My personal view of a shaman is based on my personal experiences and the things I know to be true due to them having happened to me. Let me tell you a story:
One Samhain, probably three years ago now, I was walking in the cemetery which borders our home. This is a common practice for me, it helps me meet and greet those who reside there. And let me tell you it IS rich in history and in the spirits which call the place home. I was walking with two friends, thankfully. So that I have witnesses to this event.
We were walking along, talking, discussing the upcoming ritual which was to take place that evening. We have a circle and sacred space in our back yard. One minute the three of us are talking about the events which would be taking place, the next, they are picking me up off the ground.
A young man, from what we could tell, had passed on to the Summerland earlier in the week. He was quite disoriented and upset at the sudden change in his life/and passing and he chose to tell me about it in a most abrupt manner. I’d walked into him, he knocked me over. I carried the bruises on me for a week following this.
I look back and have to laugh, but that night it was not a laughing matter. He was a very angry young man and understandably so. He had his whole life taken away in a split second car crash. YES I researched this after talking with the young mans spirit so I know it actually happened. Thanks to newspapers, grave stone dates etc.
Needless to say he now resides in the large oak in the center of the cemetery and visits quite regularly in my home, which is open to any and all spirits, as long as they follow the rules. (I’ll share if asked�?LOL)
This was not my first brush with the spirits, I have always been able to feel, and talk to them, even as a child. My childhood imaginary friend was the spirit of a slave girl who had passed on in our home. At that time I lived next to a cemetery but also lived in a house which had been part of the underground RR. Again, once I had the ability and the knowledge I researched this event to validate it.
My son is yet another example of my connection to the spirit realm. You can read his story in my blog, which can be found at: http://mtnmuse.blogspot.com/2004/10/mothers-thoughts-to-her-son.html
To me a Shaman is someone who has a very close relationship with the spirit realm and experiences it on a personal level. I am and have always been open to it due to the events surrounding my birth and early years. (I will share more on this later). |