Sacred Journeys shamanism

What is Practical Shamanism?

By Lou Worldweaver, as published in Odyssey Magazine, Feb/Mar 2010

Throughout human history, various forms of Shamanism have been present in every culture, with each form having their own definition and understanding of it. At its fundamental core, Shamanism is about Awareness. It takes ever increasing levels of awareness, both of self and the environment to change and grow. The physical body is a patterned assembly of molecules and energy which houses the soul. In its hunger, the soul yearns to learn from all levels of experience in physical reality in order to evolve on its sacred journey to the light. It takes awareness to learn to identify how little attention is given to the present and how much attention is given to the past. A shaman is aware that there is more power in the present and that experiencing new and challenging things, is what leads to the growth of the soul. The three key elements to heightening and expanding one's awareness are forgiveness, presence and self trust. Practical Shamanism is the art of incorporating these elements into every part of one's everyday life.

Before embarking on a path of Shamanism, I felt like my life was a constant reliving of the pains and sorrows of my past with no hope of resolution or change in sight. The demons of regret, insecurity, doubt, depression and fear were constant companions. I felt victimized by life and a prisoner to my own life situation. The future was dim and obscured with the belief that I was destined to continue repeating my failures and reliving my shortcomings. As a young teenager I thought to myself that there had to be more to life than this, but had no clue how to change any part of it. It was through my introduction to Shamanism that change began to happen. It taught me that for any change to occur, I had to look for the cause of what was keeping things the same or stuck in a repeating pattern. Therefore the task was to navigate beyond my perspective and understanding of the story and see it from different angles. First, was to find the courage to acknowledge other points of view and second was to let go of blaming others. I had to learn to forgive myself and accept responsibility for my role in the story. This brought a clearer understanding of the story and a healing of the blaming and grieving over my losses. The gain from doing this was wisdom.

The second element of presence can be seen as both a by product and ingredient to the process of forgiveness. For any forgiving to even happen I had to be present with what I was feeling and experiencing in any given moment, especially when I felt like a victim and was despairing about life. I had to stay present with whatever emotions I was feeling. If I wanted to change my pattern of numbing out and hiding from pain, I couldn't run away from any uncomfortable feelings. I had to let the feelings run their course and move through me and then dissolve. As a by product, it becomes easier and more attractive to stay present in any given circumstance. Being triggered, losing perspective and going into emotional reaction weren't showing up as much when life got challenging or didn't go as expected. In fact, staying present made it easier to learn from the experience without repeating old mistakes or habits. This made each day begin to feel fuller and more gratifying instead of a day of drudgery, boredom and repetitiveness.

Similarly, the 3rd element of self trust has two components. It took self trust to even begin the process of healing and releasing the past. I had to start listening to and acting upon that faint and often unheard voice inside that knew the truth. There needed to be a change in the old habit of ignoring and distrusting the guidance and wisdom of this voice. I had to begin to trust that this voice was capable of guiding me in making good choices and decisions. This resulted in there being less need to be right, to prove myself to the world and to seek approval from others. I gained more comfort in knowing that I could trust the choices and decisions I was making with less concern about the opinions of others. I discovered that it was more fun and desirable to be in the driver's seat than being the passenger in my own car.

It is important to keep in mind that this is a lifelong process. Nature teaches that it takes time and patience for the acorn to become a mature oak tree. The acorn must first go into the darkness of the earth before it can re-emerge and grow towards the light. Even as it grows, its roots stay firmly planted in that darkness. The darkness of the past provides the support and wisdom to make the choices that lead to the light. Regardless of its circumstance or given environmental situation, the oak tree focuses its awareness on its unrelenting growth to the light. Questioning our existence and thinking there has to be more than this, is the souls voice, inspiring us to continue seeking until the answers are discovered. We must be patient as we learn to breathe in life more fully and take more risks. If a slip up happens and an old behaviour pops up, just bring it into awareness and reengage with the process of letting it go. When the unknown, the new and the mysterious become the focus, the child within emerges and embraces the joy of life. Life will begin to feel more effortless with greater synchronicity. There is more passion for life with a stronger emphasis on how it is lived. Life becomes a pleasure to live and there is a sense of feeling comfortable in one's own skin. The meaning to life may not be fully clear but there is a greater sense of purpose to what we are doing in our lives. The path of the Shaman is to walk through life as the warrior and the healer, using any tool available in the determination to become the sacred human. Of the countless shamanic tools available, the four major ones are, ceremony, purification lodge, vision quest and spirit guides.