CHAPTER 1
TO BEGIN WITH
Welcome to A SHAMANIC WAY: Rituals, Rattles, and Recipes for Awakening Your Inner Spirit. Our intention in providing you with this book is to give you an overall guide for learning Shamanic Ways. This is not intended as an anthropological work documenting Shaman history through the ages and around the world, nor is it intended as the ONLY way for you to acquire Shamanic skills. A Shamanic Way is much more involved than what is offered here, however this book will provide you with basic skills to start developing your life in A Shamanic Way.
LESSON 1 – The Way of Ritual
Ixtoii (Ishtoy) traveled to the far reaches of Nepal and Tibet seeking ways from many Shamans to become a better practitioner. Each Shaman she studied with told her, "This is the only correct way to do it." The first Shaman told her she needs to light the candle with her right hand. The next Shaman told her she needs to blow three times on the candle before lighting it and it did not matter which hand she used to light the candle. Again and again she heard the words, "This is the only correct way." But each Shaman had a different way. Ixtoii became more and more confused, which way was the REAL way if they all have a different way? She tried all the different ways of performing the various rituals and found she noticed no difference. She woke up one morning with the big
AH-HA! SHE REALIZED THAT THERE WAS NO CORRECT WAY. THERE WAS ONLY THE WAY THAT WORKED FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL.
Like anything, as you learn, as you experience, you will grow. Your practice will become more and more personalized as you find what works for you.
Shamanism is an almost timeless practice, those in the know believe it to be as much as 40,000 years ancient, and is used primarily for healing purposes. Culturally Shamanic traditions are interwoven with ritual and ceremony. Core shamanism is not ritually based but similarities of approach can be found on every continent. Essentially core shamanism is the ability to move between states of consciousness at will and access both ordinary reality as we all do everyday and non-ordinary reality, a place of infinite knowledge, wisdom, and energy. The rituals, ceremonies, and Sacred Tools used are culturally specific to the person performing the Shamanic practice. This includes you. You will find the right tools, the right methods, and right songs that work for you as you grow in your knowledge and experience. A Power song may come to you, a smudging song may come to you. These are not necessarily songs with words but may simply be sounds you vocalize.
Shamanic thought is that all things both animate objects and inanimate objects, have Spirit and have energy, and that everything is connected through that Spirit and energy. In other words, the energy of a rock is as potent as the energy of a person. There are four (4) kingdoms; plant, mineral, animal, and human. All of these kingdoms manifest energies that interconnect and affect our life on a daily basis.
Developing relationships with the plant, mineral, and animal kingdoms is a key component of developing one's Shamanic abilities and as important as our relationships with our fellow humans. These relationships are forged in both ordinary reality and in non-ordinary reality (as in the Spirit world). A Shamanic Way is also integrated in relationship with the four (4) elements of fire, earth, air, and water. With practice your Shamanic abilities will connect you with a tangible thread to the four kingdoms and the four elements. A recipe is included for you to "feel" each kingdom and how everything is connected by energy.
A SHAMANIC WAY: Rituals, Rattles, and Recipes for Awakening Your Inner Spirit is an introduction to Shamanism that combines both core Shamanism and ritual or ceremony. It is a demonstration for you to build upon speeding up your own experience and development of Shamanic practice in your everyday life and in living life in A Shamanic way.
It is said that a Shaman becomes a Shaman in one of three ways. The first is to be born into a line of Shamans, carrying on a tradition that is centuries old within a specific culture. This of course is, with some exceptions, not really a viable option in Western culture. The second way is to be trained by a Shaman after receiving a calling; a dream, a traumatic experience, or a near-death experience. This also is not a common occurrence in Western culture. However, there is a third way, accessible to all. Because of the inquisitive nature about Shamanism and Spiritual issues of many in Western culture a wide variety of books approaching these subjects have been written. A SHAMANIC WAY: Rituals, Rattles, and Recipes for Awakening Your Inner Spirit is yet another approach. It is designed and written as an experiential guide.
This book is influenced by Native American traditions of ceremony and ritual, the traditions of the "Curanderos" (people who heal) or "Gente de Conocimiento" (people of knowledge) of Mexico, and includes information on basic energy work. This reflects the training, work, and experience of the authors.
NOTE: Please Remember that our book and the information, recipes, and rituals offered are simply guidelines. There is NO RIGHT WAY OR WRONG WAY. The terms we used such as "required", "should" or "must" are the result of what works for us. Your job, should you choose, is to discover what works specifically for you. Living life in A Shamanic Way is a very personal undertaking.
RECIPE 1:
BEING IN THE NOW
Stop Being Dragged Into The Past Or Propelled Into The Future
Living life in A Shamanic Way means paying attention to the present. Unfortunately our tendency is to lament the past and worry about the future. We miss the PRESENT. How do we corral our attention to notice the NOW?
MATERIALS:
1. Wrist watch with stop watch ability. (This can be the cheapest of the cheap.)
2. Notebook.
PROCESS:
1. Set alarm to go off every hour. (Try to do this for several consecutive hours during the day, but it is not necessary to do it for the entire day. However it will be great if you can do it for the whole day.)
2. When the alarm rings notice what your thoughts were.
3. Were they in the past?
4. Were they in the future?
5. Are you in the moment only when you stop and notice?
6. Make a note in your notebook if possible of what your thoughts were in a few brief words.
7. Close your notebook.
8. Close your eyes.
9. Take three (3) deep breaths.
10. Give yourself the mental order to bring your thoughts into the present moment.
11. Open your eyes.
12. Reset your alarm.
Do this exercise over as many hours as you can. Overtime reduce the frequency to alarming every three (3) hours. You are training your subconscious mind to notice the present moment. You will notice that the present moment is incredibly brief because as soon as you notice it, it is in the past.
RECIPE 2:
FEEL YOUR CONNECTION TO THE ENERGY SURROUNDING US, COMING THROUGH EACH OF US
Notice the Energy Sensations in Your Body
PART I
1. Find a quiet space without interruptions. (Turn off phones, including vibrate, as this still makes noise, especially if it resting on a hard surface and goes rattling across the table.)
2. Sit comfortably with your feet flat on the floor, your back straight (it can be supported by the back of the chair or a wall), and have your head free (not resting on the back of the chair or the wall. If you rest your head you may fall asleep.)
3. Close your eyes.
4. Breathe three (3) times very slowly and deeply from your abdomen.
5. Bring your hands in front of your chest, palms facing each other and seven (7) inches apart.
6. Breathe deeply again and feel the energy coming from Mother Earth into your feet, moving up your body until the energy reaches your hands.
7. Move your hands slowly, as though massaging a ball, until your feel something such as a tickling, warmth, coldness, or any other sensation (this is the energy).
8. Move your hands closer together and feel the difference.
9. Separate your hands a little bit and feel the difference.
10. Notice how we have this energy; feel it, try to smell it, hear it, taste it, use all your senses.
11. Follow the instructions for CLOSING at the end of this recipe.
If you cannot feel anything just keep doing the exercise. You are awakening one part of yourself that has been asleep for a long time. Be patient, this is an easy exercise but requires practice!
Your objective in Part I is to feel the energy.
PART II
When you can easily feel the energy held in your hands it is time to move to the next part of the exercise. Do Steps 1 through 10.
1. Open your eyes but do not look at your ball of energy.
2. Move your hands very slowly so you do not lose your focus.
3. Play with your ball of energy make it bigger, make it smaller.
4. Feel the differences.
5. Follow the instructions for CLOSING at the end of this recipe.
Your objective in Part II is to bring the awareness of the energy that you are feeling to this reality.
PART III
When you feel confident of your awareness of the energy ball held in your hands move on to this Part III.
1. Create your ball of energy in your hands as you did in Part I; Steps 1-10 and Part II; Steps 1-3.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Put your hands near a plant, animal, or rock and feel its energy.
4. Open your eyes and move your hands slowly closer and farther from the plant (as you did when you were expanding and shrinking the energy ball in Part II; step 3.
5. You are exchanging energy with it.
6. Feel how we are connected.
7. Follow the instructions for CLOSING at the end of this recipe.
Do this exercise little by little until you can feel all the kingdoms: plant, mineral, animal, and human. (You are the human, but you can experiment with the energy of other humans if you get permission first.)
NOTE: When feeling the energy of a human it is necessary to ask permission of that person. Although it is difficult to not feel the energy of the people around you, whether those you know or in a crowd, in an exercise such as this there is a level of etiquette that needs to be observed. You will notice that your energy merging with another's is a powerful experience. Try it with a smile and notice that your partner will have difficulty resisting the urge to smile back. Try to notice the sheer bliss of being alive in this moment. If you can tap into that you are in your Song.
Your objective in Part III is to feel the energy and your connection to the four kingdoms as described earlier in this chapter.
PART IV CLOSING
Opening yourself to energy is a powerful exercise, but knowing how to close yourself off from energy exchange is critical.
1. Take three (3) shallow breaths.
2. Bring back your conscious awareness back into the room.
3. Listen to the noises around you.
4. Feel how your comfort level is with your position, room temperature, etc.
5. Wiggle your fingers and toes.
6. Open your eyes.
7. Stretch your body.
8. Move your arms up, over your head in a circle and bring them down crossing them at chest level and then out. Sort of like a cutting motion. (Do this with intention of cutting the energy connections that you have established in this recipe.)
Journal Page
Journal Page
Journal Page
What is Shamanism and 'A Shamanic Way'?
If you consider that Shamanism is simply knowledge and the understanding that everything has Spirit, everything is energy, and everything is interconnected, the concept is easy to grasp
LESSON 2 – Everything is Energy
Everything is Connected
"Ixtoii," Tall Bear, the medicine man said, "before we arrive and as this is the first time you will experience a ceremony on Native American land I suggest you announce your presence to the Spirits and the people with a prayer so they know you are here. Say a prayer with all your intention and focused energy before entering this Sacred land." They stopped to pray to honor the Spirits of the land, to honor the people of the land, to be humble, to be respectful, and to give thanks for this wonderful opportunity. Also, to ask for acceptance and have the people of the land know of her honorable intentions.
After another hour or more traveling on a rough rocky road they arrived. The Chief of the tribe, Burning Mountain, came forward to greet them. He hugged Ixtoii and whispered in her ear her own prayer, in her own words, in her own language, and assured her that her prayers were heard and she was very welcome. Ixtoii was amazed and realized that her prayers, her thoughts, and her words were energy and had traveled much faster than she did and had arrived before her.
THIS WAS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE FOR IXTOII THAT EVERYTHING WAS ENERGY AND WAS CONNECTED AND AS SUCH THAT WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL IN OUR WORDS, THOUGHTS, AND ACTIONS, AND LEARN TO MANAGE THAT RESPONSIBILITY IN A SHAMANIC WAY.
The term Shamanism comes from the Siberian word "shaman", (pronounced SHAH-mahn). It refers to the practitioner who utilizes "journeys" (the process of accessing non-ordinary reality, a place of infinite knowledge, wisdom, and energy) by the Shaman to the Spirit world usually only accessed through dreams, mythology, and near death experiences. Over time the term Shamanism has come to refer to the practitioner's process.
The shamanic process is an ancient method of honoring the energy of Spirit within us and around us. Shamanic healing works on the energetic body, which affects the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. This practice is indigenous to the entire planet and to every culture. You might say this was humanity's original belief system for both healing and religion. It predates all current religions and sciences by tens of thousands of years.
In America people equate Shamanism with Native American customs and culture. In fact that culture and those customs are specific to the Native Americans whereas core shamanism is the nearly universal principles and practices of shamanism and not connected to any specific cultural group or perspective. For instance a core shamanic ritual, such as "Soul Retrieval", will be performed similarly on any continent globally, but the music, herbs or plants used, and the language will be different and culturally specific. It is only in the Western cultures that these age-old practices and rituals have been ignored or lost. Fortunately these are now finding their way back into the healing arts.
Utilizing ancient methods a Shamanic healer or practitioner accesses the Spirit world or "non-ordinary reality" by a process called a "journey". This is a type of altered state or a "shamanic state of consciousness." It may also be known as a deep meditation for accessing the subconscious mind. In Shamanic work typically this is achieved by means of drumming, rattling or other repetitive sound. In this altered state, Spirit can provide information through power animals, spirit guides, angels and other helpful entities. The Shamanic practitioner literally becomes that pure and hollow vessel, a conduit, through which Spirit can do its healing work.
The classic shamanic journey is one of the most visionary methods used by humankind to explore the hidden universe otherwise known mainly through myth and dream. Shamanic journeying is typically facilitated by non-drug techniques such as drumming and rattling. These and other methods are used to access a Shamanic state of consciousness and for awakening dormant spiritual abilities, including connections with the Spirit world and with nature.
A SHAMANIC WAY: Rituals, Rattles, and Recipes for Awakening Your Inner Spirit will teach you how to approach your life in A Shamanic Way. In so doing you will eliminate blocks, identify your path and strategy for achievement, heal old wounds allowing you to approach your life from a different perspective, validate your worthiness, and change your patterns allowing access to the magic of your life.
NOTE: Other journey methods include a wide variety of instruments depending on the culture, psychotropic drugs and plants, undergoing extreme physical stress, and fasting. We do not recommend the use of drugs or plants. These shortcuts often have negative consequences and/or side effects. If drugs or plant psychotropics are used a profound experience may be had, however there may be lingering doubt over the veracity of the experience. Was it real or the drug?
Fasting is really not a healthy way to achieve the Shamanic state of consciousness either. Going without food and water for an extended period of time can easily be counter productive to your health. Additionally, developing your ability to journey in this moment is the ultimate goal. If you need to access information quickly you do not want to be waiting days until your fast creates a psychotropic effect.
