Shamanic Teaching ~ Shaman Training
Discovering the Shaman Healer Within: Apprentice Course
Aho! Take a journey and an exploration into the worlds and the way of the
Shaman. Come and sit down before the fire with the Shaman as you calm your mind
and open your heart to the teachings of the Elders. As you walk the path of
this course, you will re-member many skills, talents, places and people from
your past that you have forgotten. Welcome to the reconnection to your purpose
as healer. Let the Shaman Elder take the talking stick and listen to his words.
The Shaman Way
Shamanic Teaching: Why Study Shamanism?
By Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls
Why study Shamanism?
As a Shaman Elder, this is probably the most common question I hear. And you
know why so many people ask it? Because we are brought up in a society that
does not have Shamanism. Worse than that, we are brought up without community.
In the old days, we were raised with a strong community around us. We lived
together, played together, grew up together and sometimes even died together. We
had elders and doctors and teachers and medical advisors within this strong
close-knit community. Part of the work for Shaman elders would be to watch the
children and discover what each child was strong in. Then that gift (or gifts)
was cultivated and the child grew into whatever came naturally to him or her. It
was the community, the elders, the teachers, and the parents who realized the
blessings and were happy to help the child be what he or she was
meant to be in life.
Today, we have no such possibility for ourselves or for our children. For the
most part, we are raised to fit into a box, to learn what everyone else learns
and to ignore or abandon anything that does not fit into society's box. It
doesn't have to be this way. We have a choice. It is not too late to look inside
and find those special gifts we were born with by
studying Shamanism.
What are the gifts of the Shaman?
Healing the spirit
is the primary function of a Shaman…
Soul-retrieval
is the gift by which the Shaman retrieves pieces of the person lost soul. This
is often accomplished by journeying to the Spirit World and requesting
assistance from the spirits, ancestors, and guides that dwell in Other
Realities or Worlds. These beings assist the Shaman in discovering what is wrong
with the person. And often help the Shaman fight a battle with the being now
possessing those parts, to win them back and bring them to the patient. Some of
the classic symptoms of a person in need of soul retrieval would perhaps include
those suffering from a mental illness; those abused as children, or those who
sense that something is missing in their lives.
Soul restoration
is the literally restoring of one's soul. This occurs when a
person is near death and his/her soul seeks to move on. This "death"
could be the result of a psychical attack or an accident from which the body has
recovered physically, but not spiritually.
Hands-on healing
is most certainly a gift of a Shaman. This technique is still widely used today
by Reiki masters, massage therapists, chiropractors and Shamans. Shamanistic
hands-on healing involves the energy or spirit of the Shaman working with the
energy or spirit of the patient.
Divination
is the gift by which a Shaman can foretell the future, describe the illnesses of
people and find their cure. Divination shows the path to the Shaman; which
direction the patient should walk to receive healing. The most common Shamanic
method is journeying to the Other World and requesting information from elders,
guides and spirits who live there. It is been said that Genghis Khan used his
Shamans this way.
Herbal healing
gives credence to the true belief that the Shaman is a medicine
man or witch doctor. Herbal healing began with the beginning of the earth. Many
of the hunting and gathering tribes had the ability to heal with plants
indigenous to their area. Today this knowledge is fast disappearing and Shamans
everywhere try to support the preservation of indigenous plant life and the lore
surrounding them.
Dream-work or dream interpretation
is another Shamanic gift for healing. Shamans will listen to the dreamer's
dreams, sometimes for several days, until they fully connect with it. Then they
will dream the dream themselves and resolve the conflict to the highest good of
the dreamer.
Soul leading
is the process in which the Shaman will escort the newly dead to their place in
the Other World. This is done because the Shaman who is familiar and a frequent
visitor to the Other World will be able to find the "soul" its proper place. A
Shaman, according to anthropologist Mircea Eliade is a "Master of the
Ecstatic." This is true for it is in the mastery of the ecstatic that the
Shaman garners his or her power over these gifts.
Each of us has one or more of these gifts buried somewhere inside our spirits.
Can you imagine how beautiful this world would be if each of us
studied and mastered the gifts we were given?
Who would be left sick? Or poor?
Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls is one of America's most loved elder
teachers of Shamanism for today's modern society. She is the creator and
instructor of the
www.SelfHealingExpressions.com
course
Discovering the Shaman Healer Within: Apprentice Course.
Learn more about Maggie and this course now.
Copyright © 2004 - 2007 Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls. All rights reserved. If you are
interested in publishing this article, please email
.
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