|
|
| Shamanism 101 |
PO Box 205
Ben Lomond, CA, USA
95005 |
|
Greetings!
Welcome to the August, 2012 Shamanic Practitioner Support Newsletter.
In this issue we explore some of the nuances of keeping a relationship with the departed, a glance at the practice of soul sounding, and considering when - and if - one more power animal is too many...
OK... I realize that these are not typical topics of conversation in today's world, but that is why they are here! Thanks for being a part of this!
With always, much love,
Steve Serr
Ben Lomond, California
PS: that is not me in the photo. That is Madison.
|  |
|
 |
|
It's Coming 
The 15 Hour Face-to-Face Training: It's coming!
OMG... This is exciting: our gathering for personal growth and discovery through basic training in shamanic practice is just a matter of 6 days away. If you are bringing a check, we will collect these before we begin. We start class at 10 am, this coming Sunday, and we will close at 2 pm.
Be sure to contact Lorraine at (831) 345-7737 if you have any questions.
The Sundays that we are gathering are August 12 and 26, and September 2, 16 and 23.
Bring something soft to put beneath you to cushion your body or your head while doing journeying, or while just seated in circle! If you have a backjack, great, otherwise cushions.
Dress comfortably and casually, with easily removable shoes. Dress in layers so you can warm up, or cool down, as the temperature indicates.
Bring something soft that you can cover your eyes with while journeying, which will shield the light so that you can close your eyes and with this cover, have complete darkness. However, don't let it interfere with your ears or your mouth. (It's nice to be able to breathe, and the unobstructed ears stops interference of the drumming.
Bring something for lunch, for yourself, or to share, as lunch is casual, conversations, seated around a garden under some trees, and a nice time to share experiences.
Please park a short distance away from the local houses. Streets are narrow there, and it is nice to be thoughtful of the neighbors. There is plenty of parking up the street around a vacant field. Whatever you do, please be kind to the neighbors and don't park in front of their homes.
For those who have not yet signed up, we still have a couple of seats in the class available, and I hope you can come.
For further information and to enroll, you can visit the MeetUp site at:
Click here to go to the MeetUp Site for Steve's Training
This is going to be a remarkable time of personal growth and discovery, as well as very solid shamanic practice training. I look forward to this with you!
Much love,
Steve
|
|
 Calcutta
I'm a fairly young 61-year-old Indian, a resident of Calcutta, India. Six months ago I 'lost' my wife, who was and still is the meaning of my life.
I've been reading up a lot on communicating with the spirit world, and I've been looking forward to meeting my wife in my dreams at least, but for the life of me I can't generally recall my dreams, however much I tell myself I'll do so.
Often I get the feeling that my wife's around, and we talk. She seems to tell me how to go about things, and I do her bidding. It's like she's become the voice of my conscience.
It's nice feeling that way, but at times I wonder if it's not just my imagination.
I'm a disciple of a well known teacher, and I meditate regularly.
I'd like to know if the skills you teach in your online course on shamanism can help me deepen my relationship with the spirit of my wife. I know there are many other benefits of learning shamanism, including building up skills which can be of immense help to others, but my relationship with my wife is very basic to me.
With regards and best wishes,
H.
Dear H.
There are generally very mixed feelings with respect to our relationship with the deceased, and I first want to honor you, your wife, and your situation.
The lesson of impermanence is quite difficult when it comes to matters and relationships to which we are most strongly attached. The choice to retain whatever degree of relationship with your wife after her death is completely up to you, though what I can relate some of the ways that shamanic practices have viewed this.
Some view the deceased as simply continuing on a journey to cross over to another side, and that something about their spirit may then, in the future, cycle back to become a living being again in the world. Some more see the deceased as continuously residing around us. In many cases, it is felt that the deceased need to continue the cycle of crossing over, and that as hard as it is to allow, that this is healthy for both the deceased and those who remain behind. For this, there are ritual and social practices that help us mark this event and transition, such as funerals and memorials.
In cases where society recognizes the need for the deceased to continue on, however when the deceased still feel is more important to remain close to their loved ones or their place here on Earth, there are practices called psychopomp to help the deceased move on. Furthermore, there are many cases where those who remain behind have a more difficult time letting them move on, and psychopomp can be helpful here as well.
I cannot advise you on what to do. Your wife was very important and meaningful to you, and I cannot do any less than fully honor this. With respect to shamanic practice, generally however, it is felt that it is best to let the deceased move on, which would be the natural cycle, and healthiest for both the deceased and the living.
This is a difficult query to respond to, because so much rests on what works best for you and for your deceased wife. Some suggest that we also consider what we believe the deceased would most want for us. In all cases, it is a very individual decision. There are no easy answers.
Thank you for asking for my thoughts on this. I am grateful for your trust.
Much love,
Steve
|
|
 Soul Sounding
Hi Steve.
I'm stuck. I've read about the soul song, even looked up more info. on the web, so I have an idea what it is, but I can't figure it out. I can't fathom my soul song. I can't imagine it. I
just have no idea how to express it. HELP!
L.
Hi, L.
Best put, the soul song is not 'the' soul song (as if a solid, invariable 'thing'), but rather, what we are referring to is 'soul singing', or even better, 'soul sounding'. It is not something static, but something that is an expression of your soul at that moment in ordinary reality time. This is, however, not just any expression, but the expression of your most basic, truest, deepest self.
It is really a confusion to call it singing, as one's soul can come out as words, sounds, or anything. For some, it can come up in a tune, and for others, not a tune in the slightest, at least, as we normally think of 'tunes'.
There is no art to it, no craft. It is unpracticed, pure, evolving and forming in the milliseconds amidst which it rises from your deepest core, and up into the air around you. It is just the truest expression of your deepest self in that moment, and our goal is to just let it out and be able to hear it at the same time that it has a chance to flow outward into the world.
Listening to our soul 'sounding' gives us the extraordinary opportunity for us to hear our true self, and that gives us one more chance to meet her, get close to her, and let ourselves in our ordinary reality lives, manifest her!
Does this help? Best not to think about it too much, but (as Nike once said) 'just do it', and let your own reflections and instincts guide you as you let it unfold. Our soul longs for its expression. Let her out.
Much love!
Steve
|
|
|
Too Many Power Animals ??
Hi Steve,
Hope all is going well for you.
I have a question. I was doing a power animal retrieval for a client last night. Everything went great, but I had something come up and was curious what your opinion or experience with it may be.
When I got to the lower world I came across two animals that wanted to come back. I only brought one back, and I brought back the one that agreed to come back first. Is there ever a time when you'd bring back two at one time? Or would you bring back one and then go back and get the other? Or would you arrange for a second session (which is what I did)...?
Thanks in advance,
~J.
Hi J,
Yes, there may be two animals that are willing to come back to a person when the time is right for them to return. Sometimes, even more than two are ready to come back, and will show up in order for you to find them. However, more than one is far less frequent.
There are at least the following two important aspects to a power retrieval: spirit helpers in animal form show for us because the client needs them, and because the client is ready for their return. In fact, we form our intention around these things. It might be possible that although a client needs a particular spirit helper, the client is not yet ready for its return. There is a point when any of us is ready for change, even substantial change. And, there is a time when we are not.
Although it is perfectly ok to bring back more than one spirit helper, retrieving spirit helpers for a client is not a case of 'more the merrier'. There is the matter of the client's readiness to integrate and develop the particular power that is returned. After many years of watching people go through changes, it is my opinion that a client may have more difficulty if trying to integrate more than one spirit helper at a time.
In part, this is because power retrieval is not a 'one shot' affair. The retrieval itself is just the beginning: the barest whisper of the overall shamanic work. The huge, main part of shamanism is the reinforcement and development that must follow if returned power is to be integrated. Shamanism is not simply the work a practitioner does with a client. Well, of course, that is part of it, but only the tiniest part. The real work of shamanism is what anyone does with the information or power that shamanic practices assist in providing.
After any power retrieval, the pursuit of an integration of that power leads to potentially tremendous differences in how a client will be living, thinking, feeling, and working in the world. It may take considerable challenges and dedication by a client to continue developing and increasingly manifesting the changes he or she desires to make. Needing to focus on more than one aspect of personal development at a time is more difficult than simply focusing on one.
Also, in today's busy world where a client often has numerous roles and responsibilities, there can be innumerable intruding daily activities that interfere with dedicated persistence and focus in changing something, even if it is important.
Thirdly, I do not normally train new students to bring back more than one at a time because of the added complexity of holding these spirits close and returning with them safely. It is enough of a challenge to deliver even one spirit helper fully, while bringing back all the messages and information that may be associated with it. This can be a lot to hold onto, and things get forgotten or missed, and then the entire work can be crippled.
You did well to reschedule, as this gives your client time to begin to process the changes that are ahead, and make the alterations in his or her habits and circumstances that will now reinforce the power they are going to be integrating. This business of change can be hard work.
Yes, we ask to be taken to spirit helpers that are ready to come back, that want to come back, and for whom the client is now ready to receive. Putting our intention this way, if they show, it is because they know the client is ready to receive them. Yes, we can trust that and bring them back by the bucketful if they present that way!
However, I still propose that considering the long term client integration and development of that power that is returned, it may be better to bring them back one at a time. The spirit helpers - if they are truly ready to return and if the client is truly ready for them - will still be there during your second meeting.
Good question.
Much love,
Steve
|
|
|
|
I hope if you are in the Central Coast area here in California, that you consider joining us for our 15 hour training...
It is going to be a great opportunity for personal growth and development while getting firm practitioner education and experience!
Click here for more information!
|
|
|
