Years ago, having a spiritual interest, I set an intention that, 'This time I'm doing 'IT!' not knowing what 'IT' was....I would not undertake another incarnation, get to the end and think, 'Shit! shoulda, woulda, coulda'....I was aware of previous incarnations where, things were cut short!....not this time!!! I was 100% committed!
The motivation behind this?
I'd reached my early twenties and to be honest, I'd already had enough of being on this planet. I knew enough however, that if I were to jump ship, I be spun round on the wheel of Karma and promptly spat back in! I resigned to the fact that I'd chosen to come here and in order to survive it I had to find and live my purpose.
Some may think this brave, some, stupid, but hey, that was the message that I sent out. "I'm here, I'm committed, please show me what I'm supposed to be doing here this time around".
I had a couple of 'no thank yous'....I would not lose my children, I would not go to jail and I wo
uld not become consume by an addiction......funny though, I've come very close on a couple of the 'no thank yous'... one more thing.....I never wanted to be an 'if only' person, sitting on a sofa all middle-aged, thinking the guy next to me is a dick, watching some shitty soap thinking, if only.......!!! There had to be adventure.....
The unknown 'it', the purpose this life-time turned out to be the Shamanic Way.....How? WTF? Really? you're joking right? ...eye rolling, despair and or laughter, however it turned out that adventure was included!
Social Expectations
Committing to my purpose was all well and good......a shock came for me when I met people and they asked the standard question, "What is it that you do?".
This, "What do you do?" helps the person to establish a few things.
One 'where you fit' within consensual reality.
Two, where you are subsequently categorised in their own 'roller deck' of life.
When the questioner is presented with '"I'm a shaman" their heads often tilt to one side, social-worker fashion, (fruitlessly flicking through the internal roller-deck), attempting, unsuccessfully to hide their confusion ...mentioning terms like 'Witch Doctor', Native Americans and a documentary they may have watched on Discovery Chanel, and then it comes....."But, what actually is it that you do?"
I've taken to stating the following....It's somewhere between counselor, teacher and priest. That tends to satisfy most. Occasionally there are those who genuinely would like to know more.
So, for those who would like to know more, here goes....
Traditionally the Shaman would be the spiritual guide for the village and it's tribe....from birth, everything that happens in between, to death and beyond. These days our networks are often global, those in our 'village' are varied and dispersed...our tribes look very different to how they once did. The role of the Shaman however is much the same....Births, Deaths and everything in between.
The ability to commune with the unseen brings a little something to most situations, working with nature is a free resource available to all and the combination of the two is just magic.
Many who work shamanically are guided or choose to specialise in specific areas.....some choose to pass on the knowledge in the form of training others, some are drawn to the darker end of human existence and have an aptitude for working with the shadow, others work with delicious rich plant medicines, others walk the dying over to the next world, and some welcome souls back in, some work with the land alone lifting patterns of times past, some work with those who are trapped between the worlds, many simply 'be', finding themselves always in the right place at the right time. Many however, do it all.
I find this way of life to be the most diverse, challenging, rewarding, perpetually eye-opening learning cycle, that I have ever had the regret and privilege to walk into. This way of being has changed my life from the core out and that of others too.
Purpose
It can be odd to find that your purpose has no 'roller-deck' section but these days I kinda like it... our purpose is exactly that, ours....it isn't for anyone else to approve of, undertake or understand. We each have a unique set of gifts and talents and our own special way of using them.....let us not be limited by other peoples or even our own ideas of what life 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' be/been like'.....for me true happiness came from being myself, following my own inner voice, doing what feels right contrary to popular opinion, speak my truth and doing the work that I'm on this planet to do. This is the true path of freedom.....paved with many commitments.
Big loves
C x