My Shamanic Walk

[kokopelle]

At a time in the past, nearly seven years ago, I was working through which spiritual path to take. My spiritual path had already been brought back from an agnostic place by the wonderful influences of Ram Dass and other Eastern writings. The Buddhist path felt right. I still carry a lot of Buddhist philosophies and beliefs. This, however, was not going to be my primary path. I have instead become a shamanist.

I then started reading Carlos Castaneda. My eyes opened. Other books followed. Below is a list of books that most affected me. They are not in order of importance as they all touched my heart in some way.

Michael Harner's "The Way of the Shaman"
Anything by Tom Brown, such as "The Tracker"
Doug Boyd's "Rolling Thunder"
Anything by Alberto Villoldo and Erick Jendresen, such as "The Four Winds"
Bradford Keeney's "Shaking Out the Spirits"
Shirley Nicholson's "Shamanism"
Stephen Larsen, ‘The Shaman’s Doorway: Opening Imagination to Power and Myth”

It was good to read books, but for the most part, they only spoke about other people’s paths. I still needed confirmation that the shamanic path was “right” for me. A dear friend of mine, also a shamanist, would challenge me by saying, “reading books is fine, but what are YOU doing?”

I needed confirmation. This confirmation came in many ways. Perhaps the most powerful was a dream I had. This was my dream.

I was tasked to speak to pagans and Christians about prophecy and healing. These are normally two diametric groups. I very much wanted for both to hear me, so I came up with a plan. In my heart I knew there was a message common to both. They just had to hear it in their "jargon" to receive the message. So, before I brought them together II took each group aside separately. I told them, “I will be talking about prophecy and healing. I want you to hear my words. Listen to them as if I were speaking your language.” I then brought the groups together. The only thing I remember from that part of the dream is that I was standing on a picnic table underneath an park-type shelter. I was walking around the picnic table, delivering the message to these two diverse groups. Each seemed to be listening in that moment of harmony.

When I awoke I saw in the dream what being a shaman may include. There is more, but the two directions shared that night were prophecy and healing. So, a shaman (or one on the shamanic path) could be drawn to being a prophet or healer. "What is a prophet?" I asked myself. The answer was that a prophet is one that shares their heart through the vehicles of divination, governance, or even just a smile and kind word. The prophet, in the spirit of heart connection, seeks to guide or facilitate instead of ruling and dominating. It is almost a necessity to be a prophet in order to be a good healer. I was drawn to both.

The other exercise I did was to "poll" the internet, seeing what people thought a shaman was. There were many. I’ll perhaps post this document as a separate blog. Even though there was diversity, or perhaps because of the diversity, the internet entries indeed spoke to my heart. I included the following as my “contribution”:

The shaman lives in the unity of the world
The shaman serves the unity of the world

My path as a shamanist, one who follows the shamanic path, was sealed. From there I took the Michael Harner introduction class (good stuff!). At that time I was also facilitating monthly shamanic classes at the Greenville SC Barnes and Noble. The purpose of the class was to share what I had learned, revealing the breadth and spiritual philosophies of the shamanic path. I also presented at other teaching venues. I wrote articles on shamanism. Many can be found on my LJ blog. The more I facilitated, presented and wrote, the more it was confirmed the shamanic path was for me. My shamanic beliefs informed and instructed my holistic work as a massage therapy student. At the same school I met and worked with my current shamanic teacher.

And why was the shamanic path for me? What did I learn from all the reading, dreams, classes, writing and facilitating? Why wasn’t I pulled into the neopagan world, for it too had attractions for me? The answer is both simple and complex. Being a shamanist speaks to my soul. It brings an order to my world. The shamanic path bridges and connects many apparently diverse realms. The shamanist is connected to all, part of all, and is called to the service of all. The "magick" of others is merely normal shamanic "reality" waiting to be realized. The path of shamanism is simple. Collect knowledge, embrace experience, and nurture wisdom. Live in the unity of the world. Use the available tools to serve your tribe, and by extension, serve the unity of the world.

Comments

[breimh.livejournal.com]

Being a shamanist speaks to my soul. It brings an order to my world. The shamanic path bridges and connects many apparently diverse realms. The shamanist is connected to all, part of all, and is called to the service of all. The "magick" of others is merely normal shamanic "reality" waiting to be realized. The path of shamanism is simple. Collect knowledge, embrace experience, and nurture wisdom. Live in the unity of the world. Use the available tools to serve your tribe, and by extension, serve the unity of the world.

Beautifully put. I have often looked for a way to say what you have expressed here. Might I share this with my circle of friends and fellow worshippers?

[greensh.livejournal.com]

You may share it with whomever you wish. (smile)

[disa75.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind Greensh, i friended you a while back because I liked some of your entries on the shaman community lj, I would appreciate it if you could answer these questions, I think it will be of benefit for my muddled mind :)

Have you ever seriously doubted the path you've chosen, picking it to pieces intellectually and finding it riddled with flaws, worried you've been deluded all the time, or has there always been a consistency of intuitive belief, knowing or trust in your choice?
I am finding it increasingly confusing as to which path I must take, nothing seems quite right or wrong at the moment.
All I've ended up doing is just basic meditation everyday, and it is helping me clear my mind of unneccessary twaddle.
Has a connection with nature been greatly instrumental in you gravitating towards the shamanic path?

[greensh.livejournal.com]

*Have you ever seriously doubted the path you've chosen, picking it to pieces intellectually and finding it riddled with flaws, worried you've been deluded all the time, or has there always been a consistency of intuitive belief, knowing or trust in your choice?*

The answer depends on what you mean by the word "path". I don't think While I did doubt my Christian path, I've never doubted my shamanic path since I began on it. I've very much doubted my human path. I asked this question of my lovely mate... "Going back four years (when I met her), what odds would you have given me to still be alive today (03/07)?" Her answer was "50/50". I've been VERY dark in the past. My shamanic path, and a particular teacher, helped my muddled mind. Now, my intellect has the pieces, my ego is riddled with flaws, and it is my shamanic path that helps hold things together.

*I am finding it increasingly confusing as to which path I must take, nothing seems quite right or wrong at the moment. All I've ended up doing is just basic meditation everyday, and it is helping me clear my mind of unnecessary twaddle. Has a connection with nature been greatly instrumental in you gravitating towards the shamanic path?*

Believe me if you can, clearing your mind of unnecessary twaddle is 80% of a good spiritual path. The other 20% is icing on the cake. Well, that a bit trite. The last 20% is very important. I believe this is where the final details of your ultimate path are filled in, fully defining how you will interact with the world around you. Finding the "right" path is as easy or hard as finding the right mate. Sometimes it takes lots of work and many tries. Sometimes a person just falls into it. The process is different for everyone. I'll post another blog soon with suggestions on the hard work part.

*Has a connection with nature been greatly instrumental in you gravitating towards the shamanic path?*

Yes, with an explanation. I am an energy/medium/holistic shaman I suppose. I came to the shamanic path by connecting with my fellow human beings and non-corporal beings. Intuition and energy associations are very much informed my shamanic path. This is still my focus. IMO/IME, the common perception of nature is really only a small percentage of what is REALLY there. "Nature" is VERY big.

to walk a path, shamanic or otherwise

[wulfwalker.livejournal.com]

IMO we seek new paths to fill the emptiness and sense of loss that is in conventional xtian religions. I think our journey to find/reach the pagan path is different, our reasons diverse and our needs complex, but an underlying theme I have always felt is service and connection. Perhaps when we started we did not know what the connection we longed for was, yet still we sought it; and the need to serve whether in a healing, spiritual or teaching capacity is firmly entrenched in us. So many times we are all lumped into a "tree hugging nature worshipping, moon drunk, herbal conconcting cookie cutter shaping that like an umbrella is applied to witches, shamans, druids, asatru, celtc recon, etc. and there may be some superficial resemblences; but the differences in DIRECTION are very dissimelar. A teacher who becomes a wise mentor is a great gift to the world regardless of the path they walk simply because you respect them for who and what they inherently are.