Shamanic
Healing
"Look at every path closely and deliberately.
Try it as many times as you feel necessary, and ask yourself, and yourself alone,
one question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, it is good. If it doesn't,
it is of no use." Carlos Castaneda
Shamanic healing is an ancient form of spiritual healing practiced by indigenous
people all over the world. The word shaman means "one who can see in the
dark". It comes from the Tungus tribe in Siberia and applies to both men
and women practitioners. A basic tool of shamanism is the shamanic journey, in
which the shaman journeys to non-ordinary reality to consult with helping spirits,
to receive direct divination in answer to a question or to receive guidance in
healing.
Core shamanism uses Elements
common to many different shamanic traditions and is not specific to any one culture.
It was developed by anthropologist Michael Harner, author of "The way of
the Shaman." Core shamanism is not a religion, but a practical tool to be
used in conjunction with other healing modalities. Healing the spirit can help
to facilitate healing the body, the mind, and the heart.
Shamanic healing as practiced in core shamanism uses three
major healing techniques – power restoration, extraction healing, and soul
retrieval. The shamanic practitioner does a diagnostic journey to ask the spirits
which healing technique would be most beneficial for the client.
Power restoration
The shamanic practitioner journeys to non-ordinary
reality to bring back a guardian spirit, called a power animal, To assist the
client in coping with life and resisting spiritual intrusions and illness.
Extraction Healing
Working with helping spirits, the shaman removes
misplaced energy, called intrusions, which are stuck in the client's body. Intrusions
can cause localized pain or illness, as well as other maladies, such as addictions,
apathy, or reoccurring problems.
Soul Retrieval
Is
the crown jewel of shamanic healing. The shaman journeys with helping spirits
to find and retrieve lost parts of the client's soul. Soul loss can be caused
by many different kinds of trauma, physical or emotional, remembered or forgotten.
Some examples of trauma are accident, illness, surgery, bereavement, or abuse.
Some symptoms of possible soul loss may be a feeling that something is missing,
chronic depression or illness, addictions, or other long-standing problems. Soul
retrieval can assist in returning to health and wholeness and in breaking old,
unwanted life patterns.
"…whenever we experience
trauma, a part of our vital essence separates from us in order to survive the
experience by escaping the full impact of the pain. What constitutes trauma varies
from one individual to another. Soul loss can be caused by whatever a person experiences
as traumatic, even if another person would not experience it as such." Sandra
Ingerman, "Soul Retrieval".
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"You know you're getting older when you've given up on
studly and are willing to settle for avuncular."
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to
what lies within us."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Among
the Irish, conversation is considered to be one of the martial arts."
"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
Anais Nin
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Sight
by Sue Redding
I see you
I see you with my hands
I see
you with my heart
I see you with my solar plexus
and my belly
I see
you with my ears and nose
I can see you with another kind of vision
I can see your soul
without your face getting in the way
I can see past
your body
to your true heart
I can see you in a way
no one else can
see you
Scary, isn't it?
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Excerpts from "Slender Forever: Secrets of losing weight-and
keeping it off"
From AARP Magazine, September & October 2005.
Go Out and Play
Staying indoors all day can fuel
carb cravings, since it puts the skids on serotonin, a brain chemical that regulates
mood. Your body needs both sunlight and carbohydrates to make the chemical. When
you stay inside, serotonin can drop – triggering a yen for carbohydrates
to try to boost serotonin, explains Marie-Annette Brown, Ph.D., R.N., author of
When YourBody Gets theBlues. Brown suggests spending 20 minutes outdoors every
day.
Munch on a Mineral
Overweight people
who regularly took a chromium supplement gained 10 to 12 fewer pounds between
ages 45 and 55 than those who did not, a study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center in Seattle showed. The mineral, also found in foods such as brewer's yeast,
calf's liver, and wheat germ, keeps insulin levels in check, which may help keep
weight off. Study author M. C. Nactigal suggests taking 200 micrograms of chromium
daily. As always, check with your doctor before starting a new supplement.
