Day 72 Freedom

Let me tell you about fear.

We are taught fear from birth. Our parents use fear to control us. If you have raised children yourself you know that you may have used fear to scare the kids into doing what you wanted them to do. Then fear is the controller in school. You will be punished if you do not do things the way they want, stay after school, detention, principal's office, failing grades, its all about fear.

So by adulthood, we are totally controlled by fear and it is the biggest part of our lives. Then we go to work. We learn to fear coming in late, displeasing the boss, not doing a super job every day, taking too long a lunch break, all kinds of things. So fear dominates our work life. Then we get married. And we use fear to control each other. “I won't love you if you ....( displease) me in any way.” “Get that supper on the table in time or I will be angry.” “Mow that lawn or I will shame you to the neighbors.” More, more, more. Fear of anger becomes the control in a relationship many times.

Wow! We are fear based people aren't we! How sad! At what point do we get to breathe??? No wonder we are unhappy. What a crumby way to live!

And who has time now to unravel 30 or 40 years of fear based thinking? It seems easier to take Prozac than to go to a counselor and work on the psychological factors for months or years. It seems easier to medicate than to break the chain. And it takes breaking the chain to find freedom, happiness and power.

What would you like to do? How precious is your freedom to you? How badly do you want to be happy? How much is your personal power worth to you?

Taking my course in Traditional Shamanism requires one to accept his or her own power. It teaches you where it is and shows the way. The course teaches you how to be a hunter, a warrior and work with the tools that have been given to you already but that you are afraid to use (because everybody told you not to). Why did they say that? Because, if you learn to use your God given tools they will no longer be able to control you with fear.

When we truly take back our power, no person can have power over us again.

When we truly take back our power, we become responsible for everything that happens to us. We can make wonderful things happen in our lives. We are no longer under the influence of other people’s poor plans for our lives.

Who knows you better than you? Why do you let others decide what is best for you? Only you know what is best for you. Step up and make your choices, take responsibility for your choices and watch those fear based controllers run for the hills. Those who were controlling you will leave. Why should they stay if they can't touch you anymore! Believe me it a very freeing feeling and all it take is a choice, a different way of living.

Traditional Shamanism teaches you to reclaim your power; that you are strong and yes, you do create your own reality. Traditional Shamanism also expects you to accept responsibility for yourself and for your actions and consequences. But that is not as bad as sitting back saying, "Well, they made me do this." What is that??! It is wonderful to be in charge of your own life! It is great to know that whatever you want in life is yours with the proper knowledge, the sincere intent and the correct emotional control. Traditional Shamanism gives you the skills. It is a great thing!

Should you fear studying Traditional Shamanism? Fear is a choice you can make. The other choice is freedom. Let someone control you, fear; or take control of yourself, freedom. My course in Traditional Shamanism will teach you how to take control of yourself and experience the freedom to have anything you really want out of life.

To become a student of Traditional Shamanism with Shaman Elder Maggie just go to http://www.shamanelder.com and begin today!

To get a copy of Shaman Elder Maggie’s new book The Shaman Speaks go here http://www.shamanspeaks.com

To contact Shaman Elder Maggie, Email: shaman@shamanelder.com)

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Day 37 The Raven from My Shaman Grandmother’s Perspective.

The Raven from My Shaman Grandmother’s Perspective.

In my Shaman Grandmother’s tradition the Raven was not a welcome being. The raven was a carrier of death and bad news, a feeder on carrion and feces and so weak that even a mouse coud defeat it. My ancestors felt it was brought here by Creator to be a disrupter, a bringer of chaos, to keep us on our toes and to teach us awareness and make us take our guard. In Siberia there is a place where it is said that the Great Raven, his wife Miti and his family lived and you can see black rocks on the cliffs called the house and pots and pans.

If you think about the raven in the forests of Siberia, my people would take the reindeer into the forests in the winter time to stay out of the cold winds and to hide the reindeer from predators like wolves and hunters. But those pesky ravens might come and alert the wolves to the presence of the reindeer and the  people in the forest. It is not a far leap to then understand why the ancient peoples felt the raven was not a friendly thing. In my grandmothers traditions everything is sentient, living, thinking, feeling and not necessarily only what it looks like on the outside. So every time a raven appeared by the herd of reindeer, so too did the wolf show up and the hunters showed up and all hell broke loose. There was a saying that if a raven flew into your yurt, you might as well just slaughter your whole herd! 

My point is that when we look at ancient legends or superstitions or beliefs we have to try to place our feet into their circumstances, into their way of life and see why they might have believed that to be true. I think if you had grown up as a reindeer herder and spent the winter huddled in a Siberian forest with reindeer as your only means of warmth or food or clothing you might not like the raven so much either! 

The Shaman would sometimes go far away from the tribe and leave prayers and offerings of grain after building a wooden kind of scarecrow man hoping to relegate the raven to that area away from the tribe. So actions were taken by the Shaman to keep the raven from visiting the tribe. I wonder if that is where we got the idea of a scarecrow for keeping the birds away from our fields!

Aho

Shaman Elder Maggie

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Day 28 What A Hopi Healer Taught Me About Ceremony

I can tell you the true story a Hopi healer told me. He spent 7 days preparing for a ceremony. He fasted, he dried certain grasses and prepared certain potions. He made a special altar and really worked strenuously for 7 days to have everything perfect. On the morning of the 7th day he went out at sunrise and began his chanting and singing and prayers and doing all these actions and he went on and on for hours.

 

But he could not feel his connection with Creator! Here he had done all this work to please Creator and to call upon him and all the Spirits and he felt nothing. But he kept up with the ceremony for hours more and yet he could not feel that connection, that presence of the spirits.

It was getting dark now but he kept going, doing his ceremony over and over with great fervor but nothing.

Finally it was late at night. The whole thing had been a dismal failure. He felt like a failure as a healer. He put away his ceremonials and went to a tree in the forest. He sat down with his back against the tree in the moonlight and he wept bitterly for a long time and then he just cried out, "why didn't you listen to me?"

And he heard a voice say, "You were so full of yourself and your ceremony there was no room for ME to enter! Here by this tree you are doing the most beautiful ceremony and here I am!"

That is what I wish to teach you about ceremony. Ceremony is what you are doing in your heart. Any rituals or step by step instructions for this moon or that feast day or the other holiday might be just for show, not for Creator. The best ceremony is the one you make in your heart.

Aho!

Shaman Elder Maggie

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Day 17: The Hunter in the Forest

Here is a truth for you to consider. When you finally see your mission on this earth and you decide to stand up and do it, to shine your light, there will always be those who hate the Light and who will try to put it out. Guaranteed.

I teach you Traditional Shamanism using the allegory of the hunter in the forest. He knows his skills, he uses his power, his awareness, his balance, his good aim, his heightened senses, his patience, his knowledge of game, all his skills to achieve his mission which is to feed his people. And he knows that there is danger in the forest. He knows that if he does not remain aware and balanced he could fall out of the tree and be killed by a bear or moose. The danger is there for all of us. But it is not so dangerous that a skilled and practiced hunter should withhold food from his people because he is afraid of the bear!

The bear is as natural to the forest as the hunter. They both belong in the forest and they both are a danger to each other. Everything has danger. It is dangerous to breathe, all the pollution in the air but more dangerous not to breathe, methinks! LOL!

You saw your mission and agreed to it before you ever set foot on this planet. You saw that you would have all the abilities and tools and opportunities to accomplish this mission. In fact you saw that if you just be impeccable as a human being you have already accomplished this mission, fete accompli! So being born into this mission is like being put into a tree stand in the forest. Be impeccable and you will not fail. Do not fear.

Please ask me anything. I offer free counseling to anyone by email to shaman@shamanelder.com

Or take the course I offer at www.shamanelder.com You can start today!