SHAMANISM AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

SPRING 2015 -

The days are getting longer and I feel very excited about the courses and retreats we are offering this year. When I first learned to practice shamanism it was presented to me as a set of techniques that could help me and others. I could see this was a powerful and good way, but gradually I began to sense it was not the whole story. There was more to shamanism than techniques.

It has taken a long time, but shamanism is now the heart and soul of my life. It informs everything I do, whether it is helping others, journeying for myself, or making breakfast, greeting a bus driver or mowing the lawn. I now see shamanism as a spiritual practice that helps to fill our lives with spirit. It shows me that everything is alive and teaches me how to be in relationship - with the Spirits, the Earth, with other beings, and with myself.

The techniques are good and helpful. They are the tools, like the artist’s brushes and paints. But we also need to see and feel how to use those brushes and paints - and how to see the whole painting... If we open to shamanism as a spiritual practice it offers a path which carries us through life and helps us with all we meet. Life is a never-ending process of learning, asking for help, coming to deeper insights, learning more and again asking for help. The opportunities to grow never stop.

This year we are offering many retreats that focus on living a shamanic life rather than learning techniques. For me this is a wonderful opportunity to put our shamanic practice at the heart of our everyday being. Then we will not see shamanism as something separate from who we are, but live it fully and feel it every step of the way.

Jonathan