ASA Ask a Shaman anything.

Hi there friends and journeyors / fellow seekers,

I recently made a thread about a series of certain spiritual experiences and epiphanies that I've had over the course of the last, well, almost 20 years now, called Psychic "crackups" and transformations. Psychoses, or authentic spiritual experiences?, and I wanted to offer, for your consideration and reading enjoyment, certain ideas and conclusions or insights that I've drawn and come to see ever more clearly, in hindsight.

Of course you might presume that these things are all subjective, and that's true, but only to a degree, because, at the same time I have become convinced that there is a place where we share the same ground of being and becoming, and take our rightful place at a table prepared for us in particular (even in spite of ourselves or to our surprise), framed by the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people and by the loving fatherhood of God, as children of light and love, at core, at heart. We are sacred beings living in a sacred and miraculous world even if we don't entirely know with precision what's really going on or who and what we really are when we come to this space of nothing/everythuing and of all possibility that's enough to make us shrink back, or go insane to try to avoid facing, head on.

And we also each of course also have our own unique spiritual experience and perspective and interpretation, but I feel that my point of view or the wisdom that I've gained can, and must, be helpful to others, perhaps younger people in their 20's who've not yet had a "mid-life crisis" and who might want to know how to thread that needle and stay away from the shoals of destruction and insanity, or still others who might consider the possibility that there are Shamans among us who's gone off the beaten path, entered onto the hero's journey and who've reached for the torch to bring back the boon to humanity, even if like Icarus they flew too close to the sun and fell on wings of wax.

I realize that my qualifications, of having been hospitalized on 4 occasions (or was it 5?) suffering from extreme spiritual crisis might be rather unusual as it's generally not something to brag about in this day and age of the pursuit of normalcy, but from the outside looking in, if I were you, I'd be very curious to know what such a person might have discovered in their pursuits and quests, particularly if that same person is speaking with an entirely sane and rational "voice" and is making themselves available for questions and insights and lessons learned.

That would be intriguing, so that's what I'm hoping to evoke in you, is a sense of curiosity and intrigue at the possibility of the presence of authentic wisdom from a man who isn't professing to take himself entirely seriously or trying to climb up on a platform from which to preach or lecture, but simply a heartfelt desire to share deep things from the heart and soul that have been purified and tested in the fire so to speak.

So I'll start with a few observations and things that I'm still grappling with to this day, to try to kick off a discussion.

But please in reply, I invite you to ask anything at all while also sharing your own insights.

We can't take ourselves too seriously on the one hand, but on the other, we should be taking ourselves much much more seriously, while having more fun.

Some things I've learned and come to know from the experiences - conslusions:

The human being has a certain Spirit within that is experiential or a felt experience deep down in the innermost heart of hearts.

That, not our intellectual "head" conception about things or who we might take ourselves to be based on judgements or assessments, is who and what we really are.

We must learn to listen to and think with our heart and learn to let it just be whoever and whatever it is, even if that's an utter mystery that cannot be quantified or pinpointed or tracked down. We are not who we think we are, not authentically any way (more on that later).

The hardest thing to do really well, is nothing at all ie: to be totally comfortable in our own self and environment without any major distractions.

We have a Spirit, and that Spirit is meant to fall in love with and comingle with the Spirit of God - Spirit of the Universe, where there is only one Spirit of Truth and Life, yet shared in an intimate, participatory basis. It's a wedding in other words. A celebration. A joy. An endless and everlasting satisfaction. We are love in love with love loving us loving love, for loving us first, ha ha!

We were created to have the fullness of this comingled Spirit of God without reservation, so the love is unfathomable and by far greater than we can imagine.

Allowing ourselves to begin to imagine and explore it in the domain of personal experience however, gives us a "tow rope".

Most of us are afraid to have an authentic spiritual experience in the domain of unknowing. Our "self" is largely a shield to protect us from the unimaginable possibility that life represents, so it's also our limitation, our constraint, our imprisonment, locked up from the inside, and with the key in hand to unlock it but unable to muster up the courage to do so.

The supreme irony however is that the only real and authentic personal experience of the truth that sets us free can be had when we release from and let go of pretty much everything we thought we knew including who we took ourselves to be.

In that fear of the unknown, relative to a hoped-for loving God, or something sort of better, new and improved understanding, is the beginning of real wisdom.

We are not wise. I am not wise, but the Spirit IS wise.

If I am a bride of Christ, so to speak, for better or worse! lol (not the best "wife" in so many ways), then that would mean that I'm married to the Spirit of God.

Theoretically then, that should make me wise, and to be honest, I would like to have the opportunity to put my wisdom to the test, while also sharing something, some aspect of that quintessential knowingness and mirthfulness that I believe the process has imparted to me and that is the source of "my" wisdom.

Here's a love song, but I'd ask you to consider it not in human to human terms but as I do, as a love song from me/you? to God (as love and truth itself) where male/female roles are interchangeable or completely irrelevant.

In the end, we are loved, you are loved and beloved, and you are the very light of the world! Don't sell yourself short. : )

In the interim.. a video

I think that we can move mountains (of causation) with faith as small as a tiny mustard seed.

We spend a great deal of time complaining, but we are the solution to the problem.

Lovingkindness contains it's own reason, and is the only reasonable position to take.

It's not a weakness but a great strength. All the power is there.

There is power in love, and all knowledge and reason is in it's domain.

And so what if it's so heavy handed with what's unreasonable? How could it be any other way?

When we have courage, even if we think we might be torn apart, we are reintegrated in an instant and in the twinkling of an eye.

So that's perhaps the thing that I believe we most need - courage, to take heart!

Don't ever give up. Even to try is to get on the escalator and ascend to new vistas of possibility.

I love you, especially those who may despair or who may find themselves broken or broken down. You will be lifted up if you have even the smallest degree of hope and faith.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

G'day,

I figure from the title that I can ask a Sharman anything....Are you that Sharman?

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

I'm being one of those and booking my spot for future communications...

I'll ask you this though in my drunken state, how does one be a shaman and is their any such thing as a pre-disposition to such things?

(Just a weary wondering man)

originally posted by: bally001
a reply to: AnkhMorpork

G'day,

I figure from the title that I can ask a Sharman anything....Are you that Sharman?

Kind regards,

bally

Sort of a modern day Shaman, yes.

Like a Shaman, I've had some very trippy spiritual experiences, and learned some deep things in the processing, that to share with my fellow man, heal or enlighten in some way and are supremely helpful to others who are searching or wanting to find for themselves a newfound happiness, health and wellness, in order so that the whole of society might be more functional.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Okay, I loved my dog like a fellow mate for 10 years. Greatest dog in the world to me. Calm, kind and always there for a bit of lovin.

What caused his sudden death?

Kind regards,

bally.

originally posted by: RAY1990

I'll ask you this though in my drunken state, how does one be a shaman and is their any such thing as a pre-disposition to such things?

Hmm, well, bear in mind that I'm just starting out here, having just put my Shaman shingle out on the door.

I realize that might not instill great confidence in my Shamanic abilities, but hey that's what we're here for, to put them to the test.

How does one BE a shaman?

Well, it's a calling really, or a chosenness since many are called but few are chosen. It's more something that happens to you, and it's not a "career" that anyone would really WANT to pursue.

Most people aren't up for the crazy experiences and whatnot involved in attempting to snatch fire from the Gods and then bring it back and hand it over to the little guy just for fun (no matter how difficult the challenge), or to pull the sword from the stone and then make of you a knight. There are dragons and stuff to be slayed and put asunder. It's not for the faint of heart.

It happens in spite of ourselves, but since the universe is essentially fair, we were probably complicit at some level in putting in the order to be a Shaman when we got into this whole mess in the first place.

The Shaman is also the kid that just could not accept that 2+2=4, but had to know precisely WHY that is and who would puzzle things out until they would drive themselves insane.

Shamans, good Shamans, are however a work in progress and they always have a past, like all superheroes do as something that we are also in the process of reconciling within themselves. As Carl Jung pointed out, they must be willing to be transformed in the process of transforming others.

They are not a guru. More of a doctor type, a healer.

The Shaman is a spiritual alchemist, but would also be heavily involved in physical transformation as well and would be a wealth of knowledge in areas like nutrition the cornucopia of special substances that confer healing on the human body. He must possess the philosophers stone, and consume it. All of which I do.

But more than anything, he is a teacher. A teacher of wisdom, and of spiritual things that to know are the very basis of his healing power. He's not a con man, although I suppose the world has been run roughshod by bad Shamans over the years.

A Shaman is someone who can say with confidence regarding other domains of non-ordinary consciousness, including terrors and all manner of obstacles that must be overcome - been there done that got the t-shirt.

And, provided he's not profiting from his Shamanism to any inappropriate degree, you get your money's worth so to speak with a good Shaman, or so I presume since like I said, I'm just coming into my own right now, since the experience of the Shaman is cumulative and because he's always working. The Shaman is moved, he is already moving. : )

But in answer to your question, while I suppose it's possible to get on the Shamanic journey, and the sooner the better (I started when I was 29), for the most part, it's more like something that choses you, and although you fall into it, fate was waiting for you all along to produce a certain outcome.

It's superdeterministic. Therefore, you are either already a Shaman or a Shaman to be, or you are not.

Listen to your heart and feel the force...

Are you already a Shaman yourself, RAY1990, and you dear reader all of you?

Ah ha! Wisdom speaking through the Spirit now...

We are all Shamans, and this is the Shaman's objective, to make Shamans of us all, and heal and save the whole world in the process, to the point of redeeming the creation at the revelation of the sons of God.

When life itself comes to light, and the colors appear more radiant and the smells more pronounced, if in encountering a Shaman among us, the lights go on for you, without and within and something is profoundly touched, moved and inspired within you through the encounter, then you will know that you were in the presence of a true Shaman.

Once there's one, there's no need for any more of them, in so far as every one of them are already Shamans at heart.

You see, now isn't that the speaking of the voice of a true Shaman?

originally posted by: bally001
a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Okay, I loved my dog like a fellow mate for 10 years. Greatest dog in the world to me. Calm, kind and always there for a bit of lovin.

What caused his sudden death?

Kind regards,

bally.

Shamans don't profess to be psychic, I'm sorry, and I am very sorry to hear about your dog.

And your dog is still alive in the spirit, in your heart and in the memory of him that lives in the one Spirit always and forever.

I may not know how your dog suddenly died (if I were to guess based on probability i'd say an accident, like a car accident, with the dog confused amid traffic), but I get how you loved him.

I am here to say that his love is still real, and that it's ok now to also love another dog with his love enveloping already always.

You haven't fully done the work of mourning, and that's ok too, but blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.

Don't forget to let his love for you comfort you still, and if there are tears there is also a hand or in this case a paw, to wipe away those tears.

That's something else that I'm going to have to talk about. Crying. It's ok, provided that we also are willing to allow ourselves to be comforted in our mourning.

We are all mourning something, including a world gone mad.

For many of us we feel like the whole world is like a dog that got hit by a car, running around, confused.

We all have something to mourn over, and we are blessed those of us who do, provided we are also willing to have our smile restored on the other side of our tears and our fears.

Your dog still loves you too! : )

I love you for loving that dog to the degree that you did. That takes courage, to love like that.

And it's never the same, but a master needs a dog as much as a rescue dog needs a new home and a new master.

Nothing is so great as a loving dog. Unconditional.

We need more of that in our world.

But it didn't end with the death of the physical form of the dog himself. It's eternal.

Oh thank you so much for your capacity to love. Don't let that die with your dog, as you might have in many ways. Do him proud, and keep on loving, that's what he would say.

Anyway, this Shaman has to go to bed now to get up in the morning and go back to his regular job as a Corporate Recruiter or "Headhunter" aptly enough, although a cannibalistic Shaman wasn't really the kind of image I was hoping to project in this thread.

Night night.

I'll be back up to answer questions and be most helpful tomorrow evening after 6 PST (all the best Shamans are on the West Coast, that's a given).

Guaranteed full money's worth (although it is free) on any good questions posed in the interim.

Be blessed!

AnkhMorpork (in the authentic role of ATS resident modern day Shaman).

Don't know if I'm allowed to say it here, but is it similar to getting medicated off some greens? I definitely feel and picture the universe as infinite, as above so below.

And how about drugs. Are they enhancers or are they false clouding of the mind?

a reply to: Richsac89

Can't sleep right way, too excited about my new ASA thread.

No it's not about that, but that could play a role perhaps. Best only rarely.

In the clearing during non-use is where all the light is so it's really best to put that away and get high on being clean and clear by comparison.

For contrast though, and to relax certain areas of the brain, maybe, but it has a dulling, clouding effect yes.

All of my most profound Shamanic experiences took place when I STOPPED using any drugs of any kind.

In fact, the taking of drugs might even be a defense against the fullest expression of one's true self.

It has a role to play though, perhaps, for some.

Greens used in superfood supersmoothies however, of the nutritious kind, that's another matter. It's very much about what you eat, since we are what we eat.

If anyone is interested in that aspect, I'd be happy to share some ideas for supercharging your entire physical body spectrum so as to heal and avoid all sickness, and thus become a source of healing and wellness to others.

People have to really want to get better though, since most healing is of a placebo effect, and sickness.

So before getting into nutrition, I would encourage people to flip the switch in themselves and activate a whole new field of aliveness, and practice getting in touch with that and allowing it to make suggestions and recommendations when it comes to food and exercise and overall health and well being. Once that's activated, then all the motivations shift and change and transform.

But that is something else that I'd like to share, is a nutritional and exercise solution for those who wish to undergo a physical transformation, which I'm also in the process of doing myself, having already lost 35 pounds since February of 2016.

It's even possible to appear ten or even twenty years younger. This is what's happened to me.

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

Thank you for your kind reply. I buried my mate in the garden. Very sad. Not sure what got him but I suspect a snake. This is the tragedy of living in the bush.

Too far gone but he managed a 'heads up' and reassuring look before the light went out of his kind eyes.

Crikey, what a loss. I wanted to be there for him in his later years and nurse him as he did me.

Cry? I still shed tears for him although I have some other pets. When I die I hope to meet him again. He was just, one of those special, doggy wogs.

Miss his cuddles and his paw on my leg. RIP mate.



bally

a reply to: AnkhMorpork
Hey, AnkhMorpork, sorry to disappoint you, but shamans have nothing to do with the Jewish legend of "Christ".

I know a few decades ago the New Age movement has begun, where they tried to intermingle everything with everything. But it's just another prison cell in fact, isn't it? And mixing Jewish legends with shamanism particularly is complete nonsense, IMO.

Besides, don't you think that answering questions and giving advice outside the area of your expertise is a grave offense, which has far-reaching implications?

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

who gave you said title?

kinda seems like you're preaching Jesus

Arent these funky self appointed AMA's...sort of...against the ATS rule book. I think I remember SO making a thread about it.

a reply to: JedemDasSeine

Just think of me as a Christian mystic with strong Shamanic tendencies.

You're thinking too dogmatically and then trying to impose that upon me due to a strong bias if not a little resentment on your part, aimed at my apparently Christian orientation.

My intent is that of love and healing. It's not outside the realm of my knowledge and experience, no.

As an example, I consume the most nutritious superfood in the world today, and have healing knowledge in areas other than the spiritual, although the physical and the spiritual are two aspects of one manifestation.

The Jeodeo-Christian ideal is also one involving a messianic hope and expectation and faith as hope in better things as yet unseen.

So from that perspective, it's also about generating a space of new possibility for the human being.

Do you write for Hallmark?

a reply to: AnkhMorpork

If you are a Shaman of healing of the body, look at my thread about my problem. PM me if you know what to do. I thought of going to the Amazon Shamans to see if they could help me, because I read an account of a Shaman pulling a dark spirit out of a person who had diabetes since they were very young, and they were healed a short time after that (1-2 months).

a reply to: InFriNiTee

soooo...you're saying someone had diabetes...due to being possessed by an evil spirit ?