Day 66 The Four Enemies of the Shaman Part 4: Old age

Each of us truly believes that we are somehow never going to die. We are somehow immortal. No one thinks about their death, no one thinks that maybe today is the last day on earth. But it could just be true that right now some Iranian who’s job it is to watch over the launch pad button for their nuclear missiles just bumped the fire button with his foot as he was getting up to go to the john and right now those nuclear missiles are headed straight for your country and will be here in less than ten minutes. We don’t know that this isn’t true, do we? So what are you doing believing that you will still be here tomorrow? Are you fooling yourself? Do I hear you saying, “ I am never going to die!!! I have all the time in the world! I can put this off till tomorrow. I can build my boat tomorrow. I have lots of time! Lets watch that TV show now! And the next one and the next one!” No I tell you that your time here is short . You do not have a lot of time to build this boat. In fact if you don’t have it built by the end of this course then you are not going with me to the other side. I say this to keep you from procrastinating.

Now there is another side of this enemy that says, “Oh you are too old to even begin to build a boat now! Why not just give up and go watch TV”. And there is a side to this enemy that says, “You are too tired to build your boat today, and today, and today, and today.” And there is a side to this enemy that makes sure you are just too busy to build your boat, too much going on, too many places to go, run the kids to activities, work overtime, make dinner go to scouts, etc, etc.  Am I saying that you might have to rearrange parts of your life to be able to build this boat? I sure am saying that! Just how hungry are you to reach that other shore?

You see this enemy is definitely here to keep you from walking  any closer to your spiritual freedom. This enemy is the worst one of all I think,. Every one here has felt the claws of this enemy already in these courses. It is so easy to succumb to this more powerful enemy, old age, tiredness and death.

But if you accept the gifts you receive in taking responsibility for balance in your life (Course 101, lesson two) and you act on the discipline of humor, your spiritual self can dance with joy at the fact that, in this moment, you CAN build your boat! You can work on you! You can give this moment to adding another plank or weaving another rope for your own journey to the land across the huge lake where Creator will reward you for your efforts.

Every shaman has to make this journey. It is not easy. It is called an initiation in some cultures, a test in some cultures, a blessing and gift in other cultures. But you must build this boat and sail it across this wide lake if you want to get to the place where Creator bestows shamanic gifts on those who are willing to dedicate themselves to this great work.

Old age/death is fought by having the discipline of humor and the responsibility for balance in your life.

There you are!

Aho

Shaman Elder Maggie

www.shamanelder.com

Day 65 The Four Enemies of the Shaman Part 3 Power

When one is overtaken by the enemy of clarity one can become a petty tyrant, telling people what is good for them, what to do , what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. The power here is that of the petty tyrant who thinks he or she has clarity and now knows what is best and demands that everyone else heed that knowledge. This power stuffs up our pride and makes us puffed up with self importance and shuts off our ears and stops up our eyes so that we do not go any farther to gain any more new perceptions, to seek out new arenas or to learn anything at all new. This power makes us sit on our thrones and feel like we can command the world. But it also prevents us from ever being able to change or grow again. Why? Its because those very people that we take command over now expect us to live up to this role as commander. We are stuck now holding the bag and we will have to work very, very hard to keep up the façade of the “one who knows all.” Life becomes very hard indeed for the one who succumbs to power.

Having the ability to laugh at our mistakes and learn to grow from them is the discipline of humor. Did you use it in lesson two as a material you have to build your boat? Do you also find the intent to honor as a useful material with which to build your boat? I find that the intent to honor myself and everyone around me provides buoyancy for my boat even when the seas are rough and people are angry and shouting and afraid of capsizing. I built my boat using the intent of honor as waterproofing. With the intent to honor ourselves and others we empower everyone.

We can overcome power with an intention to honor ourselves and others as well as the discipline of humor.

To learn more about traditional shamanism visit www.shamanelder.com

To purchase my new paperback called The Shaman Speaks visit  www.shamanspeaks.com

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Day 64 The Four Enemies of a Shaman Part Two: Clarity

2. Clarity:

 How many times have you heard someone say, “O yes I know that!” This very attitude keeps that person from ever learning anything new, from ever getting a new perspective or changing an idea or an old worn out belief. I have had people tell me that I needed a microwave to make tea! Do you see how we put ourselves into a terrible prison by thinking we are clear on something? The truth is we have not yet perceived much more than 10 % of all that is. How can we ever say we have clarity on anything? And isn’t the fun of this life experience in the exploration itself? Assuming we have clarity cuts off our very creativity, our ingenuity, our problem solving skills or innovative ideas. It also makes us burdens on those around us as we try to force others to see things only as we see them. It violates the free will choice of others to impose our supposed clarity on others. So to battle this enemy we need to have an attitude of humility, “Ok I don’t know everything. In fact, I don’t really know much about anything”. We need to have the intent to honor, to honor the Self and to honor others and not put ourselves higher or grander or more important than anything else, even a rock.

So we overcome clarity with an attitude of humility and an intent to honor Self and others.

Aho ( I speak my truth)

To learn more about traditional shamanism visit www.shamanelder.com

To purchase my new paperback called The Shaman Speaks visit  www.shamanspeaks.com

Day 63 The Four Enemies of a Shaman Part one: Fear

1. Fear:

Fear is what we might feel when we approach the unknown. It is said that if you feel fear then do your best to gain all the information you can about the thing that frightens you. But since we have so far perceived so very little of this universe, both manifest and non manifest, there are going to be things that are unknown to us. Fear is not something we can entirely banish from our lives unless we go live in a prison cell and sit there doing nothing, not gaining any new experiences or perceptions at all. But that would not be the life of a shaman warrior.

Whenever we face the unknown we find our own identities, our own concepts and beliefs and reality being confronted. For some people, this is an attack on what they are comfortable with, the rut they live in, the suffering they have grown accustomed to and they do not want to be confronted with anything that is unknown. For the shaman warrior, there is no way to gain a new perception without confronting the unknown! So we go in even though we feel this fear. We work through this fear, we go in spite of fear and we walk into the unknown with a spirit of humility. We take authority for what we do know, we take responsibility for the fact that we do not know very much at all and we step into the unknown like the Star Trek Enterprise speeding off to new galaxies, to go where no man has gone before! LOL!

 Our new dimension is this now moment. This moment is the only one we are responsible for. The only one we have any control over, the only one that matters. This now moment is a chance to gain a new perception, to widen our view, to see new heights, to add a beam to our boat, to create.

To vanquish Fear: Take responsibility for your harmony. Align yourself in balance with everything around you. Be at peace with what is in this very moment now. Are you OK now in this moment right here? And in this moment? And in this moment now? And now? And then have an attitude of humility; you do not know everything and you never will know everything so let the world be a mystery and enjoy exploring it and gaining new perceptions 100 times each day as a child would explore his back yard or as Captain Kirk would explore a new galaxy.

To learn more about traditional shamanism visit www.shamanelder.com

To purchase my new paperback called The Shaman Speaks visit  www.shamanspeaks.com

Day 62 Giving Back

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

To learn more about traditional shamanism visit www.shamanelder.com

To purchase my new paperback called The Shaman Speaks visit  www.shamanspeaks.com

Day 61 What causes my suffering

It is those non benefitting beliefs, those untrue beliefs that we were given by outside sources that make us struggle and suffer . The fact that they are not true makes it impossible to live under those beliefs comfortably or easily. Its like trying to get your foot into a size 4 shoe because someone told you had to! By choosing to believe that there is some fate, some kind of destiny you cannot control, your whole life has turned upside down and you are powerless at this point. However, at this point in your life, you are all grown up now. What other people have told you to believe, for the most part, were neither correct or completely true or beneficial to you at all. So now, as an adult, its time to review what you were told to believe and determine for yourself which of those childhood beliefs still benefit you today and which ones are hogwash and you wish to replace. Then choose beliefs that do benefit your life today. I can help you do this if you like. When you have beliefs that do benefit your life today you will find that you no longer suffer or struggle at all and your life becomes a beautiful thing indeed! Just like Mine!

Make sense? Send me an email at shaman@shamanelder.com and tell me you are reading my 100 day blog.

To learn more about traditional shamanism visit www.shamanelder.com

To purchase my new paperback called The Shaman Speaks visit  www.shamanspeaks.com

Day 60 Boundaries

Boundaries tell you what you will and will not do. What you are willing to partake in and what you are not willing to partake in for yourself. They are not leashes you can put on other people and make them do things or not do things, at all. They are to protect you and keep you safe. One of my boundaries is that I will not go down a dark alley at night! That boundary I have created for myself is to keep me safe and I don't care who tells me its ok to walk down that dark alley I will not go there because I have already set up this boundary that I refuse to cross.

I have a boundary that I will not let just anyone come and move into my house with me. This is a boundary for me. It keeps me safe and out of trouble. I set this boundary up now ahead of time and so if someone calls me up and says, Hey Shaman Maggie I need to come live with you and get my head on straight, I say no. I have this boundary and I will not go beyond it. I have another boundary that says I will not let someone disrespect me. I set it up beforehand that if someone is being rude or abusive to me I will leave that environment, I will walk way. And that is what I do. It keeps me safe and protected. Boundaries are things we set up for our own selves that delineate what we will and will not do. Then, when that situation comes up that tries to push us beyond our boundaries, we will not go there.

Boundaries are not meant to control other people. You cannot control what other people do or say or think. They have free will and we should respect their free will choice no matter what. ( if we violate the free will of others , we will have our own free will violated too. What goes around comes around)But we have to respect our own free will too and setting up these boundaries that create a safety net for us to stay within is a good thing to do.

So send me a list of your boundaries to shaman@shamanelder.com. We should know what our boundaries are and be very aware of them at all times. By making me a list, you will become area of what boundaries you choose to create for yourself and that is a very good thing to do!

To learn more about traditional shamanism visit www.shamanelder.com

To purchase my new paperback called The Shaman Speaks visit  www.shamanspeaks.com

Aho

Shaman Elder Maggie