The Shaman weaves change with colors of the spirit:
red for trust,
orange for joy,
yellow for courage,
green for love,
blue for truth,
indigo for wisdom,
violet for peace.
A rainbow brings hope to all who see it,
faith to all who expected it.
We parted last time at Principle 1, 'The world is what you think it is.' I just left out something very important in Part 2 of this article. Each principle has a talent, something which the shaman possesses or has developed. The talent for principle 1 is ‘seeing’ or more accurately, intuition. We'll discuss intuition at a later stage.
Just to recap, this principle requires a certain amount of acceptance of the way things are. Not to say we must just lie down, give up and let prevailing situations swallow us whole. Acceptance means to stop fighting the battles we can't win and start to change our perspective.
If we see everything as a fight then we'll get the appropriate response: fighting. The Universe is very good in that way, she is predictable; she gives us what we ask for. The moment we stop fighting something and begin to work with it, a change comes about.
The circumstances don’t always change unless you have a magic wand, but what changes is you; your perspective. And that is the most powerful change that can happen.
It's the ONLY thing you truly have power over…yourself. All other power is an illusion and can be taken away in an instant.
So, it's important to step into your power, surrender yourself to God’s/Great Spirit’s/the Universe’s greater wisdom, and start seeing the world as you would like it to be.
Before we move on to Principle 2, I would just like to touch on an idea that was planted in my mind and has grown:
You are in this physical state to heal and grow. Heal from past lessons and traumas and grow love. Remember, it's your choice.
Many people don't heal and grow but choose to rather inflict hurt and destroy. This is fine. It's a necessary ingredient for others to heal and grow. How else would they heal and grow if they weren't wounded and destroyed? Healing and growing love is the fuel of the universe, it is light, a dance of love in both wave and particle form.
I subscribe to the expanding universe theory. It makes sense. The poor shamans-in-denial called scientists work unknowingly with shamanic powers such as intuition, imagination, strong intention, and unwavering belief.
These are shamanic tools and most scientists don’t even realize it. This is why I believe many scientific theories concerning the universe, the work scientists do is based on true shamanic power, which can only come from a place of integrity. The universe likes integrity. She doesn’t like bulls#!t.
According to my (very limited) understanding, in this process of expansion, what was darkness then becomes light. Am I right? So, the expansion is the creation of light. Light is where we're headed, like it or not.
When we die, apparently, we see a pillar of light or we move towards a brilliant light. I believe this too. I believe it is yourself you are seeing, it is your light that is rejoining the stars. You become a star.
My humble theory is the more love you have grown in this lifetime means the more light you add to the growth of the universe when you die.
So, save yourself the hassle and face your healing NOW. Do your part and fuel the expansion of the universe with your love.
Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I felt it was necessary to expose you to this idea as we go forward.
Let’s look at Principle 2.
Principle 2: There Are No Limitations
Simple, right? Well, provided your heart and mind are taken out of the equation, yes, for sure, there are no limitations to what can be achieved.
Unfortunately, the only limitations are the ones we place upon ourselves. The Universe listens to what we ask for, and she has unlimited resources.
We Get What We Ask For
Many of us have no reason to complain because we literally tell the universe what we want, we don’t even ask for it.
We have beliefs such as, “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t deserve it,” “it’s probably not right for me, anyway,” “how can I have the audacity to think I could achieve that,” ‘it’s just going to be too complicated,’ ‘I don’t have the money to do that." It goes on and on, your mind goes crazy and your heart follows.
Of course, if you're telling the universe these things, she will follow your instructions to the tee. She will never fail you.
Blaming God?
Other people are more bewildered with their lot, blaming God for not answering their prayers and becoming bitter.
Now, it’s sort of understandable to be upset when you pray over and over again for that Lamborghini and God doesn’t give it to you. Or you pray for your uncle to be saved from cancer and he goes and dies anyway. These things can make one disillusioned.
I mean!!…you did everything right…you knelt by your bedside, you closed your eyes, you gripped your crucifix, you even asked for forgiveness for being nasty to your co-worker earlier.
But, DID you do everything right? The Universe/God/Great Spirit is very pragmatic. She's sensible and works according to very strict guidelines. She doesn’t tolerate nonsense and speaks a very simple language. The only words she understands are love and fear.
The Language of the Universe
The Universe has no need for any other words, because like I said in a previous article, there is only love and fear. All else is a consequence of being in a state of love or a state of fear.
So, what energy do we send out when we pray? Well, I don’t know about you but when I hear people pray, I hear desperation, I hear worry, I hear dread, I hear lack, guilt and shame, terror, disappointment, anger, tentative hope, even unexpected surprise.
Desperation: Please God I really want that Lamborghini, it would make me so happy.
Worry: Please God don’t let my wife find out about…
Dread: I can’t lose my uncle, please God, not now, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Lack: Enter us now, Great Lord, fill us with your glory and banish the devils that torment us.
Guilt: Dear God, I’m sorry I said those things, but those people were pushing me.
Shame: Oh Lord, I know I don’t deserve it, but please do it for my child.
Terror: Great Lord, save us from the evil claws of that most hated demon, Satan.
Disappointment: Why, God, did I fail, please tell me, give me a sign…
Anger: You took my child, God, so why not just take everything else…
Tentative hope: Please God, if this is right for me, I know you will make it happen.
Unexpected surprise: Dear God, thank you for giving us this house, its beyond our wildest dreams.
All of these emotions are grounded in only one thing: fear. They all originate in fear and lead back to fear. The Universe doesn't understand all the other stuff, she has no need, they're creations of the mind, fickle. To her, the mind is a useless chatterer, a babbling sideshow that warrants no acknowledgment.
So, if all your energy is directed towards fear, she will grant you fear. It's as simple as that.
Be Aware of How to Speak to God
Granted, not everyone prays as I have just described. It's a generalization, and yes, I used to pray like that. It's vital to be aware of how you pray.
Your prayers must come from a place of love. Love is about gratitude. Gratitude is interesting because it's vast. It's like a great wheel, moving through our spiritual landscape.
Of course, we must be grateful for what we have received, because it gives momentum to the wheel, encourages it to continue. However, we must also be grateful for what we're going to receive.
If we don’t show gratitude for what we're going to receive, then the wheel is no longer encouraged to move and it wobbles. Being grateful for what we're going to receive is belief. It's a belief that we're going to get it. Unwavering belief is a shamanic power. We all have it in us.
When you speak to God, make sure you're speaking from a place of gratitude, a place of contentment, a place of fulfillment. These all come from a place of love. The Universe understands love.
Difficult, though, when life gets you down, but try.
Your Limitations: You Decide
So, from everything I’ve said, it's possible to live a life with no limitations at all. If we train ourselves to have the right thought patterns then we're not bound by any limits.
“Hahaha,” you laugh, “what planet is this idiot living on.”
Yep, exactly. What planet? We are, after all, human. All of us are subject to limitations in our lives, from limiting beliefs to perceived physical and mental ones. Perceived…
Perception
What do I mean by ‘perceived?’ Perception is very powerful. We can either see a glass that is half full or a glass that is half empty. The choice is ours. How we perceive ourselves is very important in terms of limitations.
Let’s say hypothetically that I'm involved in a car accident. I emerge from the ordeal in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. It's difficult for me, I blame, I cry, I fight, I curse, I slip into depression, I give in and I see no reason for living anymore. It's fine, I am human.
But sooner or later, I have to make a choice. I must choose life or death. I make the wise choice and elect to live. I try and be more positive. I meet beautiful people who support and encourage me, who show me love and dedication, compassion, and understanding. They teach me how to love, to really love unconditionally.
One day I realize something. I realize that I want to be like them. I want to show unconditional love to those who have been through trauma. I want to be a beautiful person for them. It dawns on me that this is what I was born for.
The twenty years of grinding stress and money-making that landed me in the wheelchair was not actually my truth. This is my truth, being there for people, loving, helping, dedicating my life to others.
So, what was perceived as a limitation has in fact become a liberation, a revelation, an opening to spirit. All because of a choice.
Soul Choice
The Shaman understands limitations that are placed upon us, either by ourselves or from birth, are actually a conscious choice made by our souls before we're born.
The Universe seeks balance. She also seeks growth, growth of love, light. What better way to grow love than to inflict suffering.
Growth is destructive. When you’re working out, pumping iron at the gym to get those big biceps or toned abs, you're inflicting suffering upon your muscles. The intensive workout results in little tears in your muscles that must heal. They produce more cells to heal the tears and in the process, your muscle grows.
That is the nature of growth, physical, emotional, spiritual, whatever it is. Something must break.
Your soul knows the suffering you went through and the suffering you caused during previous lifetimes. Regarding the suffering you experienced, if you chose to grow love out of it, the Universe is grateful. If you chose to grow fear, or nothing at all, out of it, don’t worry, you still carry the wound this time around. You WILL heal it sooner or later.
The Soul is concerned with the suffering you caused. This will be the source of your limitations this time around. Not because ‘you deserve it,’ or ‘what goes around comes around,’ the Universe isn’t bothered by petty stuff like that. She chooses it because you will understand it.
So, for instance, let’s say in a previous lifetime you were a rich man in a position of political power. You were much respected among your peers for your generous nature, especially when it came to state money.
Although you loved your family and friends and would've done anything for them, you refused to see the poverty below you, the plight and suffering of the citizens who were under you. Constantly turning a blind eye, you lived out your days in relative contentment, blighted only by the hatred of your children and demise by syphilis.
This time around, you're born deaf and with poor eyesight. Growing up, your self-esteem is negatively affected because of your disability coupled with bullying, but you're resilient and your spirit is generally eager to do good.
But your disability hinders you greatly. You can't fulfill your dream to become a pilot, you find it difficult to interact socially because of the deafness and you can’t drive a car due to your poor eyesight. You feel the pain deeply because your spirit remembers what it’s like when someone doesn't see and hear.
But because you're a positive person and you have family support, you make the right choice and elect to grow love by helping those less fortunate than you, understanding those who are defeated by their limitations, and dedicating yourself to pulling them through.
This is the way of the Universe. This is how she uses our little experiment of life to further her own ends: the growth of light, her expansion.
The Shaman sees these stories and uses them for healing.
The Talent
The talent that the shaman develops according to this principle is that of ‘clearing.’
Healing is a process of change. Change is a death. The death of something old and the birth of something new. It is often painful.
Using story-telling, the shaman identifies the soul purpose and associated limitations and weaves them into a story of change. When the change takes place on a soul level, it comes through into the physical. Strong belief is required.
Change can be painful, but the shaman administers it through the talent of clearing:
C: clearing (getting rid of the old, chipping it off)
H: healing (gathering the broken bits back together, seeking wholeness)
A: and
N: new
G: gifts
E: emerging
(Reference: Lionel Berman)
If you would like to explore and read more about overcoming limitations and challenges, I can recommend the following books:
· The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book) by Don Miguel Ruiz.
· The Voice of Knowledge: A Practical Guide to Inner Peace by Don Miguel Ruiz.
NB! Thanks and gratitude to Serge Kahili King for sharing the principles of shamanism far and wide so we may all learn from his wisdom and love as a shaman. You can also read about these principles in his book, "Urban Shaman."
This post was originally published on January 21st, 2021and updated on January 31st, 2022.
* Any product links mentioned in this blog are "paid links."
** Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API