{"id":7424,"date":"2009-04-26T10:42:40","date_gmt":"2009-04-26T14:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wtb.org\/?p=7424"},"modified":"2018-12-22T22:45:05","modified_gmt":"2018-12-23T02:45:05","slug":"panel-on-shamanism-%ef%bb%bfshaking-it-up-with-shamanism-and-alternative-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/?p=7424","title":{"rendered":"Shaking It Up with Shamanism and Alternative Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Judy Antoine opened our topic with a reading from\nDailyOm.com, a website that sends daily messages about the interconnection of\nmind, body and health. This reading concerned healing our bodies with\nloving touch.  Judy read that when we embrace, we feel energy passing\nbetween us and creating bonds that hold us together. She asked us to share\nthis energy by joining our hands in a large circle; then Judy squeezed the\nhand of a woman next to her, who in turn squeezed the hand of the woman on her\nother side, and so on around the circle. When the squeeze returned to\nJudy, she reversed the direction, starting the squeeze around the circle once\nagain. While all this was happening, Judy played the perfect song, \u201cBody\nis the Temple,\u201d by Libby Roderick from her CD, If You See a\nDream<\/em>.  It was fun to watch the smiles arise as each woman\nreceived and then passed on the squeeze, not once but twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The practice of shamanism has existed since prehistoric\ntimes in virtually every culture of the world.  We invited three women to\nshare their life path to the study and practice of shamanism and its role in\nthe work that they do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first speaker was\nRev. Tanya Atwood-Adams<\/strong>, director\nof spiritual care at InterFaith Works and a chaplain who specializes in palliative\ncare and hospice work. She is a Reiki master. She also is a shamanic\npractitioner who is apprenticed to a Lakota Sioux shaman and whose healing\npractice is registered with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, founded by\nanthropologist Michael Harner. Tanya began her formal study of shamanism at the\nFoundation for Shamanic Studies five years ago, after realizing that the guided\nimagery work she was doing with patients raised an awareness similar to that of\nshamanic practice. Tanya specializes in journey work, identification of\nspirit guides, end-of-life growth and healing, destination of souls,\ntransformation, and transition.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some cultures consider shamanic powers to be inherited, and in\nTanya\u2019s case, her grandmother and father had unusual capabilities. When\nTanya was five years old, she was in a bathtub full of bubbles. A bug happened\nby, and she splashed it, intending to drown it. Although successful, she\nfelt instant remorse and prayed fervently, “God, make the bug\nlive!” The bug then revived, and the bathroom was suffused with warm,\nbright light and a deep feeling of love that remains with her today. Tanya also\nremembers a large, backyard tree that, though one of many, was her special tree. She\nrecalls sitting high up in this tree in a comfortable space that cradled her;\nshe would rock and hear the wind talking to her, a beautiful experience. Although\nthe family moved away from the house and tree while she was still young, she\neventually asked her father what type of tree it had been. Her father\nidentified it as an alder, a species that has historically symbolized\nprotection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanya explained that modern shamanism is a revival of common\npractices of ancients from virtually all cultures, practices that are amazingly\nsimilar the world over. This uniformity indicates that Neolithic people, through\ntrial and error and without modern scientific knowledge, came to similar\nconclusions and, in their own way, obtained knowledge of what worked. Tanya\nsaid that shamanism is a methodology, not a religion, not a form of pantheism\nor nature worship. Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and\npractices that considers the entire universe to be alive and\ninterconnected.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term shaman<\/em> comes\nfrom a root word meaning \u201cshe\/he who knows.\u201d Other terms, such as medicine woman\/man, <\/em>are used in various cultures to denote similar\npractitioners. The common thread is an ability to apply the workings of\nthe human mind to affect the body. The practice is used to heal and\nenlighten, doing so through ceremonies that can include rhythmic music and\nmythic journeys into the subconscious. For both the practitioner and the\nclient, the process is a mental and emotional adventure with a spiritual goal;\nthat is, for the shaman to help her or his clients transcend their ordinary\ndefinitions of reality, including the definition of themselves as ill. Contemporary\nshamanic practitioners, like those in tribal cultures, typically use aids, such\nas rhythmic percussive sound, fasting, spinning, dancing, or sweat lodges, to\ninduce a change of consciousness or an ecstatic trance. Some cultures use\nplants, such as tobacco, psychedelic mushrooms, or peyote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanya told us of Brian Swimme, a mathematical cosmologist,\nwho believes that we are never isolated because we are surrounded by life,\nunlimited by space and time. We were created out of cosmic celebration of\nexistence, and we need to see ourselves within an intelligent, living universe\nso that we will enhance this universe, not degrade it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our second speaker was\nDebbie DeRusha<\/strong>, who does\nintuitive and shamanic readings and energy healing. She teaches classes in\nfeng shui, shamanism, and Reiki (she is a Reiki master). She assists her\nclients in realizing their sacred dreams and in uncovering their authentic self\nso as to become the Warrior that each of us is intended to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie, referring to our lack of a microphone, said that she\nis used to bellowing because she has seven children, aged 35 to 17. Debbie\nbecame interested in nature while she was quite young. As an adult looking for greater\ncloseness to nature, she was led to shamanism. Debbie\u2019s mother-in-law was Native\nAmerican, a member of the Onondaga Nation, so Debbie became familiar with their\nways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie said that most Native American nations have two\nshamanic doctors, one of whom is called a \u201cseeker.\u201d These doctors travel and\ntrade items of \u201cmedicine\u201d with other doctors as a way of increasing their\nstrength. They compare themselves to strands of hair: alone they are weak\nand easily broken, but many braided together are almost impossible to break.\nSo, too, sharing their shamanic items builds up their shamanic strength. This\nidea resonated with Debbie\u2019s heart, so she began her formal training at the\nToronto Institute of Contemporary Shamanic Studies, attending there one weekend\na month. During her time spent in Toronto, Debbie peeled off many layers, and\nshe came to realize the specialness of each person and of the universe itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Debbie\u2019s son named her \u201cDreaming Gypsy.\u201d He had\nseen a documentary, and in it a Gypsy man was holding a child. Someone\nasked the man if this was his child, and he said, \u201cYes.\u201d When the child\nleft him and called another man \u201cFather,\u201d the Gypsy man was asked to explain.\nHe replied that any child close to you is your child. Debbie has always\nbelieved that any child close to her is her child, and over the years she has\naccepted, fed, and housed stray kids who have stayed as long as nine\nmonths. Debbie learned this way of living from her Polish grandmother, who\nregularly received the benefit of yard work or housework done by the hands of\nwandering men. Debbie had been told by her cousin that her grandmother\u2019s\nhome was \u201cmarked\u201d as one where these men would be welcomed and fed in return\nfor their labor. But Debbie was confused that her grandmother served these\nmen on her fine, Easter china. Grandma explained that these men were \u201cbeautiful\npeople and they need to know that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shamanism recognizes that we are all connected and a part of\nthe universe. As such, shamanism celebrates rites of passage. Unfortunately,\nour modern culture tends to celebrate negative passages, such as the first\nhigh, the first drunkenness, the first sexual encounter. In past times, a\nnewborn had his feet touched to the ground; then he was raised to the sky; and finally\nhe was presented to the village with the announcement, “This is your\nchild.” Children were taught that if something happened to your\nparents, you could turn to anyone else in the village. And if the village\nwas gone, you could turn to the four directions to guide you. And each\nchild learned the meanings of the directions: the south tells you who you are;\nthe west is what you are creating in this reality; the north is knowledge of what\nis in your heart; the east is about new beginnings and spirituality. So these directions\nwill guide your life\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past, a whole community of women would be available to\nraise the children. Today it is necessary for us to create our own\ncommunity. Debbie celebrated her daughters\u2019 first bleed so they would not\nbe embarrassed by what is natural, and so that she could teach them to honor\nand protect themselves and keep their sexuality sacred. (After Debbie related\nthis story, Judy Antoine suggested that she find a copy of My Little\nRed Book, <\/em>by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, which contains 90 women\u2019s recollections\nof their first menses.) Debbie teaches a class in rites of passage and has\ngone on many vision quests. It is beautiful what one can learn about\noneself, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 When a grandson was upset, Debbie told him to go talk\nto a tree. When he insisted that trees do not talk, she told him to listen to a\ntree and write down the story that it tells. Still insisting that it would do\nno good, her grandson left for the outdoors; he later returned calmed but still\nunbelieving. Debbie subsequently heard from someone else about a wonderful\nstory Debbie\u2019s grandson had told, a story that came from talking to a\ntree. Debbie says we all have great stories and traditions. She\nenjoined us to see the beauty in nature, feel the beauty in our hearts, speak\nbeauty, see and hear beauty, and leave tracks of beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia (Kiki) Waldron<\/strong> is a certified consulting hypnotist who is also certified in past-life\nregression and life-between-lives spiritual regression. She specializes in age\nregression. Kiki has a private practice, the Rose Heart Center, in Fayetteville,\nNew York, where she works with clients using past-life regression, spiritual\nregression, life-between-lives regression, pre-life selection, and communication\nwith spirit guides, angels, and animal guides. She also offers workshops\nand teaches classes on these topics as well as on reincarnation and karma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiki had a less formal introduction to shamanism. She\nwas attempting \u201cto figure out spirituality,\u201d but she kept finding that the\npaths she was trying were too limiting and not answering her questions. As\na certified hypnotist, she had been using hypnosis as a tool to help her\nclients since 2000. She had also been running a study group of esoteric\nexplorers who were delving into matters of spirituality. A couple from\nWolcott attended one of the esoteric explorers\u2019 meetings in 2003; both the man\nand the woman were practicing shamans, and they brought along drums, rattles\nand books. After a wonderful evening, Kiki surprised herself by asking to become\ntheir student. They helped her connect to her spirituality and find her\nplace in life. What became clear to her was that her previous work had\nbeen shamanic, although she had not known it. So this new path was natural\nand obvious. It has allowed her to find her role in the natural world, a\npursuit that has been (and here Kiki was at a loss for the right word)\nfulfilling, satisfying, and so much more. Kiki uses shamanic practices all the\ntime, both professionally and personally. This has been a journey that she\ncan take alone or with others; she can be at any location, not just at some \u201choly\u201d\nplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Sabra Reichardt asked Kiki to explain more about the\nclients who come to her private practice; specifically, what types of issues they\nneed help with. Kiki responded that her clients need help with current life\nissues, such as finding their life path and being all they can be when they\nfeel blocked in some area. She said she cannot help with severe\npsychological problems because she is not a doctor. Kiki\u2019s approach is not\nmedical; through past-life regression, she leads the client\u2019s higher mind to\nregress to the source of the problem. Kiki illustrated with an example\nfrom her own life. Before starting her own training, she went to someone\nso that she could experience a past-life regression; she wanted to find the\nsource of some problems that were affecting her personal\nrelationships. During this regression, she experienced a former life as a\nperson who guts and dries fish in an ancient Japanese village. The smell of\nfish in her current life had always affected her so strongly that she could not\neven be in the same room with someone eating fish\u2014or in the same bed with her\nhusband if he had eaten fish. The regression helped her recognize the\nassociation between her current-life revulsion for the smell of fish and her\nshame at having had such a lowly position in a previous life; this recognition connected\nher to an understanding of her own spirit, and the smell no longer affects\nher.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie added that she and Kiki sometimes work together. She\ntold the story of her son having had his palms read: his left palm indicated that\nhis spirit was planning on leaving, while his right palm indicated great plans\nfor the future. This seeming contradiction became clearer when he\nattempted suicide. Debbie said that subsequent to her son\u2019s suicide attempt, Kiki\nasked her if she had questioned him about what he had felt when he almost died;\nDebbie replied that she had been so happy he was alive, she had never asked. When\nDebbie passed along Kiki\u2019s question to her son, he said he would be willing to have\nKiki help him discover why he had stayed. The answer he found was that it\nwas the unconditional love of his family and his desire to give back to the\nworld that facilitated his recovery and helped him learn why he is here. Today\nhe is studying to be a filmmaker in San Francisco, and all his work, in one way\nor another, is about spirituality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiki explained that psychopomps are guides that escort souls from\ntheir earthly reality into the light of the next world. When a person\ndies, and his or her soul leaves the body, the soul usually goes Home,\nsometimes needing help from a spirit guide who serves as a conductor. Kiki\ndescribed her own experience of her spirit encountering the souls of terrified\nsmall children who had died in the Katrina aftermath. Because these children\ndid not understand death, their souls had become \u201cstuck,\u201d staying in the active\nrealm and unable to move to the afterworld. They needed to be comforted\nand helped to let go, to feel safe in journeying to their unremembered Home,\nassured that in a future life they could complete the current-life tasks that\nhad been cut short. Kiki also told of a deceased spirit who felt she was not \u201cgood\nenough\u201d for heaven, so her spirit energy stayed here. Kiki helped her realize\nthat there is no judgment, and that it was safe for her to go Home. Kiki\nhas these encounters through her spiritual consciousness, without a need for her\nbody to travel. When asked how she recognized that the children were\nstranded, Kiki said, \u201cYou just know. You feel it.\u201d She was physically in\nWolcott when her spirit traveled to New Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie added that the body is a vessel. The spirit can\ntravel (astral travel) when it perceives chaos and other spirits in\ndistress. When the spirit is in the body, vibrations are lower. When\nthe spirit is freed in an ecstatic trance, induced by chanting, meditation, or dreaming,\nit can open up to other spirits in need.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie also explained that it is possible to plan on\nconnecting with others while in a dream state. She and her sister, who\nlive far apart, find the ability to meet like this to be a gift. Later, when\nthey compare the various aspects of their meeting, some details may differ, but\ntheir overall experiences and communications are the same. Tanya said that this\nis an example of entrainment, when the vibrations of two people are in tune, so\nthey have the same experiences in each other\u2019s reality. When the spirit\ncomes back to the body from the other reality, the person has the sense of\nwaking up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie mentioned an Iroquois custom. For three days after\na person\u2019s death, people take turns staying with the body, with someone being\nawake at all times. This is to ensure that the deceased\u2019s spirit will move\nalong to its Home; the spirit may be fearful of leaving, so the wakeful one\ngives permission to leave and adds helpful prayers. After ten days, it is\npermissible for the spirit who has passed to come back to visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After our three speakers had concluded, the audience was filled with even\nmore questions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danya Wellmon asked, \u201cWhere does the soul go after death?\u201d Kiki\nreplied that we are eternal; our soul exists before and after the body. We\nbecome physical here in earth school in order to help each other, to serve, and\nthen we go Home. Our goal is to become more connected to our spiritual\nhome, find soul awareness, and become whole.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie added that we are co-creators of what is before\nus. We are given many lifetimes to learn our lessons. On the other\nside, we still teach and learn, but life here is more challenging and intense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanya shared notes from her own journey that she had taken with\nher teacher, her goal having been to see where souls go. \u201cMy totem animal came\nand took me to my spirit guides. I became a bear. During a dance I\nbecame smoke and rose to become one with the universe, where I felt peace and\nconnectedness. I began the dance of the universe along with all the other\nelements of the universe. I was wearing a cape with stars and moons on one\nside and sunlight and warmth on the other side. I danced through the\nuniverse, dancing to a drumbeat and wondering if I did it right. I became\nUrsa Major, a confirmation that I was a part of the universe. In my travels\nI recognized the presence of Jesus, Buddha, my grandmother, and other family\nmembers, intimate connections to the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judy Antoine related\nstories about her husband\u2019s Haitian heritage. He remembers sneaking\nout as a child to attend some Voodoo rituals, which always intrigued\nhim. His parents, who were Christians, did not approve; their negative feelings\nabout Voodoo were reinforced when they came to the United States. Judy\u2019s husband began to read about Voodoo and has\nlearned that it has many positive aspects; he appreciates the participants\u2019 ecstatic\nexperiences as well as the dancing and drumming. Judy spent a month\nin Cuba studying Santeria, a faith tradition in which the Yoruba\nreligion brought from Africa is merged with Catholicism. She explained that the\nflowers, beads, and symbols that surround the statues of their saints are indicative\nof the African origin of beliefs that have been submerged but not lost within\nChristianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Leonora Monkmeyer asked if there is any scientific\nproof of the reality of shamanism. Kiki responded that information gathered in\nthe spirit world has been confirmed through documents in this world. Robert\nL. Snow is a detective who was determined to disprove the theory of past lives. In\nLooking for Carroll Beckwith: The True Story of a\nDetective’s Search for His Past Life<\/em>, he tells the story of his\npast-life regression experience, then goes on to detail his search for the\nfacts of that past life, a search that proves the accuracy rather than the\nfiction of the life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terra Harmatuk added her own experience with past-life\nregression.  Having had severe asthma and seemingly \u201callergic to\neverything,\u201d she entered a past-life regression with the intention that she\nwould go where she needed to go in order to heal herself. She found\nherself in a poor shack, grieving for a husband who had not returned from the\nsea; eventually she died of tuberculosis, an infection that typically affects\nthe lungs. Once Terra had returned from that regression and understood the\nsource of her breathing problems, she never suffered from them again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiki added that illness may be a lesson that we need to care\nfor ourselves properly. Regression brings the past into our conscious\nmind, facilitating healing, since it is the unacknowledged that causes harm.\nDebbie agreed. \u201cAwareness heals,\u201d she said, and brings a person\u2019s power back.\nPsychologists have had much great success with past-life regression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Ann Port asked if it is possible to do past-life\nregressions using surrogates with permission. Kiki does not recommend it. She\nsaid that if you can change yourself, it will affect your relationships with\nothers. Debbie agreed, saying that we are like a mobile: movement in one\nelement will cause movement in every other element. She quoted a Chinese\nsaying, “Heal the mother, you\u2019ll heal the daughter.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betsy Wiggins asked about end-stage dementia. Debbie\nsaid that persons with dementia are astral-traveling: their spirit has moved\non, but their body has not.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabra talked about solutions that come in dreams. Then she commented\nthat after this life, she wants to be a soul who welcomes stillborn babies\nHome. Kiki described a camping experience, during which four of seven campers dreamed\nof elves that had come to visit.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, Kiki took out a drum and invited each of us to\nselect a drum or rattle from the pile that, for the entire program, had been\ntantalizingly arrayed in the center of our gathering. She announced her\nintention to drum for peace, and she asked us to join in, because intention\ncreates reality. She asked us to contemplate what it means to be at peace with\nourselves and our neighbors and to become aware of our internal conflicts. She\nstarted drumming at the pace of a heartbeat. Then, for the next several minutes,\nas we drummed and rattled along, she subtly varied the rhythm, pace, and\nintensity, and we became immersed in our music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The practice of shamanism has existed since prehistoric times in virtually every culture of the world. Three women shared their life path to the study and practice of shamanism and its role in the work that they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-7424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-programs","tag-dialogue",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7424"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7606,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7424\/revisions\/7606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}