Shamanic Healing: History, Theory, and Practice

Gary Doore’s Shaman’s Path (1988) shows ways and means to personal growth and empowerment. A series of excellent articles in this compilation come from well-known experts such as Michael Harner and Stanislav Grof. These experts explain shamanism from the viewpoints of ancient spirituality and modern science. This anthology even explains how ancient shamanism is being utilized to heal people in modern hospital pain clinics. In Secrets of Shamanism, Jose and Lena Stevens provide additional simple to use techniques to tap into spiritual power. Secrets of Shamanism is a highly readable book with instruction on performing practical healing rituals such as the vision quest, journeying, and shamanic dancing.

In Shaman’s Path editor Gary Doore details the spiritually empowering role of the first healers known as shamans (Siberia). The story-telling shaman of experience may chant, rattle, or drum to journey inward. The shaman can diagnose, and heal those suffering from psychological crisis or ill health by first reviewing the patient’s relationships. Soul loss causes illness and death. Shamans access the store of knowledge past and future. They can even stretch or condense time because time and space are fluid and flexible. Shamans obtain knowledge and power from the spirit world and ordinary reality.

The shaman goes into a trance to heal. The shaman interacts in “non-ordinary reality” with spirits, guides, teachers, guardians, or power animals using rituals, and myths. The shaman communicates with living, growing, and conscious rocks, minerals, crystals, plants, animals, trees, waters, and beings from this living planet and beyond. Remember carbon based humans live on a conscious silicon crusted crystal planet. Chi Gung says we must heal using the spirits of nature.

The shaman helps by getting in touch with the spirits of nature, living or dead. Apache shaman and war leader Geronimo (Goyale), per testimonials, used telepathy and could become transparent or shift his shape at will. Jesus and Krishnamrurti, along with ascended masters, could also shape shift and glow radiantly. They can see the hidden with eyes closed and even the future. Shamans essentially gave birth to religion by talking to all beings including plants and animals. You have the ability with intention to be a shaman.

Shamanism is a time-tested way of solving problems using multiple interconnected dimensions. Shamans shift between levels of consciousness at will thru deep breathing. Unlike schizophrenics, shamans know what they are doing and where they are. Shamans receive answers to important questions in ordinary reality first. The spiritual is the root of the psychological and physical. Relaxing drumming can therefore stop headaches by increasing oxygen intake. As Pythagoras taught, the harmonics of the celestial orbs or spheres is the light in music.

In sonic trance, the shamanic healer is conscious. He or she remembers the ecstatic soul journey experience, and interprets it unlike most psychic mediums. Despite, the power of spirits met in astral travel, there is no higher authority than that of the Great Spirit. Natives have been following their version of the Creator’s Law of One for hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. Shamans were in fact the first healers, diagnosticians, and psychotherapists to utilize isolation, hypnosis, and visualization. The word, as in Solomon’s and Moses’ incantations, heal individuals and the tribe. Sonic wavelengths from words and music determine dimension.

Shamans solve metaphysical and personal problems. Shamans access new or lost knowledge. Shamans go on vision quests for the tribe, themselves, or others to answer questions. Shamans demonstrate the power of detailed visualization. The goal of the shaman is to expand the field of spirituality around the body using visualization and perhaps blessing the four corners of the cross in the Medicine Wheel. Yoga remains the silent concealed form of the intuitive mind (buddhi) with physical and spiritual transformation some Buddhists claim was provided ancient Native Americans following Buddha’s death. It is older.

The shaman’s purpose is transformation. Shamanistic journeys often involve visions of caves or tunnels thru the earth. Answers may come as symbols in a dream. Energetic power spots on the earth with high vibrations amplify thoughts and emotions. Power spots can be recreated from memory. Shamans are in touch with the spirits of the elements, earth, air, fire, and water. Shamans worship the power of the Sun’s light as well as that of other planetary and stellar bodies and cycles.

In ceremonies and rituals, shamans invoke the powers of sound, motion, smell, locations, guardians, the season, rites of passage, and commemoration of important individual or communal events. Sound and light are forms of energy. Thus mantras, music, and chanting remain powerful forms of energy. The burning of sage for example uses the basic four (4) elements of earth, air, fire, and water important to Taoism. The drum opens the doorway to the spirit world and the rattle, a sort of magic wand, calls forth guardians. The dance transforms the dancer and observers. As in yoga or tai chi, the postures and gestures of the shaman methodically open the main spirit tunnels or chakras in the spinal cord. The shaman integrates the Lower and Upper Worlds as master of the Middle Word between the two. Candle light creates sacred power spots.

Shamans utilize sacred power spots which often have strong electromagnetic fields. The Celtic Druids, Freemasons, Hawaiian kahunas, Hebrew prophets, and extra-terrestrials selected sacred spots reading land forms. Such geomancy is still utilized in feng shui. Light, love, and truth comes from these ancient sacred spots which date back to civilizations long lost. Solar system specific architecture of Tiahuanaco, Mexico City, and thousands of other places, make us wonder what advanced space age technology was being used by lost civilizations. It appears ancient lost civilizations tapped into a universal system of energy production from earthly and celestial energies or life forms. A single consciousness from the unified field of spirituality created the ancient network of megalithic buildings on energy nodes connected by ley lines across the planet from Stonehenge to Peru to the Yucatan and Pacific.