SHAMAN LIFE - ESSAY
What are you here to do?
A revered teacher of mine, Jeb Barton, has told me many
times that “there is nothing to do, nothing to be” and that life is “serious
play”, meaning to me that in our essence, our work is to simply be present in
this place and plane.
But still, without getting too far into our heads about it,
it seems there are methods and manners of Being that are of more intrinsic value
than others here; a career thief vs. healer, for example. Each and any of these
require an insertion of our souls into this level of existence wherein we
assume one or many egoic “outfits”. Doing so, our aim is to use the ego to its
fullest rather than being overtaken by it. So to what source do we go when
determining the path of greatest worth for our limited time at this point in
our soul’s journey?
Actually, the question itself can be problematic.
The egoic mind is not equipped to determine path from its
own standpoint. Ego will always seek to assert itself, making itself the
primary obligation. Rather, the ability to experience ourselves – including ego
- from a place of detached awareness is
key. In my experience, meditation is a critical component of my ability (or
inability, depending) to see my Higher Self above and in spite of my ego,
emotions and drama of the moment. I’m not speaking only of my meditation
practice per se, but the practice of returning to the breath throughout the day,
which is the real practice. Without
that ability, there is just too much cognitive dissonance manifesting as
indecision, depression and being interested in “all things at once” for me.
Also regarding the question above, assuming a type of
separation between ourselves and Creator (at least in this place and plane), even
in stillness we may not “hear” the Voice as it speaks to us, presumably to
assist us from outside ourselves in our walk towards a more meaningful life. Of
course the value of such a Voice would be self-evident, and ultimately we would
hear it as a part of ourSelves.
I attached this picture of a shaman (artist respected, but
unknown) because to me, the shaman is the representation of one who is
necessarily present, making use of gifts for the physical, emotional and
spiritual healing of themselves and others, and that have dedicated themselves
to hearing the language of the great oracle, Mother Earth. The question I have
wrestled with is this: “Must we wear animal skins and live in a tipi to walk a
life of connection and full use?” Not necessarily. While I think most people
feel more distracted from Soul than enlivened and connected by interaction with
western culture, most of us have made commitments that we feel to honor (rent,
family, possibly the work we do in the world). The point is that we start where
we are and work on the moment-to-moment issues that arise first and foremost.
That is, with each breath. As we do that, we are in more of a position to feel
where our soul interests lie because the Voice has less dissonance to cut
through. As we act on them, continuing in the moment, we unerringly find that
our soul leads us, speaking to us in a language we understand, albeit in a volume
of vocabulary that starts far smaller than the collective vocabulary spoken by
Creator. That aside, and maybe most
importantly, the words heal us, coming as they do through (or from) the Earth
Mother Herself. Continuing on our paths with Her words resonating in our hearts
we are imbued with a sense of deep connection to the Great Father through Her.
The result is a sense of our place in the great order of things in whatever physical
plane we are occupying in the moment.
At the western New Year may we determine not to make long
lists of “things to do”. Rather, may we consider making one resolution; to
continue in the breath so we can hear the language being spoken without words,
without body, directly to our searching, curious and happy souls.
