 |
|
Reply
| |
| The Shaman's Journey By Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls Part Three: A Shaman’s Knowledge Intent + Emotional Control + Knowledge = Shaman There are many things a Shaman comes to know over a lifetime of learning and practice. Many of these things are impossible to explain with language. The same can be said for certain tenets in Taoism, Buddhism and other faiths and philosophies, for example, faith.
Everything is spirit. Every rock, tree, fish, animal, person, ocean, planet and universe is an active energy or spirit. The spirit or energy showing itself as a rock is not necessarily just a rock. Looks can be deceiving. But the quality or level of the spirit is evidenced in its physical form. For example, the energy of a rock is slow and at a low vibrational rate. It takes a long time to act but it vibrates for a long, long time. A butterfly has a higher and faster vibration but acts much more quickly and evolves faster. There are also non-visible spirits in various forms. More than you can imagine. Shamans spend lifetimes learning to “see�?and perform various tasks using these spiritual forms both physical and non-physical. Some of these forms are neutral and some are beneficent and some are predatory. Let’s look at the predators. The only spiritual form that can gain “gong�?or grace-the only thing we take with us from lifetime to lifetime is the human being. It is through experiencing life in all its fullness that we get the opportunity to amass “gong�?or goodness. This grace or goodness allows us to evolve into more spiritual beings of greater light. So there are many entities that would do anything to have the experience you are having here on earth. All they need is for you to invite them to come into you and they can them share your experiences or use your energy and perhaps get enough of your goodness or gong to be able to incarnate into this world themselves. They also have limited abilities and powers and they will peddle these to you so you will invite them into your life. These abilities include the power to attract and repel, the ability of precognition or foretelling the future, as well as limited healing abilities. A man lost his wife to breast cancer and found himself lost and lonely without her. One day he sent up a wish filled with intent and emotion for a new wife. He didn’t care what he had to do or how she would manifest. He would do anything to have a new love in his life. The entities heard this invitation and a new wife did arrive. The entities arrived as well and man felt as though he had a monkey on his back. He could not explain it and didn’t know where the feeling came from. He blamed it on feeling guilty for replacing his first wife. He started going do to the local pub to wash the feeling away in alcohol. Of course, the entities loved all this experience and the man eventually became an alcoholic. The man never knew that he intended for all this to happen and unless he met someone who could remove the entities, he was stuck.
Most disease can be traced shamanically to spirit possession. Spirit possession is included in the books of knowledge of almost all religions. Take the exorcism in the Catholic and Lutheran churches, for example. Soul retrieval is one Shamanic way to heal spirit possession. Soul retrieval can be described as a Shaman going to these spirit entities and bartering, negotiating or forcing the spirit entity to leave the person afflicted, virtually reclaiming the soul. It is highly dangerous for the Shaman, as the entities do not wish to leave and can attack the Shaman, attach to the Shaman and cause mental, physical or emotional harm. It takes an impeccable Shaman who has the knowledge, emotional control and proper intent to do this healing effectively. Shamans also know that there are three parts to you. They are: Your Self: that physical self you have known all your life Your Master Self: your higher self, that part of you connected directly to the Universal Oneness, sometimes speaking to you as a little voice inside your head or the angel on your left shoulder. Your Second Self: on your right side who is just like you physical self-but not attached to your body. This is the self that Shamans use to travel to Inner Worlds. It just obeys what you put out for it. It is that part of you that accomplishes your intentions. Your emotions come from your physical body. Your intentions come from your Higher Self (hopefully). Spiritual entities can attach to any of these three bodies so you must gain the knowledge necessary to guard each of them. How do you protect yourself from these predatory spirits? With knowledge. Learn their ways and be aware of them and you can maneuver in life successfully. They are not dangerous if you know what they are and how to avoid them. If you choose to learn Shamanism, learn all you can about the Inner Worlds where they live. Find your totem animal and always travel with it as it will guide you around giving anything away to these spirits. Everyone has a totem animal and this animal travels with all three of your bodies. By being aware of your totem animal you will sense well being or fear, even in your daily life and you can respond appropriately to keep your power at all times. But the best protection whether you practice Shamanism or not is knowledge. A Shaman is a warrior, a sorcerer, a mage, and a hunter. He is on his highest alert, fully prepared, moving deliberately with his intention held firmly in the forefront of his mind at all times, ready for anything. He is emotionally centered although feeling the excitement of the hunt and the anticipation of the successful outcome of his hunt. No one could sneak up on a good hunter. It is he who is doing the stalking. The hunter knows his skills, has practiced a lot, and knows where to look for the game he needs. His senses are ignited and he can smell the breeze and see in low light. He also knows the danger he is in. He knows his prey may turn and kill him at any minute so to become lazy or inattentive may be lethal. He knows there is no one there to help him and he knows that he himself can do it best anyway. He would not be a hunter if he wanted someone else to do it. 
You too are a hunter here on this planet. You chose to come here, to have this experience so that you could gather the one thing that you can take with you when you leave; goodness, gong, spiritual energy, light quotient. So you must develop your hunting skills impeccably. You have all the abilities that you need to gather great power here. It is your task to gain knowledge about your skills and how to use them. Skills given to you by other than your own means are just borrowed from leeching entities and are not worth the cost. Entities have nothing to offer you that you don’t already have. A Shaman walks this dimension in pure peace and joy using his or her physical body to communicate and maintain a physical presence with emotional power Using the Master Self as the sail and rudder of life’s ship, the constant small voice of the Higher Self, intent, and the second body self to work, to create and to destroy, to attract and to repel whatever the Shaman intends with the knowledge of the Inner Worlds. I invite you to walk the way with me through the courses I offer on Shamanism or to walk your own intended path with knowledge, emotional control and intent. Each of us must learn about his three selves as they are unique to each of us but I can light a torch along your way and you will not be alone on your journey. Aho! Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls | |
|
 First
Previous
2-10 of 10
Next
Last
|
|
Reply
| |
| The Shaman’s Journey By Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls Part One: The Shaman and Intent Intent + Emotion + Knowledge = Shaman There are 3 elements to being a Shaman: intent, emotional control and impeccable skills. Here we will look at intent. "Intent is not a thought, or an object, or a wish. Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated. It operates in spite of the warrior’s indulgence. Intent is what makes him invulnerable. Intent is what sends a shaman through a wall, through space, to infinity." �?Carlos Castaneda Intent is the basis of manipulating this reality for anything including healing and manifestation. Reality is quite malleable really. It is just that we don’t use our will or intent to make it the best it could be. Inflowing thoughts come to an end in those who are ever alert of mind, training themselves night and day, and ever intent on nirvana." - Buddha Often we say we want something, but deep down in our hearts be really don’t want that. And then we cry out in anguish because we don’t have that “thing�?in our lives. Science is nothing but developed perception, interpreted intent, common sense rounded out and minutely articulated." �?George Santayana Our reality is completely and entirely based upon our intent. You say, How can that be? I did not create this world, this country or this house. But you do accept the intentions given to you by your parents, your relatives, your school, your community, and your society. We have been taught as babies to accept the realities of others for generations. This is simple psychosociology 101. We are even taught to fear anything but these realities and so life changes at a very slow pace indeed!
So yes, you aligned your intent for housing to that of your relatives. Your idea of social success is the same intention as your society at large. This is not necessarily a bad thing! But it shows the power of intent. One more example is the phrase we hear “If it is not good for me or meant to be then God will not give it to me.�?I think this is probably a good intent to inherit because you intend only good things for yourself this way. Without intending only good things in some way, you would have to assume responsibility for all the bad things that happen to as well. Get my drift? You are responsible. It is a sign of considerable advance when a man begins to be moved by the will, by his own energy self-determined, instead of being moved by desire, i.e. by a response to an external attraction or repulsion�?Annie Besant, The Ancient Wisdom. So how do we bring more good things into our lives? By intending only good things. Dwell only on good things. Whenever you think a negative thought, immediately replace it with a good intention. Picture abundance in your life. Practice looking for goodness around you. Intent creates your reality-what are you intending for yourself? For others? You know the phrase, “Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it�?I guarantee you will get what you really wish for. First, you must be in touch with your real wishes, not just your fantasies. You real wishes are the ones with emotional buttons on them. The wishes that make you cry or scare you enough to make you cringe, or bring a huge smile across your face just thinking about them. They are buried deep inside and sometimes are really echoes of other people’s intentions for you. If your father intended for you to be a doctor but you didn’t want to do that, you may still walk through your life without a purpose because you accepted your father’s intent for you all along. This is the stuff counseling is made of. But for a Shaman, it is using intent properly now that can heal issues of soul loss like that for others. All healing begins with intent. Unless the patient himself intends to get well, the reality will be his own intent of illness. This knowledge can be very frustrating to the healer who knows that complete healing is just a change of mind away. But intent is free will and no one has the right to usurp another’s free will. Many times I have wept bitterly before the campfire for those people who chose to suffer rather than to heal. There is only one reason for the intent to not heal and that is fear. Isn’t it odd that people fear change more that anything else in life? And yet, that is the one thing that is guaranteed with your passage! I invite you all to embrace change. Embrace each new day, each gray hair, each meal, each encounter, and each tiny adventure of every day. Learn to enjoy the most natural thing in life �?change. And learn to use it to your advantage. | |
|
Reply
| |
| What Is It and Why? This article came from a wonderful Shaman named Janfreya. 
(OR WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO QUIT YOUR DAY JOB) Shaman is a Tungis word from the Evenk speaking people of Siberia. It means one who sees in the dark, or one who sees with eyes closed (Harner, 1980). It is currently used to designate people with a particular way of interacting with life regardless of where they reside or what language they speak. Most languages have their own term for this person, which has resulted in some confusion surrounding the job description. Although others in the same society may perform some similar functions and activities, such as healing or divination, they do not have all the same skills. In addition to her shamanic duties, a shaman may also don the robe of priest or herbalist, for example. But that does not imply that all shamans do so, or that all priests are shamans. Shamans are able to get in touch with spirits by taking a journey in an altered state of consciousness. This state is achieved with the help of repetitive sounds such as drumming or rattling, the ingestion of entheogenic substances, rhythmic movement, chanting, breath work, or forms of sensory depravation. Shamans making this journey retain full control of their trance state, unlike mediums and full body clairvoyants. Shamans are conscious of everything that transpires. The shaman uses this altered state of consciousness to communicate with and influence the forces of nature and the universe for the benefit of society. She unites the artificial dualities of the inner and outer worlds, the constructs of the individual and society, and the world contained in our corporeal forms and that of the cosmos beyond. * A shaman journeys with purpose and intent. She is not a private mystic. Her voyage is not one of personal discovery, but serves an expressed need within the community. For the shaman, the community embraces the idea of the individual soul combining with a cyclical view of natural processes. An important part of the shaman's role is to regulate and assist the conservation of the community's soul-force (Vitebsky, 1995). Eliade (1964) refers to this as defending the "psychic integrity" of the community. The shaman unites areas such as religion, psychology, medicine and theology, which in Western life have become separate. Through her experience, she heals and maintains the community. Shamans are not limited by the ordinary reality constructs of time and space in their quest for ways to help and heal. They journey to the realms of the upper world (sky), underworld (earth) and middle world to seek out spiritual beings who offer wisdom and assistance, and to negotiate with those who might be causing trouble. The shaman journeys into non ordinary reality, (a term coined by Castaneda in 1968), in order to mediate with the spirits for release of a soul, to bring rain for the crops, to facilitate life passages, or any number of tasks which involve the spirit world. To a shaman, "All that is, is alive" (Cloutier, 1980). All matter has spirit. Everything that exists has spirit or soul and can therefore be communicated with and influenced. The shaman functions as a mediator between the community and the inhabitants of the spirit world. This mediation is considered highly dangerous and is a central part of shamanic ideology (Hoppal, 1987). By bridging the worlds for her people, a shaman negotiates to restore balance within the individual and the community. According to Siikala (1978, in Hoppal, 1987), "…the main task of the shaman is to create a direct and reciprocal state of communication aimed at the spirit world�?. The shaman has also been considered as the preserver of cultural identity, through her task as the mediator between the cultural heritage of the past and the present situation (Lewis, 1981, in Hoppal, 1987). In order to successfully perform these tasks, shamans everywhere must acquire substantial spiritual power. Through discipline, diligence, hard work and sheer stubbornness, shamans develop relationships with spirit allies. These allies may take a variety of forms including animal, plant, light, color, or vibration. Allies are the source of a shaman's knowledge and protect her during dangerous work. The shaman heals at both the individual and societal level, making her profession as valuable today in modern Western culture as it was to our tribal ancestors. Our culture and the very existence of our planet are in jeopardy. The soul journey of the shaman is a door way to understanding and integrating a world view which can provide a basis for rebalancing our disconnected relationship with all that is. | |
|
Reply
| |
Testing the Spirits the Shaman’s Way, a “How To�?For Everyone.
Sometimes in our dreams we are visited by a stranger, some ominous personality that we do not recognize and we do not know if this is a good stranger or a not so good stranger. Sometimes we feel a negative energy around us and do not like this feeling. Some of us are able to astral travel and may encounter all sorts of beings there both human and non human. Is this really an angel? Is this really a guide? How do we know who to trust? There is a specific technique that a Shaman uses to determine if spirits, guides, entities, beings that visit him or her are beneficial or not. It is an ancient technique that has been around as long as Shamanism has been around. It was written in Egyptian papyrus scrolls. It is found in the Book of Thoth, another ancient manuscript. It is found in the Bible. If you ever find yourself in an encounter with anything that you cannot determine if it is good or bad for you, just ask it three times, “Did my Creator send you here to benefit my Creator?�?/STRONG> Creator means the one who created you, your Source, your God and you can use God or Source instead of Creator if you wish. For example, “Did my God send you here to benefit God?�?“Did my Source send you here to benefit Source?�?“…Benefit my Creator�?means anything that will further the good work of Creator in your life or someone else’s. No negative spirit, entity, being, non physical manifestation can answer this question by lying three times in a row. If this is a good spirit, an angel, a guide, a beneficent presence it will recognize that you are being discriminate and careful and will gladly answer yes three times. If it is a thing of negative energy it may lie two times or even try to change the subject, but it not be able to say yes when asked the third time. When it cannot answer the third time do also send it away from you by saying, “Go back to the one who created you.�?Put some protection around yourself whether that is a light of protection, the calling in of Creator’s own protection, calling on angels to be with you, however you protect yourself. Why should I protect myself? There are innumerable energies swirling all around us. Everything is energy. We are immersed in a huge sea of energy. Energy itself is neither good nor bad. But energy can be made positive or negative. A negative thought or intention can be sent out into this sea of energy and travel like a radio wave in space. A positive thought or intention does the same. These energies are created by that thought or intention and they never are uncreated, they never wear out and die. So imagine all the thoughts and intentions in the universe that have ever been created. Wow! Why let all those thought energies bombard you? No need. Why not just let those positive energies that can benefit you be the ones you allow into your energy field and protect yourself from all the rest.
A Shaman keeps a bubble of protection around him or herself at all times. It is not because the Shaman feels threatened or is in danger. It is just because we simply do not need all these errant energies affecting us. There are many ways to protect yourself from errant energies. One way to visualize that you are inside a soap bubble. This soap bubble is always with you, always around you as long as you want it to be. You only have to think of it to know it is there. Inside this soap bubble is the pure white light of Creator, of Source. It is beautiful and sacred and is actually the love of Creator for you that you have always had since before you were born. The outside of this bubble you can visualize as a kind of semi permeable teflon material. It is a very fine mesh that keeps out negative energy and only allows in energy that benefits you, good energy. This is your bubble, your space, your self, where you are safe and secure and always in the presence of Creator who has always been with you. It is really a beautiful space to have around yourself and I want you to know this gift and feel it in your daily life. Just remember this bubble in the morning and at night as you lie down to sleep. Only good energy, love, peace, happiness, joy, abundance can get into this bubble of protection. Only those spirits, angels, good guides who are made by your Creator and sent by your Creator can enter here. Try this and find a new sense of comfort and freedom in your life. Remember that every thought and intention you create also exists forever. Try to think positive thoughts and intend good things. In this way you become a healer in this world. |
|
Reply
| |
What Is Impeccability ? |  Impeccability by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls
The key to living in this world as a healer is to incorporate our skills and disciplines into our hearts in the most impeccable way possible. It is not enough to have knowledge or good intentions. The Shaman strives constantly to be the most disciplined and the highest skilled hunter he can be. He is not concerned with his own life, obsessed with any outcome, or allowing himself to give power away to anyone or anything. It is in the control and direction of his power that he hones his skills to become an impeccable hunter in the forest. A Shaman is a warrior, a hunter. He is on his highest alert, fully prepared, moving deliberately with his intention held firmly in place in the forefront of his mind. He is ready for anything, being emotionally centered although feeling the excitement of the hunt and the anticipation of the successful outcome. No one could sneak up on a good hunter. It is he who is doing the stalking. The hunter knows his skills, has practiced a long time, and knows where to look for the game he needs. A hunter has heightened his senses so he can smell the wind and see in low light. He knows a bear or wolf can attack him at anytime so he does his very best every minute. To do less may mean his death. What causes the Shaman to seek impeccability? The Shaman knows that death walks with him on his left side close enough to reach out and touch him at any moment. It is in this understanding that all we have is today, right now, to be the best we can be, that we are called to be constantly walking the path of impeccability. When one’s mortality is always a present thought we begin to see our lives with different eyes. Ask anyone suffering from a terminal disease and they will tell you how precious it is to watch a sunrise, to see a child sleeping, to hug your dog. We learn to wash the dishes as though it is the last time we may ever wash the dishes. It becomes a ceremony, an act of love and a joy to perform. Death becomes a friend, an ally, a guide to what is most important right now in our lives, what we most need to do and be and say to those we love. There is no time to wait until tomorrow. When we observe our own mortality we see that it does not matter if we are kings or paupers, rich or poor, famous or unknown. These things have nothing to do with our true selves. The hunter does not sit in the forest and shout out his importance to the trees. He is a hunter, like so many hunters who have gone to this forest before him to accomplish the same goal. He thinks of his brothers and sisters and is honored to sit with them in spirit and share their experience. With a sense of one’s own mortality there comes a sense of humility natural for anyone realizing the larger picture of all of life. It is not about standing taller than those who came before. If we only have today, would we not want to be the best we can be today? A Shaman has in many ways met his own death; The death of his childhood ideas, the death of his ego and self importance, the death of his emotional surges that would drag him back and forth. The hunter has a personal relationship with death, not one of adversary but one of necessity and even sustenance. Walking with this understanding allows one to see the beauty in every vision, every action, and every moment of one’s life. It is not about becoming perfect. Perfection is striving to be one better than your neighbor, to achieve status, to break a record. Perfection causes striving and since it is never attained, it leaves the striver unfulfilled, unhappy and unsatisfied. But a life lived impeccably is filled with joy, with wonder and with satisfaction that every action, thought and word was the very best effort one could make. This is the core of loving yourself in the highest and truest form.
A Shaman in his awareness of his mortality finds himself much more alert and aware, trying to drink in everything around him. Thus, he gains knowledge on a level not approached by others. This knowledge then hones his sense of awareness and he sees the work of deeper energies on the earth and studies them with excitement and a natural thirst for improvement. This in turn engenders even more honing of skills causing more awareness and so impeccability is naturally engendered not through pride or perfection but through awe and experiencing all that can be experienced in the short time he has. This is the true source of personal power and this power is only available by living an authentic life. The hunter chooses to bring sustenance to himself and his people by being the very best hunter he can be. He is willing to accept any challenge he may encounter in that forest with skill, awareness and a sense of anticipation in success. Your life circumstance is the forest for you. Stand in your forest with impeccability and you will find yourself surrounding with love and joy and adventure for every minute of your short time on this planet. Become all that you can be. | |
|
Reply
| |
What Is A Power Song And Where Do I Get One? | By Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls Power Songs are oral prayers expressing your true self, your nature, your individuality, your power. All cultures have power songs but you can have your own power song too. We think of the power in a hymn or an African chant, a Shamanic ceremony song or even in the howling of wolf. And there is definite power in sound. All Shamans have several power songs because the vibration of the notes in the voice and in the fourth chakra of the throat stimulate sympathetic vibrations in the universe to respond. Everything is connected. What you put out comes back to you. When a butterfly flutters his wings in Cost Rica the winds of Africa are stirred. And when a sound is offered, the universe responds. Power songs are used in preparation for journeying, healing, offering Reiki, praying, grounding, for protection, for celebration, for solace, anytime you want to connect with the universe in this very special way. To demonstrate the power of voice and musical notes I would like to you try this exercise. The fourth chakra is the note FA as in Do Re Me FA. Find a piano and discover the sound of this note if possible. Or find your own closest approximation to it. It is important to find the sound of FA. The fourth note or sound of FA is also the note of manifestation or creation upon this planet. So if we want to manifest healing, for example, we can send our intention out upon the note FA into the universe and healing will resonate with our voice of FA and become manifest where we are intending. It really is that simple. Don't try to complicate it like so many others have. This little simple secret is one that some people have paid thousands of dollars for. Some people have made millions creating musical tapes based on the sound of Fa, subliminal, holosync tapes that offer healing are based on the sound FA. But now you know how to do it yourself. The visual symbol for the universe made manifest is the square. This symbolizes the power of thought and vibration becoming solid and material in this apparent world. So let’s combine the sound of Fa with the visualization of a square. Get yourself someplace comfortable where you will not be disturbed for a while. Close your eyes and visualize a square. Intone the sound FA and watch the square and see what image appears there. You can also do this backwards by visualizing the person you want to heal in the square and intoning the sound of FA. Or anything that you would like to manifest for the good of yourself and the world. Shamans use this technique all the time. The last ingredient the Shaman uses here is desire or strong will. He or she really wants this healing to happen, they can really feel the wish, they put all their emotional energy into the intent. I often get to dancing and rattling while I intone my power song and bring my whole body into the act of intending a healing for someone. The more feeling you put into it, the stronger the vibration. Have you ever listened to a Native American song? There is usually one major tone for the song, isn't there! Now you know why! As a final thought, each note in the scale represents a unique vibratory pattern in the universe. You could do a study to find those out if you would like to know more about sound. So you see the need for your own power song. Create one this week. it is usually just a line or two repeated over and over. You can use words or vowels or an imaginary language. As long as you create it with FA as your base and emotion and intent, it will be perfect. Power songs are usually kept private and seldom sung in public. The only time they are sung in public is when a group of Shamans have gathered to do a combined healing. It is your prayer to the universe. | |
|
Reply
| |
What Is A Medicine Bag and How Do I Make Mine? | By Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls A medicine bag is an ancient item that spiritually represents the person who wears it. In 1991 the body of a man who lived over 5,000 years ago was found frozen in a high mountain range and with him was a medicine bag. The medicine bag is known in all cultures and through out all of history. They contain objects such as leaves, feathers, stones, herbs such as sweetgrass, sage, cedar, lavender or pinion, and other objects which have been added by the wearer and considered spiritually significant. Medicine bags can be as small as 1 inch by 1 inch or as large as 30 inches in length. They are typically made of leather and you can purchase such a bag to make your own at most metaphysical stores. The reasons to carry a medicine are for guidance, healing and protection. Most medicine bags contain a quartz crystal as one of its objects. Quartz energy resonates with all the energies of the physical body and is considered a remarkable healing stone. It connects you to your spiritual self. Other items you might like in your own medicine bag are items you may have found a special attraction to or resonance with in your life. For example, a special shell you found at the seashore or a feather you found or a piece of pine tree or a juniper berry that holds meaning for you. We often meet up with items that seem to be just waiting for us to pick them up and carry them home and then we don’t know what to do with them. This is one place to give them a home close to your heart. The essence of these special items create an energy in your medicine bag and that energy is the force that represents you. So by creating a medicine bag and wearing it close to your heart you are connecting with your spiritual self, the authentic you and always remembering who you are. The Shaman often carries a medicine bag that has items in it for healing oneself and others. I carry many things in my tiny medicine bag. I met with a group of healers recently who laughed at me for having such a small medicine bag! Mine is only about 1 inch by 1 ½ inches. But it is not about the size at all, it is about what it contains. My medicine bag contains items that I can use for healing others on the spot. I carry jojoba, a plant grown in the southwest for healing skin infections, bug bites and rashes. I carry a moonstone for healing trauma, a small piece of serpentine that heals all kinds of internal disorders. A small ostrich feather to heal any kind of spiritual negativity, a seagull feather to remove any lesions or other intrusions upon the body, the herb feverfew to ease fevers, a hair from an elephant who is my totem animal, the animal that I resonate the most with, and the Three Sisters: a kernel of corn, a dried bean and a squash seed that connect me to the abundance and healing of Mother Earth. So the medicine bag I carry is a healing bag and I might remove an item or use the whole bag in an emergency situation or when visiting someone who is sick by laying my bag upon the illness or broken leg for example. It works! Your medicine bag is a holy item for you and should never be opened by anyone. It contains your holy items, those that help you heal, those that bring you protection, those items that connect you with your guides or angels. The word totem animal is often referred to and that would mean something that represents an animal that you closely identify with and feel a kinship for as I do with the elephant. You can put something to represent this animal in your medicine bag. Your item represents the power of this animal. To make your medicine bag you can purchase a small leather pouch or make your own from a piece of hide or natural colored canvas. The outside of your bag should be a natural color or earth tone like tan. You can decorate the outside of your bag with symbols or drawings of animals or leaves, whatever feels right in your heart. Before placing your items in your bag take a moment to bless them and realize their meaning in your life and why you wish to carry them with you in this way. Bless Mother Earth and her creatures for providing these things for you. Think of how each item represents your own power to heal, to guide and protect others by carrying this medicine bag. This is your connection to your spiritual nature. Carrying this medicine bag will increase your awareness of your own sacredness and the bag becomes sacred too. AS you go through life you may find other things you want to add to this medicine bag. If you wear it and add to it throughout the years it becomes a spiritual scrap book of your life, your travels, your achievements, who you really are and is a wonderful thing to hand down to grandchildren who can understand its meaning and respect its value as you now do. | |
|
Reply
| |
Selenite  <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> The Selenite I offer comes from the <ST1:PLACE>Southwest US</ST1:PLACE>. The southwest is one of the areas on the planet where vortices of a new kind of energy are being awakened and where future healing communities are going to be located. Selenite is showing us the way as it establishes a certain rare frequency of light and offers fertile soil for the conscious awareness of a New Paradigm. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite is a variety of Gypsum, a common mineral found in sedimentary rocks. It is formed through the evaporation of salt water from ancient seas. Its essence as salt resonates with our own salt water bodies in the most primal fashion. It resonates with all human beings. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite looks like ice clear or partly cloudy, striated, fine, delicate crystals. It is extremely soft as a salt crystal would be and is fragile. In fact you can scratch it with your fingernail. It is found in the sunshine, in the desert and thrives on light. It is not meant to be kept in a box or drawer but is a carrier of light energy. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Even thinking negative thoughts or handling it roughly will cause it to splinter or break. Selenite is usually striated meaning the long lines running along the length of the crystal, channel high energy through the crystal from the sun and other sources of light. It is nature’s own transceiver, natures own fiber optic crystal which is able to conduct light like those pretty fiber optic lamps that are so popular. This quality proves that it is also is the fiber pathway for the Light of Spirit.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite exists at the doorway between spirit and nature. It is the fiber holding these two worlds in communication with each other and is a receiver for information from the causal plane. It provides its owner with more facility to reach these planes and communicate with the higher spiritually evolved beings, masters and teachers who are willing to use Selenite as a means of communication. After all, that is why we have Selenite coming into awareness at this time. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite vibrates at a very high frequency almost too high to be seen manifested on the physical planes. In fact, until humans were evolved enough to be aware of sensing such high frequencies, Selenite was not seen for what it is although it has existed forever. That is why you may not have heard of it before.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite can for some practitioners according to Katrina, “…bend, curl, turn red hot and back again before your very eyes.�?It has such a high frequency that its physical manifestation is quite fluid. Selenite brings Light into the subtlest of things manifested. It bends pure white light to manifest things on the earth planes. So it is a catalyst of manifestation for you. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> What Is It Really?  <O:P></O:P> Selenite comes originally from ancient oceans and seas. So it is a water element just as the emotions are associated with the element water. . It has been found that Selenite has a direct effect upon balancing the emotions. Other stones like Smithsonite and Green Aventurine are already known to produce calming effects. But Selenite goes to a higher level and activates our spiritual feeing sense, our inner sense of feeling. Selenite has been attributed with the power to stabilize the 4 body system (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) using spiritual light force<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> I am talking about reaching the state of a mystical experience or when one reaches the causal plane. That feeling of complete balance when you are in a very spiritual state of calm and joy. That is the sense of spiritual light force that Selenite can bring to you. And in this feeling, this state, you are connected to the causal self experience. So this stone will help you reach the causal state that yogis and mystics and saints have been reaching over the centuries. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Why would this stone suddenly show up now?<O:P></O:P> Because we are reaching a new era. We have been studying and learning and growing and reaching ever upward in our own spiritual development and we are ready to work with a stone like Selenite now. <O:P></O:P> <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Let me tell you some of the other things that Katrina has discovered about Selenite.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite Abilities  <O:P></O:P> Selenite is able to balance and lift you above your emotional feelings to the feelings of the soul as it emanates from our hearts. The emotional energy that is usually misspent and wasted can be transmuted into the energy of the Christed Heart within your being. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Rubbing a piece of Selenite along the line of striation can align you with the energies of emotional balance, strength and energy. Doing this daily can bring you into alignment with your true feelings and protect you from wasting your energy on over-emotionalism. This allows one to listen to the spiritual call of the heart rather than to react to the ways of the world. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite can increase the frequency of physical matter to a more spiritual plane as well as lower the frequency of light into a more physical plane. Yes, it becomes a bridge between the spiritual and physical. It can create new electrical synapses with your own physical body allowing your light body to manifest more clearly for you in this physical world. Selenite light transmission will eventually strengthen and change your nervous system and other organs to allow the messages of non physical planes to manifest in the third dimension. In doing this work you become part of the recreation and enlighten of the world. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> <O:P> </O:P> CAUTION:<O:P></O:P> This crystal is not to be used without understanding and care. Many changes will occur within your 4 body system, that is physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You must desire this transmission of light energy and be ready to process these changes into your being. If you are meant to work with this crystal, you will feel the calling to do so. Do not purchase one out of mere curiosity or for fun. I have the responsibility of finding these pieces of Selenite good owners who are willing to work daily with them , to respect their energy and work in cooperation with them, not to merely put them aside in a box or drawer. That would be a disservice to the Selenite and to Mother Earth and indeed to yourself. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Katrina talks about the importance of recognizing that you have a soul star and an earth star in your ethereal body. She relates them to being chakras, the earth star located 12 inches below your feet and the soul star being 12 inches above you head. She says that we need to align these chakras and connect with earth firmly before working with Selenite as this crystal will energize the soul star above the head. She warns us that to activate the soul star before activating the earth star can cause terrible imbalance. She says that once we plant our feet firmly on the ground and create that foundation then we can bear the transmittal of light that Selenite brings us from the Source through the Soul star. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> In Shamanic terms, she is saying that we must achieve balance in our 4 body system in order to work with Selenite in harmony. I know from experience this is true. She tells us that if we are not grounded and have not personally done enough clearing and healing of our own four body system that physical as well as ethereal damage can be done as the light from source is diffused and radiated to all the energetic systems of the 4 body system. She describes a strain on the nervous system, sever disorientation, disassociation, headaches and vision problems. I can attest to this fact personally. So if you purchase Selenite, it is your responsibility to activate the earth star and ground Selenite’s light force. She recommends grounding with Black Tourmaline, Smoky Quartz or Hematite in particular.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Other Uses for Selenite:  <O:P></O:P> Selenite’s beautiful and rare clarity can be used to balance the mind and bring light rays into any environment. It has the power to conduct light rays like fiber optic material and it so conducts high frequency light rays that are even above what the human eye can visibly see. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite can record information written on light rays that are not visible to the human eye. Yes there are many pieces of information inscribed on light that are not visible to us. Think of the hologram. If you are clear enough and balanced enough it is possible for you to receive these messages from Selenite just as the fiber optic cable can bring sounds and images. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite can be used to send messages and images too. Katrina recommends selecting what thought or image you wish to send to a particular person and then holding a piece of Selenite to your third eye as you intend for this to occur. This is a wonderful way to send healing and protection to family, friends, groups, populations or the world at large. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite can be used in healing with crystals but I recommend that you read Katrina’s instruction on this as Selenite is so powerful and needs to be used in the proper ways and means so as not to disrupt the healee’s own energetic system. Again, her injunction that we are fully grounded to the earth star before using Selenite to open our soul star is vitally important. Please read her book , “The Crystalline Transmission�?by Katrina Raphaell before doing laying on of crystals work with Selenite.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Selenite in crystal healing is also used in assisting the death process to release connections between the physical and emotional bodies and the spiritual body. Again please read her book before trying this. I only tell you here to show you the strength of this incredible crystal.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> As you sit with your Selenite and learn more and more about it and how to use it you may notice that it bends or waves or curls or changes color before your very eyes. You are seeing into a 5th dimensional plane when you look into Selenite, the causal plane, the place where your guides and teachers come to teach you, where you see the world from without, where you stand in the presence of all things as one thing and realize your connection to the Source. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> The Causal Plane:<O:P></O:P> This body resonates at a higher frequency than the mental body. This is the place where we begin abstract thought. We need to balanced in the first three bodies to reach any mastery here. The beginnings of reaching the causal state happen in your spiritual body. We all start out with an awareness of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. Your spiritual body also needs to be balanced to reach the causal state. This is the place where, when we are balanced, we can get an overview of those things happening around us both in the physical world and in the mental world. We reach a place that is over our normal emotions, over our physical selves, over our own mental selves to see the bigger picture and understand things more deeply. This is where the Shaman lives. Think of it as getting out of the trees and climbing the fire tower to get that big picture of the forest. It is easier to live here where you can see what is going on. It is easier to make better decisions from here. It is easier to see why people believe what they do and how their beliefs affect their lives. It is a place of non judgment here. There is no room for judgment because that yanks you right off the tower and back down to your mental body. There is no room for emotional poor me stuff because that yanks you right back to your emotional body. There is no room for physical over-stimulation or tiredness as that yanks you right off the fire tower and into your physical body.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> At first you may only be able to get here for a few seconds at a time. You will know when you are here because the separation between you and everything else is gone. All things are one thing and the one thing is Source. You feel that overwhelming connection to all things here. It is a wonderful place to live from when you learn how. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> It is from here that the Shaman can make contact with his or her guides, totems and teachers. This is the state required while sitting at the entrance to the inner worlds that you wish to accomplish. Perhaps now you can see why this Shaman would want to offer this crystal to her students and to anyone who is willing to do the work with this tool to more easily access the causal state necessary to the Shaman.<O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> My Experience with Selenite  <O:P></O:P> I live with in the Causal state 95% of the time and I am learning how to access the buddhic state more and more through effort and study and experience. Selenite as greatly facilitated my ability to remain in the causal state but not without its challenges as well. There have been times when I was upset about something emotionally and I threw my selenite away in the garbage because it was only forcing me to choose between balance and feeling sorry for myself! You will go through some love-hate moments with it too! You may not be willing to give up certain emotional attachments you have and Selenite will bring that right in your face! You will have the choice to balance and love your Selenite or not to balance in which case the Selenite will reject you and you will reject it. If this happens to you, please return your Selenite to me and I will find it a good home. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> Just when you think you are making progress in reaching the causal state the Selenite will increase its transmission of information and remind you each time you fall just a little bit into your lower bodies or emotional, physical, spiritual or mental imbalance. I don’t recommend wearing Selenite under any circumstances. If you do keep a piece of Selenite in your medicine bag, don’t be surprised if you get recurring boots in the butt for being off balance or anytime you are ungrounded. It can get quite unpleasant and you may forget that it is the Selenite that is kicking you so you don’t even know why you feel like that. <O:P></O:P> <O:P> </O:P> I do sleep with my Selenite under my pillow so that I can receive the energies and knowledge transmissions during the night. I do allow my Selenite to receive natural light during the day each day. It seems to need natural sunlight. I have learned many things during my work with Selenite, some things I do not even understand fully. Remember that it works from the 5th dimension of space, time where all thoughts ever created are present, where guides, Ascended Masters and teachers are teaching things we can only imagine at best from this 3rd dimensional planet. |
|
Reply
| |
SMUDGING: HOW TO DO IT--HOW NOT TO DO IT | By: Michelle Chihacou White Puma Klein-Ha I came across a very interesting article from "Shaman's Drum" which was reprinted for Vision Quest Bookstore. I will attempt to convey the gist of it, along with my views, as a student of the Ways of the Teneh, about it. Smudging is a way of using the smoke from burning herbs as a way to cleanse the body, an object, or a given area of negative influences. I myself use smudging to "cleanse" crystals before using them in jewelry projects I may do, and for protecting my home from some recent "bad vibe"-producing events. (landlord troubles!) I imagine that the skillful use of the proper herbs could help in warding and banishing ceremonies as well, if used properly and with reverence. The three most used plant material for smudging are sage of all types, cedar, and sweetgrass. Sage There are two major genii and several varieties of each genus of Sage that are used for smudging. Salvia, or the herb sage used for cooking, comes in two major varieties: S. Officinalis, commonly known as Garden Sage, and S. Apiana, commonly known as White Sage. Salvia varieties have long been acknowledged as healing herbs, reflected in the fact that its genus name comes from the Latin root word *salvare*, which is the verb "to heal" or "to save." Artemisia is the genus commonly considered "Sagebrush", and is more common in the wilds out here in California. There are two major varieties to the Artemisia genus: A. Californica, or Common Sagebrush, and A. Vulgaris, or Mugwort. There are many other varieties of both Salvia and Artemisia, and all are effective in smudging. Sage is burned in smudging ceremonies to drive out evil spirits, negative thoughts and feelings, and to keep Gan'n (negative entities) away from areas where ceremonials take place. In the Plains Sweatlodge, the floor of the structure is strewn with sage leaves for the participants to rub on their bodies during the sweat. Sage is also used in keeping sacred objects like pipes or Peyote wands safe from negative influence. In the Sioux nation, the Sacred Pipe is kept in a bundle with sage boughs. I would think special crystals could be so protected this way as well. Cedar True cedar is of the Thuja and Libocedrus genii. Some Junipers (Juniperus genus) are also called "cedar", thus complicating things some. Some Juniper varieties ARE cleansing herbs, especially J. Monosperma, or Desert White Cedar. But for smudging, the best is Western Red Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and California Incense Cedar (Libocedrus descurrens). Cedar is burnt while praying to the Great Spirit (Usen', the Source--also known to Plains nations as Wakan Tanka) in meditation, and also to bless a house before moving in as is the tradition in the Northwest and Western Canada. It works both as a purifier and as a way to attract GOOD energy in your direction. It is usually available in herb stores in chipped form, which must be sprinkled over a charcoal in a brazier. I like a piece of charcoaled mesquite for this purpose, rather than the commercial charcoal cake. Sweetgrass Very important to the Sioux and Cherokee nations, its botanical name is Hierochloe Oderata. In these tribes, the sweetgrass is braided like hair braids. It could be burnt by lighting the end of it, or (more economically) by shaving little bits of it onto charcoal in a brazier. Again, use charcoaled Mesquite (I believe it comes packaged for barbecue use under the brand name "Red Arrow") to burn it, not pressed charcoal tablets. Sweetgrass is burnt after smudging with sage, to welcome in good influences after the bad had been driven out. Sweetgrass is very rare today, and traditional Plains people have been attempting to protect the last of it. Myself, I believe that Cedar, which is not endangered, can safely be used this way. Also Pinon pine needles (used more frequently by the Southwest Teneh, like the Navajo and Apache as well as the Pueblo people and the Zuni) and Copal (used by the Yaqui and in ancient times by the Azteca and the Maya) have similar effect. The three mentioned here are redily available either through gathering yourself or, in the case of copal resin, from any good herb shop. Using Smudging Burn clippings of the herb in a brazier...not a shell as some "new age" shamanic circles do...it is an insult to White Painted Woman (The Goddess) to do this, especially with the abalone shell which is especially sacred to Her. If the herb is bundled in a "wand", you can also light the end of the wand that isn't woody and use that. I like the latter way. Direct the smoke with your hands or with a Peyote (feather) wand over the person or thing you wish to smudge. If you can see auras, look for discolored places in the aura and direct the healing smoke towards those places on the patient's body. For cleansing a house, first offer cedar smoke to the four directions outside the house. Then, take a sage bough and go throughout the inside of the house, making sure the smoke penetrates every nook and cranny of the house. It might help also, if you have a power animal, to visualize your animal doing these things, to also dance your animal, and if you have a power song, to sing that too. Then finally, run through the house with a white candle that is well protected, to "light up" the house. Careful not to burn it down when you do it!!! Final Thoughts Smudging should be done with care, with reverence, and in an attitude of LOVE. Show your respect and honor to the plants that Usen' has given us for our healing, and they will return the favor by keeping us well and free from disease and negative energy. Aloe Vera plants, though not to be burnt, are good for the cleansing angle as well. Keep one or more potted Aloe Veras in the house (modern varieties are too tender to plant in anything but full shade outside) in organic (wood or ceramic, never plastic or metal) pots. To honor the plant when you transplant it, sprinkle the roots with corn meal and smudge it with cedar once it is transplanted. The spirit of Aloe Vera is a good protective spirit, and if you burn yourself, can also be used to heal your skin. BE SURE TO ASK THE PLANT'S PERMISSION before cutting part of the leaf off for the healing juice. If you don't, the protective power of the plant will cease, and you will be left with but an inert houseplant...and perhaps some bad karma to boot. Hi-dicho, it is finished....ENJU! | |
|
Reply
| |
Are Totems the Same As Spirit Guides? For more on impeccability read on here....http://www.shamanelder.com/eclear/impeccability.htm | Spirit guides may or may not also be totem animals. I have a spirit guide who comes to me as a white pelican. I have an elephant who is strictly a totem and not a spirit guide. A spirit guide is a teacher with something to teach you. A totem animal is often a protector, a mate to travel the Inner Worlds with who knows its way around and can get you in, to your destination and out again safely. I can ride my elephant right into the Under World and he will stop at exactly the place I need to be to effect someone's healing. When I have the healing I climb back on and he brings me right back. If anything untoward appears he can step on it with out effort and so he protects me completely. That is a totem animal. Why an elephant? If you look up elephants you will see Elephant: Royalty, strength, ancient wisdom,patience, careful, confident, education. No wonder I have an elephant as a totem. He represents me.Notice too that he is not a native american animal. That means something too. Your totems choose you as you are aware. You meet a totem animal, usually in the Inner Planes but sometimes it is an animal you have a special affinity for or have seen a lot lately. I prefer to meet them on the Inner Planes in meditation or such because sometimes those animals you see a lot of in this world are bringing you a message and are not totems for you. It is easy to confuse the two. Your totem animal can change during your life. As you grow and change your totem animals may change as well. You may have several totem animals at once. But one is a life totem and represents your basic self or personality, your essence. Sometimes you will have a name for your totem animal. They will tell you what it is. But I don't need names for my totems. Just as my name has been many different things, so has theirs. I am not known by my name but by my essence, my spirit. To take a tangent here, have you ever spoken to someone on the phone that you haven't met and gotten an image of what they look like? And then when you meet them they don't look like that at all? But which is correct? I think both are correct. I think we look different ways to different people and in different planes. I think we see one emanation of a person when we just know them by phone and it is as good as the physical makeup of that person. We have also lived other lives in my humble opinion and we keep some resemblance of those physical bodies in our aura as well so you might be seeing something more like that. In fact, that is often how psychics tell you about your previous lives, by the way you appear to be dressed and what you appear to be doing and what is around you. How do I know this? Hmmm... But the totem animals always represent some quality that you already have or that you are growing into. Spirit guides are teachers. They come to guide you in your education. They teach you things. They may have lived other lives. They may be "ascended" beings. They may be the wind or Father Sky or a guardian angel. They may be your higher self. They may be God. You decide. They can be animals or plants or trees or people. Here is another wisdom nugget, everything has three emanations or faces or appearances. We do and plants do and animals do and everything does. When I go into the Inner Worlds for a healing for someone, I encounter some being there who is responsible for the sickness. The first face it shows me is really goofy, odd or weird and I know that is not what it really is. So I dismiss that face and ask to see its true face. The next face it shows if it is a not nice being is some ferocious grizzly nasty scary being who tries to bite me or otherwise scare me. But I am not scared because I know that is not its true face. I may have to fend it off or punch it or step on it or catch it but I am not scared of it. I dismiss it and ask to see its true face for the third time. The third time I see what it really is and if it is a not nice being it usually looks weak and small and very lacking in every department. This is the being I negotiate with. So I know that everything has three faces. Another example is when I sit with a rock and it turns into a lily and then it becomes a butterfly and flies away. When I sit with a river and it becomes a meadow and then it is a bear walking away. So my totem is an elephant, a white elephant and it does not change its face around me. Why? Because it represents me! It is one of my own faces! How cool! A totem is one of your own many faces. That is why some people call them "familiars".
Can we have more than three faces? Yup! Some people have hundreds of faces. But everything has at least three. And usually the three represent a plant, an animal and a being. What is a being? A being can be anything incarnate or not incarnate. Many kinds of beings roam the Inner Worlds. Some have lived on this planet and some never have. Some have lived on other solar systems as well. Some from other universes. Some from long ago. Some from the future. But those who have never lived are usually the most difficult and the weirdest looking. So beings can be good or bad, helpful or pesky, even irresponsible and tricky. Although, I have seen beings who looked like the devil incarnate! When I looked under the three faces I have not met anything that my totem animals, spirit guides and myself could not handle. But I have had 50 years of training to get to this point, remember. It takes knowledge to work there in the Inner Worlds. It can be a dangerous place if you don't know what it is and how to work there. It takes emotional control. Some of these beings want things from you and they will try to get it any way they can. If you lose emotional control and that means "the right use of emotions" (I don't mean refusing to show emotion), they can get you to give them something of yourself that you should not give. Bad stuff. And it takes intent, to know what you are there for and not to lose sight of that for one instant. As soon as you lose sight of your intent you forget what you are there for and then you are fair game for any being to play with you or trick you. Bad stuff. But if you take your totem animal it will drag you out of there and get you home safely anyways. It also takes impeccability. You must become impeccable with yourself in all areas and impeccable as a hunter warrior to work within these dimensions. Read my article on impeccability at www.shamanelder.com. I cannot stress the importance of being impeccable enough. I learned these things in a hard way living with some really crazy Shamans and using their methods of journeying that were certainly not safe and sometimes very dangerous. I took journeys to places I should not have been using very strong hallucinogenics in South America and I saw things that would scare the wits out of anyone. I got lost in the Inner Worlds without a totem to pull me out. The Shaman had to reach in and grab me as I was being attacked. More than once my Shamans had to pull grizzly things off my body that were sucking on me. I once got completely lost and wandered around for weeks in a dark and desolate place I never want to see again. I teach this course in this way so you don't have to go through what I went through. I am the kind and gentle teacher, I hope. Your spirit guides will help teach you intent, emotional control, knowledge and impeccability if you allow them to. Remember it is always your free will to learn or not to learn. But don't travel to the Inner Worlds if you have not mastered the skills necessary to be safe there and to do your work there. And never go there just out of curiosity. There are too many discarnate beings waiting for you to come there unaware so they can get what they can get from you. They can be tricky and sly and even devious. They want your gong and will do anything to get it. Not all of them but enough to be very careful. Even one bee is enough to stay away from. It doesn't take a pack of grizzly bears to kill you. | |
|
|
First
Previous
2-10 of 10
Next
Last
|
|
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
Return to â—™AncientCultures