Walking in Gratitude

When I was a child I was always connected to nature. I spent most of my time outside talking to any animals I could find or even talking to the trees. The smell of rain and rich earth lit up my soul. My brother and sister could be found inside where it was warm, but I was in the snowy back yard with runny nose and my dog Dusty right beside me. I would tell her stories I'd both read and had written.

In the summer you could find me barefoot with my dad at any of the gorgeous Colorado lakes or rivers standing in the water with a fishing pole in hand. I was home.

Today, and for the last couple of years I've heard the calling of home again. I hear the chattering of the trees and the murmuring of flowing water. I read the clouds. I spend time in my backyard with my chickens under my apricot tree. It's a much different message this time. I feel the sadness of our Earth Mother. Political unrest and divide have upended the natural processes that allow her to sustain humankind. Greed-driven power is damaging her. But I believe I've found a way that will help.

What I’ve found is my path. I can't really call it a new path, because like nature, it's always been there, waiting for me to come back. It's the shamanic path of the wounded healer. Through nature and my own healing of trauma and pain, I found I could help others with the guidance of my helping spirits.

I've spent time studying through books and learning about others who have followed a similar path and now use it to heal others. Like most fields of study, books will only take you so far. The most important wisdom I've gained comes through the shamanic journey. It is a practice that involves reaching an altered state of consciousness through drumming so that I may access and interact with the world of spirit.  I do this for my own guidance, and I do it on behalf of others to help guide them in their own healing.

It sounds pretty "out there". I know it did to me when I first learned about it. All I know is that it works. I tend to come at things from an academic approach. I like the tangible, the practical. I started from that point but it didn't pop for me until I tried it. I went on my first shamanic journey and then the world opened up to me like it never had before. It was there that I met my power animal. From him, I've had loving guidance and advice that I can always depend on. It may not always be what I want to hear, but it is always what I need to hear. Our relationship is the result of a mutual trust that we’ve built together. Now I’ve been guided and encouraged by spirit to help others and I’m answering that call by becoming a shamanic practitioner.

It isn’t through my own abilities that I can accomplish any type of spiritual work. It is through the wisdom of my helping spirits and power animals. In them lies the ability and the power. I am merely a conduit through which the information flows. In the shamanic world we call it a “hollow bone”.  I serve as a hollow bone through which information can pass from the spiritual world to my client.

You may be wondering, is this a religion? No. “Shamanism is a methodology, not a religion.” – Michael Harner PhD.  It’s nothing more than an avenue to access the world of spirit. It is a spiritual practice compatible with any religion, or no religion at all.

Shamanism is the thread that connects all original peoples of this planet. It can be traced back tens of thousands of years on opposite ends of the globe. Our ancestors’ survival depended on the shaman of the community journeying to the land of spirit to find out where the food was, where they could find water, or how to heal their people.

I don’t think anyone can argue the fact that our world today feels tired and burned out both literally and figuratively. I believe in hope and the power of change. The beautiful thing is that when we heal ourselves, we create a ripple effect. If we focus on healing our negative thoughts and break our self-damaging patterns, we will see healing start to happen on our planet. Like the age old saying goes, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

With that wisdom in mind and the encouragement of many, I begin my practice. The possibilities are limitless.