Day 54 Dealing with Beliefs Given to us in Fear

When I was in first grade my first experience in school, We didn’t even have to go to any kindergarten or preschool then, my teacher was a nun dressed in black and white  habit who stood 6 foot 11 and wore size 16 men’s basketball sneakers, the only shoes that would fit her. Imagine this teeny little 6 year old girl sitting in an oversized desk looking at those gigantic shoes that could just stomp her out. I would look up to the top of the world and see that mean face wrapped in that nun outfit glaring down at me. I would feel the sting of her ruler on my back if I didn’t’ sit up straight enough. Yes I was definitely afraid of her.

When children are afraid of the parental authority like I was of this nun, and she tells me that girls are dumber than boys, I don’t need any facts or logic to believe what she is telling me. I believe simply because she said so! And I will believe it with all my heart and soul rather than have her come down on me and hit me or stomp on me. Anything she told me- I took for the whole truth.

As we grow up, even though that adult is no longer present in our lives. The feelings of fear that pushed non benefitting beliefs into our minds and souls is still there. Those beliefs are held in our psyche by a lock of fear. We still subconsciously fear the authority that taught us that belief. So even into my adulthood I still believed that men were smarter than women. There is certainly no data to back that up. No proof of that, in fact just about everybody would tell you it is not true, but because that belief was given to me as a result of a fear based authority figure telling me what to believe, I am going to believe that belief and not be able to change that belief. I will even make up my own reasons why that belief is true and I might even refuse to hear any one try to tell me it is not true. I clutch that belief because I am afraid to let go of it because I still have a child’s fear of that nun inside me, what might happen if I let go of her belief, how will I be punished, what terrible thing will happen to me if I doubt that belief. I subconsciously feel safe by continuing to believe this non benefitting belief. To change it would make me feel unsafe as though I was violating something and would get hurt. It is this feeling of safety I get from believing this belief that makes me keep it no matter how disabling it might be to me.

So with beliefs like these we have to see WHO taught us these non benefitting beliefs and are we still afraid of those authority figures? Do they still hold power over us? Until we can face the authority who taught us these non benefitting belief, face to face, adult to adult, until we can remove the fear that they had over us consciously, we cannot remove these beliefs.  We must realize that it is no longer dangerous to disagree with that authority figure who told us to believe in these beliefs and we can now update our beliefs based on the current reality of things in our lives today. I think we all have been given beliefs like these. I think it is worth it to find them and deal with them. What do you think?

Email me at shaman@shamanelder.com and we can work through such a  non-benefitting beliefs of yours for free! Or visit http://www.shamanelder.com/

Aho

Shaman Elder Maggie

Day 53 Create your own Reality

Aho! I am using an analogy this morning to explain this teaching to you. We are walking through a forest. We created this forest with our beliefs. It is unique to us and not like anyone else's forest. No one else can walk in our own forest, only us.  Everything that is beautiful here we created with our beliefs and perceptions and past experiences. And everything dark and scary here we also created with our beliefs, perceptions and traumas and experiences.

With each step we take we can perceive something new. We can become the observer and see the glistening of the leaf or hear the whippoorwill if we can just observe. WE can see things that we could not see yesterday because we are doing the work to open our selves up to perceiving new things, the point of lesson one. There are said to be 1.5 billion possible perceptions in a life time and the normal human perceives only 1,500 ways. So awareness and letting things show YOU what they are, learning to use your inner senses so that you can perceive more, is all part of sensing this forest and knowing where it is you are walking!

Up ahead off in the distance is a meadow, also of your own creation. You know you want to get to that meadow. You know it exists but you have not been there yet. This path will lead you there. You cannot just teleport yourself there, you cannot wait sitting down on your path for some eagle to pick you up and fly you there. You have to walk step by step along your path.

If you just sit down there, you will get no where and will be stuck in the same place looking at the same old things forever. No changes, just the same old problems and circumstances. But if you walk you take a journey and see new things and have new experiences and create new things with each thought. If you run into a tree you can step back, rub your booboo and see the Light coming from the meadow off in the distance. Let that Light remind you  what your goal is and dust yourself off and keep walking. You created this forest and you can make it even more beautiful by thinking positive thoughts and feeling gratitude and loving all the things in the forest you created. You can choose more benefiting beliefs and walk with those to create even more beautiful trees and let your life experience be more full and beautiful as you walk by choosing these new beliefs. You can eliminate the dark shadows by letting go of old memories you no longer need, old worries, old non benefiting beliefs. Trimming the trees as you go to let more sunshine in!

This is a path and the only way to walk it is to experience it. It is not a mental game. It is a 4 body experience. I want to help you walk your forest in joy and peace and light and to really have this full experience because we only get to walk through this forest one time. I want to help you find your way to the meadow beyond.

Aho

Shaman Elder Maggie

Take the email course on Traditional Shamanism with Shaman Maggie. Start Today,  www.shamanelder.com

Day 52 Bad Karma is a Cause of Disease

The most dangerous being in all the world is the human being. It is the only being that will deliberately violate your free will choice. So this is the being we need to protect ourselves from. All the other beings can do nothing without your permission or willingness. They are nothing compared to the human being who will violate you and rip your life apart and hurt you or imprison you or kill you.  These are the beings we must learn to deal with yes. Some ways my family taught me to deal with people is to respect that they too have free will choice. There is no reason for me to violate the free will choice of any created thing. I learned to respect the free will of people and of trees and of mountains and of spoons. I will not violate their free will as they too are sentient beings having a life experience here just as I am. But I also respect my own free will and I take responsibility for what I create on this planet too. WE get into trouble when we start trying to push our views, our beliefs onto other beings. When we forget that the spoon is sentient and just throw it in the sink as though it is nothing, that creates bad karma for us. And that karma amasses until nothing is going right for us at all. I was taught at age three how to respect my toys so that I did not create negative karma. I have spent my whole life respecting the free will of everything around me and perhaps it is because I have not created the decades of bad karma by ignoring the free will of everything that I have such joy and peace and abundance in my life. If I can give you one gift from this course , this would be it.

There is an old lama from Tibet. His name is Tsongkhapa. He lived about 1200 AD and is still very famous for his words of wisdom today. And he said, “if the maturation of a karma is in progress, it cannot be altered, even by Buddha. There are many different causes of insanity: intense fear, a chemical imbalance, an imbalance in the body’s elements, deep sorrow, intense greed, and so on. Some become mentally ill simply because of the natural progression of their karma. In this latter case, no ordinary treatment can help. If mental or physical illness is brought about from the maturation of a karma, then the best treatment is the collection of merit and the purification of negativities”.

My Shaman Grandmother knew about the devastating effects of accumulating negative karma in this lifetime. And so she taught me when I was a wee little kid with no more understanding about life than how to play with dollies that I needed to respect  the free will of every sentient being, every creation and offer random acts of kindness anonymously to create good karma in my life.

To read more of what my Shaman grandmother taught to me just go to www.shamanspeaks.com

To take my online email course just go to www.shamanelder.com

Aho

Shaman Elder Maggie

Day 51 A Practice to Remove Anxiety

Sit quietly where you will not be disturbed for five minutes. Breath in and raise your arms so that your hands are in front of your chest palms pointed downward fingers almost touching. Put your tongue against your bottom teeth and exhale while toning the sound keeeee as in "key" like a car key or house key. Tone keee as you exhale and push your hands down to the level of your abdomen. As you inhale circle your arms out and around back together at chest level and repeat the toning and exhale. You will probably notice a vibration in your chest as you do this. That is good! Do this 18 times and then shake out your hands well and resume your daily activities. I would say morning and night would be good times to do this exercise. Let me know what improvements you find as you go!

Aho ( Yaqui language means “ I speak MY truth”)

Shaman Elder Maggie

Learn more about Traditional Shamanism by taking this online course www.shamanelder.com

Read more teachings like this one at www.shamanspeaks.com

Day 50 My After Death Experience

I was pronounced dead on a Sunday night in a little country hospital that could not do what was needed to save me. When I died  I was suddenly aware of everything that I had done in this world. Every person I had interacted with, what I said, what they said to me and more importantly the reason why things were the way they were. I saw the reason for my mother being angry at me when I was six and didn't understand her. I saw the reason why I had become what I had become and why things had happened to me that at the time made no sense at all. It was not heaven or hell. It was instant knowing. It was the big AAAHHH! Now I understand! I also saw all those people whom I had hurt by my own misunderstanding or impatience. Not as a judgment upon me but just to show me where I went wrong and why.

I teach this now to hospice patients. And I teach them that if they have an issue that is not settled, that they should put it to rest. So many things happen to us that we do not really understand at the time. it is better to let go of those things. You will understand them someday.

I think this is a good thing to know. That when people pass on they become enlightened as to the events of their life and their affect on your life. It is a good thing for those who have led good lives. It is yucky for those who have led bad lives.

And you can live your life knowing that someday you will see exactly what went on and you will be responsible for everything you say to others and feel good about all the times you helped someone or brightened someone's day or made a difference or did your best.  What do you think? Leave a comment!

Learn more about traditional shamanism and Shaman Elder Maggie here www.shamanelder.com

Read more teachings like this one in her new book The Shaman Speaks www.shamanspeaks.com only $13.95, free shipping.

Aho means I speak my truth
Shaman Elder Maggie

Day 49 Healed But Not Well

We create a defense system around us to block out or control the pain and struggle, the negative stuff, the disability, the demon possessing us whatever the issue is. But when we are healed through Shamanic means we still have that shield around us that prevents anything from changing in our mental emotional and physical bodies. That defense system, that "don't anything change" motion detector alarm system is still in place because you created it and intended it yourself. Until you can begin to turn off the motion alarm and allow the motion of the healing to be recognized, to be felt as a good motion, your alarm system will remain on because you trained yourself for years how to have this alarm system, this defense mechanism, and how to have it on all the time. How is the healing supposed to get through to where you can be aware of it when you have trained yourself into such a defensive posture?

It’s the guy who breaks his leg and gets a cast and has to limp to work every day for 6 weeks and when he gets the cast off he still limps to work every day for the rest of his life. Does he have to? No. Why does he? Because he has trained himself to limp. It is his free will choice. Can he decide not to limp anymore? Yes, will it take some conscious effort to remember not to limp for a while? Yes.

Aho

 Shaman Elder Maggie

Learn more about Traditional Shamanism by taking this online course www.shamanelder.com

Read more teachings like this one at www.shamanspeaks.com

Day 48 Skills of a Traditional Shaman

There are many skills a Traditional Shaman has. Some Shamans specialize in specific areas. I will list some of the areas or specialties here. They are like arms or leaves on a tree or better like different roots on one tree. You can work on each of them to develop them. And for each root that is strong and healthy, the tree is stronger and healthier too.

The skill of blessing

The skill of energizing power centers (natural vortices)

The skill of shifting to another level of awareness

The skill of channeling

The skill of storytelling

The skill of healing with dual focus (soul extraction)

The skill of empowerment

The skill of balancing/intergrating the body

The skill of tuning into past, present and future

The skill of energizing and healing energy fields

The skill of manifesting events and circumstances

The skill of shapeshifting

The skill of interpreting dreams

The skill of creative dreaming

The skill of shaman journeying

The skill of increasing personal energy

The skill of contemplative manifesting

The skill of focused movement

The skill of healing with symbols and omens.

The skill of ritual and ceremony

The skill of geomancy

The skill of time travel

The skill of magical flight

The skill of working with group energy.

So these are all a Shaman's roots. Some are strong and well developed naturally. Some are little and need cultivation. Imagine if you took the time to cultivate all these roots! What a tree you would be! And the opportunity is always there for you. Just looking at this list shows you what a Shaman is in truth and power. I too am stronger at some and weaker at others but each root is a path in itself.

I hope I have empowered you a bit here to think about your gifts, developed and undeveloped and to see your own power! If you want to work on developing these gifts I teach many of them in the Shaman Apprenticeship 101 course found here www.shamanelder.com. You can start today!  18 lessons only $135.

Aho!

Shaman Elder Maggie