The Path of The Shaman
The shaman is the wounded healer who has retrieved the broken pieces of her body and soul and through a personal rite of transformation has integrated many dimensions of life experience. Through her own initiatory experience, the shaman knows the drama of the human soul. Shamans adhere to a core of direct, deep, and mystical personal experience; this is their reality base. Shamanism is the original nature of human beings. It is a form of mysticism, not a religion. It is a spiritual technique based upon empiricism.
The word shaman originates from Siberia, meaning to see; also from the root word sram meaning to heat; to boil to reach states of ecstasy. A shaman is a medicine person who utilizes the forces of nature to bring about profound healing and transformation. Nature is the greatest source that provides the energetic substances that support healing.
Shamans bring balance to mind, soul, body, and heart through the ecstasy of dance. The shaman dances to find the answers. Shamans put their souls in motion and the soul heals itself. She/he dances to ease into the rhythm of creation. A shaman heals with sound, herbs, colors, drum, and song creating unity and harmony in the three worlds: upper, lower, and middle. A shaman utilizes Divine intervention and assistance from power animals, intermediaries, and the forces in nature to bring about profound and powerful healing states.
Throughout recorded history, it has been the primary task of the shaman, as psychologist, priestess/ priest and healer, to help restore balance and health to individuals and communities. The most striking feature about the shaman’s work as a psychologist/healer is that she/he has always utilized Divine intervention through interacting with the spirit realm, to flush out our spiritual pores and restore enthusiasm, which means God within. Through sacred rituals shamans have catalyzed powerful innate healing forces in their patients. Shamans connect the energy fields of the soul, body, and mind to the energy matrix circulating throughout all of nature creating balance and spiritual harmony within our innermost being.