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Shamanism

One of the remarkable spiritual developments in our time is the growing desire among western people to explore more ancient forms of spirituality that revere the earth as a living, conscious entity. These older spiritual traditions often incorporate visionary techniques that allow us to participate with the spirits of nature on lands, at sea and in the sky. People in the western culture are feeling a deep longing in the soul to rediscover the earth-honouring values and customs of their distant tribal ancestors, whose lives were rooted in the ecological realities of the natural world.

Origins

The origins of shamanism pre-date recorded civilisation - the earliest findings date back at least forty thousand years. ‘Shaman’ means ‘the one who sees’, which means that there is a strong connection to the invisible realms, the ‘spirit world’ or, in our culture, a remembering of the power of the ‘imagination’. To value the true nature of the power of the invisible world is, indeed, the key to understanding how the universe works – through the networks of energy. Knowledge about how energy works can bring many new openings to our lives and bring us into balance with our inner and outer worlds.

What is Shamanism?

Shamanism is not a doctrine or religion. It is knowledge about our connection to this planet and the universe by understanding the way energy works. Life in western culture is often felt as being a ‘struggle’. What most of us are looking for is ‘less struggle’ and more feelings of ‘joy’ and ‘freedom’.

Access to the imagination and our dream world is an important part of shamanic practice. The shaman is a healer and often is chosen for this important work because of a life crisis or trauma that opens up the channel to the spirit world. Shamans in tribes have often been chosen as healers to work with individuals or the community, to bring knowledge and heal the ‘poor spirit’.

In western culture, the practitioner is trained to work with energy through a system of ‘journeying’ and other practices such as ‘soul retrieval’ and ‘soul remembering’. The teachings help us to ‘fine tune’ our imagination and work more closely with the spirit world. This can bring great joy in discovering that we are truly connected to all things and that we can learn to bring our ‘dreams’ into this ‘reality’ and live a more ‘creative and purposeful life’. How often do we believe that our ‘dreams’ are only ‘figments of the imagination?’ How wonderful it is to be able to bring those dreams into practical form and to start to build a life that feels more connected to everything else! We can start to experience our lives as being ‘full’ instead of ‘empty’.

Freedom

Shamanism is about ‘freedom’, not as an idea but as a living experience. Our longing for freedom asks that we reconnect with our instincts, for instincts are the voice of the multi-sensory quantum realms. In short, it asks that we come home to ourselves. A way to this homecoming is through shamanic practice, which can allow the world-view to expand until it becomes large enough to encompass the whole of reality.

This practice can help to build powerful bridges between our rich inner worlds of consciousness and our day-to-day experiences. The ‘gift’ of this connection is a deeper understanding of ourselves in relation to the wider universe. Shamanism is a link to understanding messages from our deeper selves and using this information to bring practical tools and skills into making our lives work more ‘effectively’ in this reality.