The Shaman's Path

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The Shaman's Path

Postby The Madame X » Mon Sep 15, 2014 10:06 am

THE SHAMAN'S PATH
Source: http://www.shamanswell.org/shaman/shama ... ded-healer

The Shaman's role is to communicate with the spirit world, giving respect to the spirit of the ancestors, as well as to live in harmony with nature. The ancestors are the spirits of the people who have gone before us. They have lived in this physical world and gained the knowledge and awareness that we are now here to learn before out turn to pass into the invisible realms. By tradition, Shamans study the ways of the animals that live in their lands. Animals are thought to have a purity of purpose that could help the humans to know much about their own spiritual potential. During trance states induced by meditation or sacred rituals, the Shaman contacts his or her power animal and travels with it through the inner planes. This animal spirit literally or symbolically gives the Shaman important insights into his or her own nature, the nature of the person seeking healing or counsel as well as the needs of the community.

Shamans have many different roles but all serve greater purposes in building bridges between the physical and non-physical worlds, serving the earth and humanity and touching the Divine so that healing may occur.

The Shaman is above all a healer and all cultures have natural healing traditions; modern medicine grew from the skills of the herbalist, the medicine person, the white witch, and the faith healer. The Chinese symbol of Yin and Yang is a powerful sign of balance. The areas of black and white are evenly distributed and there is a little of each color that resides within the other. Chinese medicine has tried to maintain that balance of Yin and Yang for thousands of years. Chinese doctors rely on energetic meridians, or circuits of energy, that passes through and around the physical body. When there is an imbalance, these meridians are blocked or distorted and disease can take place. The original imbalance can be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.

A Shaman could also be the fool, the clown, or the court jester using skill, ingenuity and humor to entertain or diffuse potentially dangerous situations or promote spiritual learning and or healing.

Many Shamans were the seers, visionaries and psychics whose knowledge of human nature, intuition, and power of divination are valued by others. These Shamans developed natural skills of clairvoyance, clairaudience and awareness that are latent within all of us.

The Shaman's capacity for clear sight often comes from their ability to attain altered states of awareness that give them a bigger picture of the world and to see beyond the daily events of community life.

Can Anyone Be A Shaman?

Some people are born a Shaman and others become a Shaman through training that brings their Shamanic potential to life. For most people, the path of being a Shaman is a slow process that does not always involve personal trauma. In becoming a Shaman one has to find a balance between the logical, reasonable, and rational side of their personality and their instinctive, intuitive, and irrational personal characteristics. Shamans must be aware of the full range of human emotions - to feel them, live with them, and draw motivation from them and at the same time have the wisdom to know when to simply acknowledge their own emotions yet overlook them. To regain touch with the natural world and find places of stillness and truth that will enhance their power of vision, many would-be Shamans retreat from community life for a period of time.

Fasting, meditation, prayer and journeying generally facilitate visions during which spirits of the natural world may visit the seeker, bringing protection, wisdom, and awareness. During a vision, the Shaman sometimes connects, or reconnects, to special guides (an ancestor, animal, plant, stone or any other aspect of nature). Awakening the Shaman within often comes with increased creative power and ability, reversing the natural instinct to belittle our own qualities in these areas. Creativity opens up other dimensions and expands awareness. Those who feel that their Shamanic nature is awakening following a period of crisis in their life would do better to fully accept it rather than fight it. Many people discover that their intuition expands when they focus upon their own spiritual growth, self-healing, and personal development. All people have a range of psychic senses as real and as important as their five physical senses. Not all of us have the same gifts and abilities in all areas, but we all have psychic abilities that can be expanded.

Being A Shaman Of Today

Shamans have always been described as wounded healers - one who brings healing to others as a way to heal their own similar wounds. Being a wounded healer does not require one to damage their own life in order to understand another's problems or help another heal. All that is required is a willingness to heal one's self while following a Shamanic path and draw wisdom from one's personal experiences. Disharmony and disease often are the result of an inner conflict between body, mind and spirit or between understanding and acceptance.

The Shaman must negotiate a balance of body, mind and spirit within as well as help others find that balance. The body, mind, and spirit have the ability to stay healthy; when this ability stops working, spiritual and energetic forms of healing can stimulate it again and restore the balance.

Modern Shamans come from every social background and culture. Their jobs, no matter how humble, seem to give them the opportunity to serve other people or serve the environment. Many modern Shamans choose to remain invisible and they practice their skills unnoticed. However, with experience and an increase in their awareness and skill, they tend to move to jobs that will allow them more opportunities to better express their healing skills and creative abilities. Shamans should live in places where they are best able to serve other people and facilitate their own spiritual growth. People who do their best to heal themselves and follow their spiritual path naturally become spiritual teachers to others.
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Re: The Shaman's Path

Postby deacongray » Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:43 pm

I really like the premise of this Path and the idea of opening it up to the house. There are many paths out there and each of us walk down several different ones in our lives. I think the Shaman is path for seekers, spiritual explorers who might not really be fll on priest in the traditional sense.
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Re: The Shaman's Path

Postby Blackwolf » Tue Oct 13, 2015 6:34 pm

I have grown increasingly interested in the Shamanic Path. I studied books on it years ago, and I feel comfortable with the role of the Shaman and its importance. The " Wounded" Healer aspect of the Shaman really speaks to me, as I have suffered trauma in the past and wish to help others who are also wounded in similar ways . I believe heavily in the practice of honoring ancestors, The power of Symbology ( Especially animal symbology) and the use of energy and sitting in contemplation to receive the greater picture of situations and the world.

I am drawn to shamanism.I am looking more into this.

Also, I agree with Master Deacon Gray. Although The Ramkht path is similar in ways to the shaman path, the shaman path is less formal, more intuition guided and nature based. I think it would be great to have " Shaman-Warrior" as a facet of the Mradu Path.
" Only the ideas that we really live have any value. " - Herman Hesse
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Re: The Shaman's Path

Postby ashu29 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:49 am

Respected Madam,
I like this article...yes I too agree with Mr. Decon Gray .Seekers , spiritual and most important is Healing... which if I can think to use in my cancer hospital.
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