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Originally, this work began as a checklist in performing various Shamanic-healing rituals. However, as I wrote, I was compelled to include more background, history and information about the Shaman Way along with comments on some spiritual/metaphysical concepts in general. Soon I was re-reading books, notes and various Internet websites to refresh my knowledge on various notions that one tends to take for granted over time. It is my hope and goal to spark interest in the old ways that are once again surfacing in the mainstream of healing practices; and also to touch on some of the spiritual ideas, philosophies and theories incorporated in Shamanism and other spiritually-oriented beliefs…beliefs that I personally believe to be truth and fact.
I have referenced many sources that all tend to generally agree in these beliefs, including written material, texts, and what I have been taught along my walk in this life by mentors and other teachers. Ultimately, I have relied on my Spirit Guides and my Christian faith to assist me, guide me and confirm what is accurate and true. While the core topic was intended to focus on Shamanic healing practices, rituals and protocol, this work will also explore several other aspects of the Shaman Way and the Spiritual Walk.
It would be virtually impossible to attempt a truly comprehensive document or work that would touch on all the Spiritual Laws, concepts or isms of the Shaman or otherwise, much less fully expound on them. This is part of the journey—to continually learn along the way--to constantly evolve and ascend--but to never actually reach a final destination. That said, this is at best a contribution to a never-ending work in progress that will perpetually expand and evolve as knowledge is gained and documented, assimilated and integrated into this earth plane of existence.
As Dante wrote, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Shaman Defined
The word “Shaman” is derived from the language of the Tungus people of Siberia, which is assumed to be the point of origin of Shamanism. Shamans were referred to “ones who know,” or “wise ones” because of their ability to shift consciousness beyond the physical and “walk between the worlds.” Webster’s Dictionary defines a Shaman as a priest who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and controlling events.
The Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary (June G. Bletzer, PhD) defines a Shaman as, an individual capable of many psychic and medium-ship skills (characteristics either in-born or earned through many difficult initiations); serves as tribe hand-trembler, practitioner, herbalist, singer and diagnostician for sickness; serves a medicine man and the psychic; serves as the holy man, administering priestly rites; a teacher and a psychic.
A Shaman is primarily a healer—a catalyst of healing for the mind, body and the soul or spirit—a healer of the total body system and subsystems. By stepping outside of the ordinary consciousness into the spiritual realm, he/she journeys to retrieve information; he/she communicates with the spirits; he/she becomes part of the One-ness or Totality of all Creation and the God-Source.
This information is only hidden from those not attuned to the Light. The Shaman then “controls” events, not by force or will, but by flowing with Spiritual Law and the Ways of Nature. He allows the right things to happen and unfold, not force things happen. The truth is that no one has any real control over anything; but by flowing with Nature, the Universe and the spiritual energies, good things are brought forth and life in general can become much more pleasant--even blissful--to experience. The Shaman Way is a belief system and a lifestyle that should be embraced by anyone seeking their spiritual path and a better life here on this planet.
Shaman vs. Psychic?
While most people who read this might not react to the word “psychic” used with defining a Shaman, the word “psychic” itself seems to merit attention. Again referring to Webster’s, the word psychic is defined as: of or relating to the psyche (the Greek word for Soul); psychogenesis; lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge; immaterial, moral or spiritual in origin or force; sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences; marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception or understanding; a person apparently sensitive to nonphysical forces; medium; psychic phenomena.
The definition of “psychic” according the EPD: psyche, soul or that which is mental; vital or secret; sensitivity of the mind and body to subtle vibrations; pertains to paranormal events and abilities that cannot be explained in terms of established physical principles; a collective adjective to encompass all types of mental and physical supernormal skills; one whose total mind/body organization tunes into more subtle vibrational frequencies and is able to decipher this sensitivity for practical purposes; accomplished through strong desire, knowledge and practice, or through birth from a past incarnation; …one who can… enter an altered state of consciousness at will, as the supernormal skill demands; one capable of having his or her super-conscious mind and subconscious mind function beyond the limits of the third-dimensional plane submitting information to the conscious mind for interpretation…
At this point I would also like to call attention to the definition of "Mystic" again according to The Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary; it is as follows: one who brings new knowledge of spiritual Truths (proven or not); incorporates psychic skills and psychic healings with religion; aims to experience the Higher Self wherein the Ego is demolished and one transcends into a higher awareness with a deep understanding of existence; believes in a superior (divine) order of things, in God, and in life eternal; constantly seeks the inner meaning to all things regardless of how traumatic the outer experience is; helps change people in a peaceful manner. Personally, my conclusion is that a Shaman is a Mystic, and more-or-less also a psychic; but a psychic (or mystic) is not necessarily a Shaman. This latter definition does seem to equally define the qualities of a “Shaman” as it does a “psychic” and supports that either is a very natural state of existence. At one time, all people existed in this blissful (ecstatic) state of multiple consciousnesses wherein there was no significant distinction between the material/physical and the spiritual: all was part of One Being; physical was simply the manifestation, aspect or expression of the metaphysical. Everything created was spiritually based.
Kenneth Meadows, in his book Shamanic Experience: A Practical Guide to Psychic Powers, writes: “By definition shamanism is the study and practice of the principles and techniques of shamans and of the interrelationship of one’s own spirit with that of anything and everything else, be it human, animal, plant, mineral or celestial—a reaching out from within to the within of everything else.”
The point I hope to make here is to not let any negative connotations of “new age” terminology or misguided assumptions or social programming keep you from going deeper to seek out and find the real truth. There is no new knowledge; there is no “new age.” There is, however--and should be-- a Renaissance or Rebirth of this ancient knowledge on multiple levels. More and more people are finally beginning to wake up and “get it” by shedding their myopic view of spiritual concepts and new age beliefs. We are finally beginning to cycle back to the beginning, as it should be.
Sometimes we can gain clarification of something by merely looking up the definition of the word. Don’t just make the false assumption that you already know its definition—you will usually be surprised at all the nuances of any given word and their applications. The power of the spoken and/or written word cannot be taken from granted, and our words are often misunderstood or used incorrectly. What we speak we tend to manifest in our lives and the lives of others. We must learn to articulate what we intend, what we want and what we pray for. Francis Bacon wrote, “For also knowledge itself is power.” This is true. However, the other side of that coin is “A little learning is a dang’rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring (mythological spring of knowledge and higher learning). There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.” (Alexander Pope)
Keep an open mind to all learning, opinions, writings and teachings—embrace what rings true to you. Virtually every religion, philosophy or spiritual belief contains a grain of absolute truth. By studying a broad range of topics and deriving the bits of knowledge that ring true, you can then develop an eclectic personal ism that will work on most levels. Confucius wrote, “by three methods we may learn wisdom: first by reflection, which is noblest; second by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” Spiritual evolution and growth can only occur by learning from the consequences of our own free will choices, decisions and actions.
Experience is not necessarily the best teacher—sometimes failing is the best teacher. You will stumble and even fall along the way, but these are the challenges that teach the most valuable lessons. The more one studies, understands and attempts, the greater and more rewarding this walk can be regardless of the “speed bumps” along the way. Hold on to your vision and continue to demonstrate your faith. Only those who do nothing make no mistakes—and those who do nothing stagnate. For to know nothing is nothing, not to want to know anything likewise, but to be beyond knowing anything, to know you are beyond knowing anything, that is when peace enters in, to the soul of the incurious seeker.
Waxing Biblical
Some people refer to a Biblical passage below that warns of “soothsayers and fortune tellers” to rationalize psychic phenomena and gifts as “evil” or “Satanic.” The defining aspects of any of this “new” ancient knowledge and learning are the intent behind it and the source from which it comes. These are natural and God-given gifts; and as such must be used in Light Work—not for dark purposes. Sadly it is true that some of those gifted with these extraordinary abilities do not use them in as they are meant to; however, that does not make the gift inherently wrong or evil. It is the free will choice of that person to do as he/she wishes with these gifts.
Satan, Evil, the Dark Side or however you prefer to label forces not of God or the Light, simply do not have the power to endow these gifts. What the Darkness will do, however, is attempt to pervert these gifts or pretend to grant such powers. It is simply a huge fallacy that any of these spiritual or psychic gifts come from anywhere other than God/Source/Light.
For those who still fear change, who still cling to old and outdated beliefs, who still hide behind the old erroneous programs of their upbringing, who still hide behind the Bible to justify these psychic/Shamanic gifts as pagan or even evil, I would like to direct them back to the Bible to put these things into context.
Deuteronomy 18: When you come into the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of these nations. There shall not be found among you any one who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, or who uses divination, or is a soothsayer (an observer of time), or an augur (an enchanter), or a sorcerer (a witch), or a charmer, or a medium (a consulter with familiar spirits), or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all who do these things are abominations to the Lord; and it is because of these abominable practices that the Lord your God is driving them out from before you. You shall be blameless and true to the Lord, your God. For these nations, whom you shall dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from the midst of your brethren, like me [Moses]; to him you shall listen. This is what you desired and asked of the Lord your God…
…And the Lord said to me, they have well said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brethren, like you, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not hearken to My words, which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart and mind, “how shall we know words the Lord has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or prove true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously you shall not be afraid of him.
Initially there appears to be come contradiction in the connection of this promise and the preceding prohibition. However, God is establishing that up to this point, the prophets, soothsayers, diviners, etc. have not been speaking the word of God; they do not speak of the message of Light. Now, however, is the promise that God will send an order of true prophets that He commissions in unbroken succession to instruct, to direct, to teach, to guide and to warn His people. The successive “true” prophets continued to predict the coming of the Christ and Messiah. There was no longer a need to consult the old soothsayers and diviners, for God now promises to afford His people the benefit of divinely appointed prophets; those who speak in His name, and He gives them clues for judging their true identities. But the Prophet promised here is ultimately the Messiah, Jesus Christ; for He alone was “like unto Moses” on all levels of character, ministry, miracles and his communion with the Father.
Peter expressly applied the fulfillment of this prediction 1500 years later in Acts 3: Thus Moses said to the forefathers. The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren as He raised up me; him you shall listen to and understand by hearing, and heed in all things whatever he tells you… …It was to you first that God sent His Servant and Son Jesus, when He raised him up and provided him to you, to bless you in turning every one of you from your wicked and evil ways.
In Corinthians: 12-13, Paul explains the spiritual gifts, given by God through the (Holy) Spirit and the necessity of Love behind the intent in implementing and utilizing these nine (9) very special gifts. The gifts vary in degree and number from person to person; but the source of the gifts remains the same: they all come from God through the Holy Spirits.
There is really no conflict in being Shaman, Psychic and Christian as all these beliefs and gifts do blend in together very well—some are simply more gifted than others. On many levels, Jesus Christ was a Shaman; and he was a psychic.
Now about the spiritual gifts (the special endowments of supernatural energy), brethren, I do not want you to be misinformed. You know that when you were heathen, you were led off after idols that could not speak—habitually—as impulse directed and whenever the occasion might arise. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit of God can ever say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can really say, Jesus is my lord, except by and under the power and the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the Holy Spirit remains the same. And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord who is served. And there are distinctive varieties of operation—of working to accomplish things—but it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit; that is, the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit—for good and profit.
To one is given in and through the Holy Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom (1), and to another [the power to express] a word of knowledge (2) and understanding (knowing) according to the same Holy Spirit. To another Faith (3) by the same Holy Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing (4) by the One Spirit; to another the working of miracles (5), to another prophetic insight (6)—that is—the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose; to another ability to discern (7) and distinguish [between the utterances of true] spirits [and the false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues (8); and to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues (9).
All these [achievements, abilities and gifts] are inspired and brought to pass, by on and the same Holy Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually as He chooses…But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best—the higher gifts and the choicest graces. And yet I will show you a still more excellent way—one that is better by far and the highest of them all—[and that is love].
Matthew 12 reads, And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy One, will not be forgiven, either in this world and age or in the world and age to come. One might note here, that since the spiritual gifts are passed through the Holy Spirit, transgressions made against these gifts are also offenses against the Spirit (that will not be forgiven).
In John 14, Jesus authenticates and validates these spiritual gifts within all of us, and empowers and encourages us to not only do as he did, but to do even greater things in Faith and in God’s name. Further, he promises that we will never be alone, for the Father will send Holy Spirits to represent for him and act on his behalf—to help us, guide us, teach us, and prepare us against the coming of evil.
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God, believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on me. …Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? What I am telling you I do not say on my own authority and of my own accord, but the Father Who lives continually in me does the works—His miracles, His own deeds of Power… …Jesus said to him (Thomas), I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by and through me. If you had known me—had learned to recognize me—you would also have known my Father; from now on you know Him and have seen Him…
…Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the very works themselves. If you cannot trust me, at least let these works that I do in my Father’s name convince you. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if any one steadfastly believes in me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.
And I will do—I myself will grant, whatever you may ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in the Son. Yes, I will grant—will do for you—whatever you shall ask in my name. If you really love me you will keep and obey my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give another Comforter that He may remain with you forever… …I have told you these things while I am still with you.
But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall—will remind you of, bring to your remembrances—everything I have told you… …I will not talk with you much more, for the prince of this world is coming. And he has no claim on me-he has nothing in common with me, there is nothing in me that belongs to him, he has no power over me.
The Power Lies Within
Plato wrote, “as its shadow is to a solid object, so is the object itself to its archetypal idea.” There may be many valid arguments and discussions to the meaning behind this profound statement. One might be that we are shadowing the Source/God; we have been created in His image. Thusly, we are spiritual beings experiencing a physical walk on this earth plane to learn spiritual lessons; we are not physical beings merely animated by the universal life force or soul. The Shaman Way embraces and exemplifies this belief. We are here for a Higher Good and Higher Education so that we can evolve on a spiritual level.
Another analogy to this statement is that depending on where you stand in the Light determines how you will cast your shadow. If the Light is before you, you walk toward it with the shadow of your full potential still behind you. If you stand directly underneath the Light, “straddling the fence” so to speak, so that you stand still, the shadow of your full potential, while with you, is hidden beneath you. Your true potential is not obvious and stagnates. However, if you stand before the Light, with the Light shining behind you with its full power and force and infinite resources, you cast your shadow long ahead of you. Your true potential is manifested to its fullest and reaches out, radiates outward from within yourself. Of course, there is no shadow if you stand in the Darkness. Choose your Master—the Light or the Darkness.
The ability to enter a non-ordinary state of consciousness and retrieve information from the experience is a core skill of the Shaman and central to the practice of Shamanism—the fundamental ability to transcend time, space and “reality” as we know it in order to experience and actually operate in an environment that cannot be physically or sensually perceived. As discussed earlier, this is not supernatural in the eye of a Shaman, but essentially natural and holistic. The Shaman recognizes that everything is energy and everything/all energy is linked together in the One-ness or Totality of the Source, or Creator, or God or the Great Spirit. As Shakespeare wrote, “a rose is a rose, and by any other name would smell as sweet.”
By expanding conscious awareness beyond our ordinary reality—beyond this three-dimensional plane in which our physical body resides—we can discover the resources and truth to spiritual evolvement and growth; we can find healing and heal; and even find solutions to the mundane difficulties presented to us in every day life challenges. This power is inherently within and a part of us as children of Light, as souls created by God.
Written on the Oracle of Delphi is, “Know thyself and know the Universe.” The Hermetic Philosophy includes, “as above, so below; as within, so without; as the soul, so the Universe.” Kenneth Meadows also addresses this concept: “When a neophyte in the ancient wisdom was implored to ‘Know Thyself’, these two words implied far more than an understanding of the Human Self. They stressed the need to comprehend all aspects of being human, and to harmonize the different ‘selves’ into an integrated working partnership that would bring about fulfillment of the true purpose of life—the soul’s purpose—which was the reason for incarnating at a particular time and place. This is so today, and lies at the heart of shamanism.”
Shamanic rituals and functions, especially “journeying,” provides us with a way to harness this internal power and that infinite source of Light power all around us. We are able to regain knowledge that was lost or forgotten by connecting with our own souls and the divine, thus “remembering” all we have ever been and all that we are meant to do. Our own inner knowledge and Higher Self connects with the Spiritual and the Universal realms of knowledge and Higher Learning to reveal, that which has been “hidden.” This is the true medicine or power of the Shaman, to act as a conduit for Spirit to work its miracles, to heal, to provide information and truth. A Shaman truly is a mystic psychic Christ-like Light Worker. It seems to me that to embrace the Shamanic Way is to honor and follow multiple paths of Light.
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