their world.
They take the shortest,quickest route to their goals, even if the path tramples ontheir own concepts or beliefs.One way people can experience this power is to look for proof intheir own lives. Take love, for example.
One way to increase thepresence and power of love in a person's life is to decrease thepresence and power of judgment. Shamans notice that theirattention cannot be in both places at the same time, and,therefore choose where they want to spend their energy.
To spendenergy judging that they harmed someone or that another personcaused them harm, would be a misdirection and waste of energyfor a shaman.Eagle Feather explains more about the true nature of power, "Anyone looking for power over others or control over materialprocesses is probably going to be disappointed by the teaching,which essentially define power as the ability to free oneselffrom one's own perceptions and habitual patterns. The messageseems to be that once you align with the energy, you're nolonger the master.
Spirit is."HealingA shaman is a bridge between this world and the invisible worldof the spirit. A shaman is very anchored, very present in thisworld.
Being so centered and grounded, a shaman can assist aperson to travel into dimensions and see things from a muchbigger perspective. Then people can heal because there is moreroom for them to expand and open to fresh new realities.
Thisexpanded awareness from the shaman creates a strong foundationfor people to awaken to their own healing power within. The goalof the shaman is always to support the awakening of the soul.The shaman acts as an anchor so the person can reach their owndepth and move through their own cellular transformation.Shaman Frederick Wolf concurs.
"People really know how to healthemselves. It's an illusion to think that someone is going tocome and heal them.
But what will happen is, when they feel thesupport and safety that the shaman can hold for them, they willhave faith enough to go into that place inside of them thatknows how to heal. It's not some magical thing that happens.
It's very natural."Way of LivingShamanism is a way of living on the altar of Mother Earth. It'sa way to live in balance on the earth, a way of finding not onlypeace with yourself personally, but peace with nature and yourenvironment.
Shamanism is bringing the two worlds together: yourinner world-"your heart"-with your outer world. It's importantto be balanced, to be grounded in both worlds.
We should be ableto go anywhere and be at home, whether it's in a cave or a bigcity.Shamanism is a pathway that can help us to realize thesacredness and magic within and all around us. Birds that soarinto the heavens, trees whose roots reach deep into the earth,everything in nature reflects an aspect of our souls.
As thepoet Rumi said, "You will see stars and moons mirrored in yourbeing." Shamanism is letting go of our limited ideas andconcepts of who we are. As we abandon our illusions ofseparateness, we open to the beauty and simplicity of our truenature-our connectedness with all of life.
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