The spectrum of suffering covers the entirety of humanity and comes in countless forms. It spans families, is generational, even extends to ethnic groups and nations. These traumas run deep within our psyche and play out in our every day lives, on a personal level, and on the world stage. It is the suffering of these experiences that compel us. Compel us to action, either to heal or to propagate that suffering. We can either forgive our abuser or we can carry the smoldering coal of resentment with in us and allow it to influence our lives. Unfortunately we may hold on to that suffering for lifetimes, allowing the same scenario to play out, again and again. Eventually that suffering becomes our teacher and we reach the level of awareness where we can put down the suffering and let it go. This is the process of learning that humanity has undergone for eons.
Wouldn’t it be great if we did not have to repeat this cycle over and over again? If we could simply choose to let go of the suffering and move on to an expression of our being that serves us better. For any change to be possible, we must believe that it is possible. The belief that there exists a reality where I am free of suffering, is the genesis of healing. It is through your beliefs that you are creating the possibility of being healed. This can be seen most readily on the famed placebo effect. The “placebo” effect is when a patient is told that a treatment will have some beneficial effect when in reality it does not. But through the patients beliefs alone, they experience healing or some improvement in their condition. Like wise, the “nocebo”, comes about when the patient is told that a treatment will create a harmful effect, again in reality it has no effect. But once again through belief alone, the patient experiences negative effects. So our beliefs are crucial to our healing as well as our suffering.
So how does shamanic healing help free us from beliefs that cause mental, emotional, and physical suffering? A good place to start is understanding what shamanism is. Shamanism rests on the belief that the universe consists of seen and unseen dimensions, that it is animated by energies of consciousness, and that suffering is a result of disharmony or negative interactions between humans and their social and natural environment. The goal of the shaman is to acquire the power residing in the unseen dimension of reality and mediate it for the practical benefit of the community. The shaman has one foot in the physical and one foot in the spirit realm, with both of these joined by a bridge of awareness. It is from this place of awareness that the shaman creates a space that helps clients let go of the energetic imprint of trauma. Within this space is encoded all the consciousnesses the shaman has experienced as well as their connection to the lineage they belong to. The shaman can call upon the consciousness of beings to help him/her gather the wisdom that is need to help others heal. This could be plant consciousness, it may be the consciousness of various animal beings, even the energies of nature, like the mountains or stars. They may also call upon past teachers and energetic templates that are part of the lineage they belong to. These are all beings of consciousness that are there to aide others in healing. So the space the shaman creates, connects or mediates between the clients reality and higher awareness. It is this space that in the end, is allowing the client to experience what they need so they can release the energetic imprint of trauma.
The underlying truth of shamanic healing is that it is our own journey of healing that allows us to help others free themselves from suffering. Ultimately it is about the space of awareness that we offer to others. The shamans of the indigenous cultures of the world are simply drawing upon the truths that have always been present in the fabric of their reality. But that truth also applies to our modern day existence, it has simply been shrouded by our blind reliance on our “understanding”. It is the space that we hold for each other, that space grounded in the truth of our being, that allows us to facilitate the healing of others. It offers to others an experience that there exists something outside of suffering, an experience of compassion, and in doing so expands thier awareness. With each step in to greater awareness, we experience the knowing of our journey and the beautiful beings we truly are. And as we do, we help others to let go of their suffering, and step in to the light of their being.
