My Shamanic Practice, here and now
We live in the grip of a disconnected world view.  All the peoples of the earth, before they experience the onslaught of Western “civilization”, know that energy is creation, made manifest. They know that they are the keepers of the Earth, not her master. They know that the Earth and all upon it – the stone people, the plant people, the finned, the furred, the feathered, the four leggeds, and the two leggeds, are all formed from the same star dust to which we will all return. They know that Spirit is not silent, but speaks to them directly in the wind, the waters, the mountains and the trees. They know that to change their world, they must change the way they perceive the world, and that this shifts their relationship with all that is now, all that is past, and all that is yet to come.

That is why, at this moment, groups of elders around the world are sitting in meditation, visioning the world they want their grandchildren to inherit.

At the heart of my shamanic work are the processes of remembering the ancient knowledge that is encoded in our DNA, but which we have overridden. These secrets, which we keep even from ourselves, can be moved into consciousness through shamanic practice and put to work to bring balance and healing to our wounded Earth and our fellow beings.

My teachers are connected to lineages of medicine people of the Americas. Their living descendents see from the perspective of the high mountains; they are the last of the Inka, Children of the Sun, who came down to share their prophecies and their practices barely 60 years ago. They understand that the destinies of all the peoples of the earth are interwoven and pass on their knowledge in munay, the unqualified power of love, for us to pass on to others.

At the heart of my shamanic practice are three principles:

Munay – the power of unqualified love for all that is.
Ayni – the power of right relationship; of reciprocity, with all that is.

And, in working with the ‘kawsay” energy, the energy of creation, it is essential to maintain the utmost integrity. The most important principle for the shamanic practitioner is the power and practice of Intention; that is; the holding of the energetic focus on creating wholeness, in munay and ayni. Shamanic intention brings healing to all that is; in this moment; in the past; and in the time to come.

What is a “Shaman”?

"Shamanism is the earliest spiritual practice known to humankind, dating back tens of thousands of years. Although the word 'shaman" is a Siberian word for a spiritual healer, shamanism has been practiced in parts of Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, Greenland, and Native North and South America throughout history. The fact that the practice has survived and thrived for thousands of years speaks to the potency of the work.”

"A shaman is a man or woman who interacts directly with spirits to address the spiritual aspects of illness, perform soul retrievals, divine information, help the spirits of deceased people cross over, and perform a variety of ceremonies for the community. Shamans have taken on many roles in tribal communities. They have acted as healers, doctors, priests, psychotherapists, mystics, and storytellers. Shamans heal emotional and physical illness by working with the spiritual aspects of illness.”

"Shamanism teaches us that everything that exists is alive and has a spirit, and that we are joined with the earth and all of life through our spiritual interconnectedness."

"One of the beautiful aspects of the shamanic journey is the principle of direct revelation. The practice of shamanic journeying help us to part the veils between the seen and unseen worlds and access information and energies that can help awaken us and restore us to wholeness.”
( Quotes from Sandra Ingerman, 'Shamanic Journeying'.)

"There are many types of shamanism and many traditions of shamanic healing. These different traditions, all of which are meant to connect humans with the spiritual world, include such things as the upper and lower world journeys of Siberian and Tibetan shamans, the Brazilian tradition of faith healing, the magic of Mexican curanderos, the sacred chants of the Maori of Aoteoroa, the sweat lodges and ceremonies of the Lakota Medicine Men which connect them to their creator, the Australian practice of journeying in the dreamtime, the Navajo chants and sand painting ceremonies, the connection with ancient spirits through Celtic shamanism, the art of healing using plants practiced by tribes in the world's rainforests, the energy medicine of the Inka mystics of the Andes, the art of dream healing of the ancient Greeks, and the healing dances of the South African bushmen.
But the core of all shamanic practice is about helping and healing."

(Quotes taken from web-site of the Society for Shamanic Practitioners, 2300 Eighth Street, Olivenhain, CA.  www.shamansociety.org)