OT: A Soulful Cure

Working with a Shaman

Since time immemorial, certain men and women have felt called to heal the sick, to safeguard knowledge, to guide the lost, and to commune with the spirit world. These unique individuals, known as shamans, were mystics and seers, repositories of wisdom, and keepers of herbal lore. During those periods when ignorance loomed large in the world, shamans across the globe bided their time, peacefully practicing their practical yet refined arts in the jungle, mountains, deserts, and tundra that protected them from those who misunderstood shamanism. Today, however, shamanism has reemerged, as modern men and women feel the same call to service that their ancestors felt long ago. Also, as more individuals explore the notion that healing necessarily involves the soul as well as the physical self, people are consulting shamans in their search for wellness, wisdom, and guidance.

The word shaman literally means "he or she who knows." Shamanism is an art that has not changed in any quantifiable way for millennia and is not bound to any particular form of spirituality. It is grounded on the principle that the visible world is saturated with unseen forces that influence the lives of human beings. Shamans, in addition to acting as fonts of wisdom, are dedicated to diagnosing and curing human suffering�whether emotional, physical, or spiritual. To treat an illness, a shaman may communicate with the spirit world in order to connect more directly with the soul of their patient or with the force causing ill health. They often work closely with animal guides, plant and earth spirits, or your spirit guides, and may make use of use of herbal remedies to supplement other forms of treatment. Shamans, as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual realms, recognize that all objects are in manner alive and retain information that can be utilized to heal.

Shamanism is powerful in part because its practitioners tailor healing to the individual needs of those who seek them out. A shaman manipulates energy, giving you power where you have lost it and removing misplaced energy lurking within you. When you seek out a shaman, they will endeavor to know and understand you before treating you. In this way, they can provide you with therapies that act on your whole being, positively influencing your body as well as your soul.

Before the drunk driver hit me, and in my other life, I was an RN.  I worked as a labor and delivery nurse and did it for years until that morning when I was on my way to work and he was on his way home after having been out drinking all night.  But, back to the other life.  My first nursing instructor was an older woman who believed we nurses were called into nursing by god.  She felt that we had a talent for healing and for knowing what ailed people and how to make them comfortable.  I cannot say that I was "called" but I do know that from a child I had an interest in helping people.  When my mother was sick with cancer, I was the one who tended to her and did those things that made my older sisters sick.  I seemed to know what she wanted before she needed to ask.  Also as a nurse, I was one of those nurses that could walk into the room and the patient would seemingly calm down.  I think that was why I was so successful at starting IVs.  Not that I knew or had a magical skill, but because the patient would calm down with me and that revealed those hidden and uptight veins.  I don't know about Shamen; however, I do know a Shaman and he is very good at what he does.  What I noticed about him is that he, too, has that calming effect on people.  He uses a lot of the naturals as he calls them and once when my back was hurting, I called him because the pain meds were not helping.  He came over, felt around on my back, heated some water, put some stones in the water, had me lie on my belly, and he placed those stones in just the right spot.  I'm telling you, when my back gets so bad that I cannot sit still, I call him.  He also has a healing tea that he makes for hubby that helps ease his chrones.  I am a scientific person and perhaps that is why I am an athiest, but I do know there are those people who are able to know a little about nature and what she can do for us and for some of those people it seems as if their knowledge is less emperical and more hereditary.

I for one would rather have natural healing than the new modern stuff. I go to the holoistc shows all the time and get updated on my stuff I need. My 5 year old grand daughter who says since the age of 3 she is going to be a vet loves them also. Certain areas attract her more than others...I take a lot of herbals and teas instead of rx's, most of the rx's have the natural  stuff in them just have added fillers....

My great aunt was the town medicine woman and her husband witched wells.  Of course, in Arkansas, witching wells is a breeze because everywhere you dig is water; however, he also was taken to Texas and New Mexico to witch and he found water both times on the first try.  He told me that the trick was to feel.  My great aunt had cures that are just common sense.  She used the covering of walnuts to treat fungal infections.  Well, that makes sense since the function of it for the nut is to protect it from disease.  She also had a cure for warts that worked; however, she witched the warts.  For my warts on my knee, she did the witch spell with a potato and dishrag, and three days later, I was climbing a tree and knocked them all off at the same time and they never came back.  Would I have knocked them off without the spell?  Probably, but her doing the spell and me losing them was such an exciting thing for a ten year old. LOL. 

I get these from a newsletter I get daily, Monday to Friday. I share the ones that I think will not cause arguments and flaming....