Giving back has to be part of the Shaman path. My Shaman Grandmother was the biggest giver in the whole world! She gave to everyone in her house, everyone in her family, everyone in her community and every charity that ever asked her for a dollar. We can take a lesson from her generosity and realize that being the giver of that overflow of Creator’s love and light that just fills your bubble of protection to overflowing is just one opportunity you have to give to others. What about the fact that in 1908 in the middle of a country wide political genocide, my grandmother’s parents sold their last cows and chickens, their last piece of food to get the money to buy their daughter a ticket on the immigrant ship to America to save her life in the only way that they could? Is that the heart of giving? They gave their lives so she could live and so that we could learn these ancient teachings today. We have a responsibility to give in equal return to those who give to us. When you give me $200 I have a responsibility to give you back $200 even if I can only do that through my teaching or my counseling or my healing work or my prayers. But the shaman pays back what she is given. There is always an equal value exchange with a true shaman and it includes generosity and blessings.
If anyone looks at my life they would see that I give everything I have away to people that I hope do benefit from it. I give my time, my effort, my education, my expertise, my clothes, my food, my bedroom, my blankets and pillows, my toilet to all who can benefit from it. There is no way to separate giving from the path of Traditional Shamanism. So this practice of giving needs to be plainly taught in the 101 course.
Just the spiritual side of this issue, its not about the money, its about the people. Its always about the people.
What do you think of this idea? Let me know at shaman@shamanelder.com
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