Why Chase the Shadows?
Recently we hosted our Peruvian “Paco” (Quechua for “healer”) Ruben here in Salt Lake City. For two weeks we sat with this elder and teacher as he shared his Peruvian wisdom and ceremonial gifts with us. During one of our meditations, I found myself grappling with a question or an observation.
Why do we do this work?
Engaging in Shamanic practices is intense and challenging. Think about that question. Why do we do this work? What are we healing and why do we do this “work”. Work seems to be acceptable slang for the process of unraveling and reconfiguring the parts of ourselves that require attention. This ‘work’ can be therapeutically engaged or in the case of this blog, the by product of shamanic exploration.
When one fully engages in the work of Spirit and the multiple aspects of self-exploration, what do we hope to discover? This work often leads to aspects of our shadow. The shadow represents those more challenging parts of self often hidden or that we hide from.
Recently Bruce and I were engaged in shamanic training in North Carolina, and within the scope of five days of learning to step into the shamanic powers that we carry we found ourselves spending the first three days addressing aspects of ….shadow.
What does that mean?
When we work with shadow, which is in direct correspondence with our work with Spirit, we look at the aspects of ourselves and examine the who, and what we are, and how we carry ourselves in the world. We invite insights that may make navigation into this human existence more productive.
The shadow may be those parts of ourselves, that we find unflattering or unfitting. We find interpersonal places of hypocrisy, conflict, and unresolved wounds. We wrestle (as opposed to denying) feelings and sensations generated by a variety of emotional processes both pleasant and not so pleasant. We may explore hurt feelings or feelings of doubt, fear, and insecurity. The medicine(s) empowers us to see our culpability, and the dynamics of fully embracing the life that we say we want.
Exploring the shadow can ultimately liberate us from the idea that we are helpless in shaping the realities that we seek to embrace and allows us to step more fully into our power and awareness that translates into our magic in the world.
In the work we were doing with Ruben there seemed to be a certain synchronicity with the African shamanic work we were doing in North Carolina. And in both cases, it was about examining ourselves and liberating the parts of ourselves that holds us back.
We were asked in North Carolina to journal our self-sabotaging statements that hold us back from fully amplifying our shamanic gifts. Later we were to confront the self-sabotaging statements as they were presented to us, and to take a proactive action to correct their energetic impact on our psyche. A daunting task but also powerful.
I was reminded about how often my mind gravitates to passing thoughts that I might accept as a fact. For example, if I repeatedly hold to the idea that I am a failure, I may begin to incorporate that as a fact of who I am. Examining the shadow, confronting that idea, exploiting it, and consequently adapting and shifting that self-statement may liberate some magical aspect of myself that has been hidden by the shadow.
While working with Ruben, I began to ask myself the question.
Who are the people that are attracted to this type of work?
Over thinkers? Profound thinkers? Idealist? Who examines these things to these layers of understanding and seek out therapeutic and shamanic practices to access newer layers of consciousness? Who are the people who repeatedly come to ritual, ceremony, therapy? Who is seeking healing in body, mind, and spirit? What part of the human consciousness is activated to seek more?
None of this work is easy, if one genuinely and authentically steps into it, but it can be deeply satisfying.
Many people are so indoctrinated and domesticated into the fears and anxieties of this existence that their ability to examine their own accountability towards a better outcome seems limited. It takes courage to engage in the journey of self-discovery, exploration, and examination.
As a therapist and someone who practices Shamanism, I wonder what is the difference between someone who seeks therapeutic or shamanic guidance and those who just except things as they appear to be?
What motivates you?
What do you seek?
What in the universe is seeking you?
What is it that brings you to ritual?
What brings you to the sacred circle?
I recently came across this quote:
“Instead of being the one who does the desiring, imagine instead that everything desires you.
Your morning coffee really wants you to taste it.
The trees are yearning for you to notice the bright green of their leaves.
The breeze wants you to enjoy its soft touch on your cheek.
Even the ground under your shoes is waiting for you to notice the lively sensation it creates as you walk”.
Jane Brunette
Some people show up at a ritual because they like the community of like-minded people. Some people show up seeking deep healing. Some people show up and get uncomfortable for a few hours and go home. Some people find rich transformational experiences.
For me, I feel driven on multiple fronts.
I find that my life is much richer in meaning and purpose.
When I begin to understand the ancestral lineage and connections within my own life, I’m both awed and humbled by the idea that my time is NOW and not by coincidence.
When I have experiences with nature and human interactions, when I counsel people or hold sacred space, I find that I see them through a lens of divine purpose.
I experience moments of connectedness that I don’t think I would otherwise explored or understood without these teachings and this guidance.
When I consider the ancestral interactions and spiritual connections that happen in ritual, I realize that we are not walking this human experience alone.
To simplify all that …. This path brings me joy. To share it, to facilitate, to witness the awakenings of others is food for my soul.
What brings you?