~ Shamanism 101 ~ April Newsletter ~

Shamanism 101

April Newsletter

Welcome to our April Newsletter!

It is all about teaching!

"By now we have clearly let the spirit helpers in the lower - and the upper - worlds know of our whole-hearted intention to work with them".

Dr. Steve Serr, Ph.D., Founder of Shamanism 101

Please allow me to extend a warm welcome to this new issue of the Shamanism 101 Newsletter!

In the northern hemisphere spring seems to be late and we are just beginning now to see some signs of rebirth and awakening. Times are changing and nature is constantly communicating with us on so many levels, yearning to show us how to listen in a new way.

Some hear earth's cry for help as we keep polluting the environment and exhausting its natural resources. Others see signs that old paradigms are no longer effective and that our consciousness is changing; seasons are affected as our inner and outer adjustments are made.

There are many ways to embrace such changes and many ways to understand them. These transformative shifts speak uniquely to each person, offering opportunities to make great use of such wisdom in different ways.

There are many realities and many levels of subtle awareness that permeate the many worlds. All we need to do is to listen and respond.

Beverly Weaver, one of our instructors, provides an example of this as she guides us through the process of bonding with the trees.

She says:

"Approach the tree with tender affection, like seeing a dear friend. Allow your kindness and interest to radiate to the tree. If you are moved to touch the tree, then as tenderly as you would caress an infant's face, offer touch. Gentle and adoring. A friendly tree will welcome this, and may begin to soften in openness to your communication".

Through a series of gentle steps, the natural world is accessed by our shamanic senses. These senses are a way to expand and open to the invisible, that which we cannot perceive with our ordinary senses.

When done with a positive and focused intent, the benefits of such practices are so tangible! As we grow and expand with compassion towards the unseen, we become empowered by such experiences. Earth also becomes empowered as we bring back to ordinary reality a lost treasure of knowledge and a way of life.

And if we can learn, it means that there are many teachers willing to help us. Some can be trees, some can be spirits while others can be human beings.

Deborah Miller shares her vision of what teaching shamanism means to her, from a practical and mystical point of view. She proves again that realities are all connected. As above, so below says the ancient Hermetic wisdom.

Deborah says:

"My teacher and I went for a walk, and we came to a clearing on top of the mountain. The view was extraordinary. We sat down on the elder stone, and we sat in silence for some time. She gently said to me, "To teach is to be silent so the student can hear and listen to their own inner music".

And what could be more important than the ability to listen to our inner music, the core of our own essence, so that we can reconnect with our deepest potential, our authentic self and ultimately, the voice of nature itself?

In times of change, our ability to learn, teach and listen beyond any limitation seems to be a great gift, helping us thrive in the midst of challenging and dangerous times.

Our hope is that you will accept this gift, make it your own and help others shine as you do.

R. Theseus Spano

Shamanism 101 Instructor & Editor

"Teaching is about walking one's own path on a daily basis, connecting with spirit helpers and Mother Earth, all the while creating and practicing Song, Dance, Ritual and Prayer. It is about living the work as you walk the path and then passing the wisdom on to others so they can do the same".

Deborah Miller

What does it mean to teach shamanism?

Deborah Miller, Shamanism 101 Instructor

To Be Authentic! To Be Humble! To Be Open! To Be An Ongoing Apprentice! To Be a Student!

What does it truly mean to be a teacher of Shamanism?

I have given this question some serious inquiry. I did exactly what I ask my students to do when seeking the answers to life's questions: I journeyed to my teacher and to my true self.

I was eagerly greeted by my Teacher when I reached the upper world. We always greet each other with such joy and today was not different.

The joy turned my attention to play, and I wondered how great it would be to ride with my Teacher all over the landscape of the upper world.

Oh, the fun we would have together. However, my Teacher quickly provided me with a lesson about teaching: Focus.

He told me that in order to be a good teacher, I must have the self-discipline to focus. I quickly pulled myself back in, and I focused on my intention for the journey.

As I entered the Secret Cave, my Teacher was there immediately to greet me.

We greeted each other as "family", and we quickly got to the business at hand. The room was warm and there was a beautiful glow to the energy.

My teacher told me this is the glow of wisdom, authenticity and compassion. Teaching is opening up to become the hollow bone so the student can connect with their own wisdom, authenticity, compassion and authority.

Teaching Shamanism is not at all about providing answers, but rather it is about helping one to discover their own answers. It is not about being the authority, but rather it is about helping the student to find their own authority.

True teaching is guiding others to connect with their own guides in such a way that it empowers them and restores them to wholeness.

Teaching shamanism is about stepping aside in order to let the student step forward to tap into their own force, their own power, and their own healing to restore the fabric of their soul.

Teaching Shamanism is about enhancing one's own capabilities to expand their states of awareness and consciousness to establish and build meaningful relationships with their spirit helpers.

I, Debbie Miller, firmly believe that I am not the teacher of Shamanism. I am the Hollow Bone that connects others to the Spirit Guides that do the healing and the teaching. I am merely the conduit that connects the student with the teacher.

I am deeply grateful to my teacher for the wisdom he has shared and passed on to me. I thanked him for his time, his energy, his love and the gifts he provided to me at this moment.

I then traveled to the lower world to ask one of my power animals to accompany me to the middle world to meet my true self. My intention was to ask my true self what it truly means to me to teach Shamanism.

My power animals were there to greet me immediately, and we traveled to my safe place in the middle world. My true self was also there immediately to greet me. She appeared with the innocence of a young girl. She was playful yet full of wisdom for her young years. She held out a single white feather and a glowing egg to gift me today.

She said the feather is to be used to help lift your students up to help them fly on their own. The feather is a symbol that will help students to open their wings to help them reach the heights of their full potential. The egg is the symbol of transformation and re-birth.

Teaching Shamanism is about helping students to birth themselves into their new roles as healers and teachers. It is about helping them to change their perspective. The egg also represents wholeness. As the student gives birth to their new beginning, they rebirth their connection to all that is.

The egg represents their primordial wisdom that resides within their very own DNA.

The young girl also took me to the edge of a large body of water.

She told me to look out upon the water and look deep within the water. She said that teaching Shamanism is helping the student to be courageous enough to look within the dark waters to see their own authentic reflection.

Teaching Shamanism means the teacher must also look into the dark waters to see their authentic reflection. The teacher must also be the student. The teacher must continue to do the necessary self work. The teacher must be humble enough to continue learning, growing and transforming. The teacher must continue to be an apprentice.

My teacher also showed me the value in dancing. For any student to have a meaningful connection to the work, we must allow the student to dance and sing to the beat of their own drum. True teaching is about living Shamanism and not directing Shamanism. It is to offer assistance not rigid dogma. Teaching Shamanism is about providing guidelines while encouraging the student to develop his/her own practices.

My teacher and I went for a walk, and we came to a clearing on top of the mountain. The view was extraordinary. We sat down on the elder stone, and we sat in silence for some time. She gently said to me, "To teach is to be silent so the student can hear and listen to their own inner music." To teach Shamanism is to bare witness.

This is a gentle yet giant approach to help a student transform and grow as they walk this path. This is the true honor in "teaching".

I also think that teaching is about meeting the student where they are at in the process. Teaching from a common ground - not above or below - will help to stimulate, inspire and motivate my students.

This also helps my students to develop trust in themselves, in their guides, in Shamanism 101 and in me. It is about approaching each student with a child-like innocence that sees each work from a beginners mind or a child's mind.

To me teaching Shamanism is about helping the student to help themselves. It is about building upon strengths, and in doing so, the student develops the courage to work on their challenges.

Teaching Shamanism is the process that develops the freedom for our students to be who they really are.

The heart of being a teacher of Shamanism is a sacred place where compassion provides a safe harbor for students to be vulnerable; to learn to trust themselves and others; to express their true selves, and a place to love and to heal.

What it really means to teach Shamanism is that you teach the student to come home to their own wholeness and to celebrate that.

To teach Shamanism is to Celebrate!

"Nature is alive and talking to us. This is not a metaphor."

Terence McKenna

For the love of Trees

Beverly Weaver, Shamanism 101 Instructor

Trees are some of the best people I know: genuine, powerful, sensual, generous, brilliant and accepting. They can be great healers, great teachers, and great friends and allies. Establishing relationships with trees is actually a simple matter, though like with all practices of the spirit, time and experience are generally required for the richest consequences.

As multidimensional beings without ego, trees live in worlds we as human people are often unaware of. As we begin to relate to trees, their wisdom becomes available to us. Many have written about trees as metaphor for a human stance of being rooted deep into the earth, while reaching to the heavens, and this is beautiful. It is also only the tip of what interacting with trees can offer. It's all very practical, really, not much esoteric about it. Trees are people who live in the world with us. They know how to communicate and interact on levels we as humans once were able to, but have, over time, forgotten. Our studies with Shamanism101 can help us remember, and certainly our fierce commitment to growth and healing helps us remember. We are the ones at a disadvantage when communicating, the trees know how to do so perfectly, and practicing with them can resonate through multiple levels of our lives.

Many trees stand ready for interactions with human people, but like humans, they have different personalities. It won't take long before you begin to easily identify which trees are 'friendly' to you. The trees that are not, will rarely convey a 'stay away' feeling. It's far more likely that you won't notice them at all, silently uninterested in your wanderings. Let yourself be gently drawn to a tree. Ask the tree for permission to approach, and still yourself for awareness of acknowledgement. You have entered the tree's space long before you touch the trunk. See the boughs overhead? Together with the roots underground, don't they make a sort of sphere?

Approach the tree with tender affection, like seeing a dear friend. Allow your kindness and interest to radiate to the tree. If you are moved to touch the tree, then as tenderly as you would caress an infant's face, offer touch. Gentle and adoring. A friendly tree will welcome this, and may begin to soften in openness to your communication.

The thought may come up ,"Am I doing this right?" Go ahead and let that thought go. Make the gentle shift to move from a thinking place to a feeling place. In the world of feelings, there is no right or wrong, and failure is impossible. The tree will absolutely sense all you are bringing, and when this is backed with love and gratitude, you will be 'doing it right'. If you are moved to set intention at this point, beyond learning to communicate, this is a good time to do so. Ask your question, offer your quandary, request your healing.

Stay open to any information that may come to you. You may have thoughts, feelings, memories, or body sensations that are stirred by your communication with the tree. You may receive instructions or requests, or be shown visions. All this and more is possible when working with trees. Trees communicate telepathically, which is to say, the communications come from outside our 'known' channels. Again, this is all very practical. Depending on your strengths and proclivities, you may see lights and energy, hear words, absorb concepts, travel to other lands, learn protocols, see the past and so very much more.

After you have sensed the time has come to end communication, gently bring yourself back to full awareness in this middle world we share. Of course you will thank the tree person who extended themselves to you! You can do this aloud, silently, and/or with a gift or offering for the tree. Take your time, let it be heartfelt instead of rote. The tree would much prefer your sincere felt gratitude over a perfectly wrapped bundle of tobacco. If you can visit this same tree again, you will be pleased to note that over time, communication becomes easier and deeper. Visit as often as you are moved to, and enjoy the growing relationship! There is nothing like being next to a tree physically, but that same tree can also reach across time and space to comfort and communicate. If in your studies you have come to a point where traveling is something you have safely learned, visit the tree that way, and continue your relationship.

Different trees help, teach and communicate in different ways. While learning about how trees communicate, it can be helpful to choose one or two to begin with. But just as you likely would not limit human friendship to one or two people, there is no need to limit relationships with trees. A Laurel is different from an Oak, which are different from Baobab, Acacia, Redwood, Saguaro and so forth. Each brings it's own wisdom and style, and each will feel different as we communicate.

We are all on this Earth together, so many different kinds of people. Tree, animal, mineral and more. Learning to communicate again with each other benefits us all, as we deepen our respect and responsibility, and recreate harmony in our relationships. The trees are ready.

~Thank you for joining Shamanism 101~

~ April Newsletter ~

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