Sham-Shamans, Ayahuasca and the Desire for Power. Is your Shaman sketchy?

Shamanism, is by its very nature, a little on the dark side.

It’s practices, reaching back to Siberian antiquity, harken to a darker

nature underneath the surface of everything we see. A portend of

wars, famine, sickness and suffering, the role of the Shaman was

to watch out for pestilence and to remove it whenever possible.

To become a shaman was often pre-ordained by the manner of

a child’s birth, or one that was decided upon after certain omens

gave clues to the initiate’s knack or ability. The Shaman’s role

was one of prognosticator, healer, wise person and herbalist. One

who could deliver demons from the body as a midwife delivers a

child.

 

The definition of shaman is literally the one who stands as a

bridge between two worlds – the seen and the unseen, the inner

and the outer realms, the light and the dark. To be able to stand

atop this shifting landscape of the visible and invisible realm took

dexterity, grace, shiftiness and cunning. To talk to demons without

losing your way, to whisper to flowers and trees, animals and

birds alike was a craft that was handed down via blood and

lineage for centuries.

Few were called to be Shaman, and certainly fewer still volunteered, for the sacrifice was great.

Traditionally, the practice of holding this role was defined by

certain hallmarks or characteristics of lifestyle that were

necessary to the station. The acquisition of the personal power

needed to perform this role often meant having no children or

partner of their own, because the cost of losing even one ounce of

coveted energetic power via the act of lovemaking, pregnancy

and child-rearing meant the loss of vitality available for healing

and vision work. These practices, especially in the days of our

ancestors, were serious work and required years of daily, devoted

discipline to master. To become the spiritual center for a tribe

required sacrifice of the personal, and yet its necessity as an

integral glue for this community was so important, that the

Shaman usually did not work in the traditional sense. They were

cared for by the community. Gifts of food or shelter were payment

to this central figure who counseled, as well as healed. They

could not work with most hunting or food gathering, as they

hunted in a different realm, keeping an ear to Great Spirit and an

eye on the ground, noticing the leaves shifting colors, or the scent

of change upon the wind.

Today, there are many who have adopted the self-described Shaman as their title.  It’s become a sign of Ethno-Chic or of an Urban Sorcerer.

I know of those who dress in expensive finery and drive flashy cars with

Shaman as their call sign. Conversely, there are those who dress as if in a costume play

that requires them to wear a grungy type of energy that reeks of sacrifice, 

sweat and palo santo. However, dressing the part gives no credibility from the Spirit World,

or from the human one, for that matter. As Don Juan would share, it is INTENT that is the key.

Intention is in fact, all there ever is. Intention is solidified by doing

various homework, including Recapitulation – a method of

energetic retrieval that causes us to go back to every single

interaction in our life, no matter how small, and consciously regain

our energy from it. This is so important, that it has become part of

my personal and professional healing practice in fact. There is

great rejuvenating power in returning to moments of trauma or

challenge, and retrieving not only the stuck energy that is kept in

that moment of the timeline, but to then recreate the scenario with

a new, mature awareness of alternate options that improves

behavior in this one. This act allows us to create a new timeline

from that moment of renewal to now that shifts my students into a

beneficial outcome.

It is crucial to learn to repatriate our past, and thereby seal the cracks in the luminous egg (auric field) that surrounds our being.

This healing can be achieved by varying means. Yoga discipline

actually holds many such practices that are incredibly useful in

this regard. From Pranayama to Meditation, life force energy (or

prana), is rejuvenated. The luminous, energetic life-suit is

reflective of our emotional, mental and physical health and mirrors

our level of enlightenment. Its density and safety measures

diminish however, if our ego is grasping or weak.

Our field can become damaged in many ways, including emotional or physical trauma,

drug and alcohol abuse, hospitalization, EMFs or radiation, which causes our naturally

protective shield to become thin and porous. A thin auric field leads to illness,

and can become more easily infiltrated by lesser energetics, including nonphysical entities

or other people’s malicious intent (a curse, if you will). This weakened field causes you

to become a magnet to all sorts of misfortune, negative repetitious thoughts

(even some that are not your own), more abuse or “bad luck”, which is not luck at all,

but a misalignment with your own life force energy that causes your perceptions to

become skewed, your insecurities and anxieties to run high, and your intuition to become clouded. 

A nonexistent auric field  equals death.

 

Clear intent is harbored within an unshakeable character that reinforces will, balance and focus. This focus and clear-minded awareness does not become easily angered or ensnared in the silly machinations of daily drama. The discipline required by us to be on purpose with our words, actions, desires and emotions is a sincere one which requires daily maintenance. Otherwise, we cannot hold that thin, wavery line between reality and non-reality intact, and will fall into the abyss of madness or delusions, an unfortunate, but common side effect in humans.

 

I understand the appeal and the thrall of the veneer of power

that modern sham shamans and their students seek. This realm

of the occult is delicious in its secrecy and history, and reeks of

the cloak of spiritual mastery. In actuality, the local, modern-day

shaman likely is no more spiritual than you. They are still aligned

with the same superstitions and psychological triggers as you,

and in fact, many often carry even more as a result of the ego-based

illusions that they carry. They can harbor a different kind of

demon, one that seeks power at any measure and will lure people

into their web with a bright gleam of promise for earthly realm

enchantment. In fact, harnessing the earthly level energies of

plant and animal magic, souls of people not yet moved on, or

those that were never human which lurk about in the densest

layers of life, can result in manifestations of a sort. This is the “get

rich quick” level of manifestation and if toyed with, always extracts

a toll both on the Shaman and the receiver. It is the layer played

with in Ouija, and in the summoning of low-level energetic helpers

through some doorways of plant medicine, fire ceremony or ritual.

This is the layer of consuming, and it will require payment of some

kind in return for its darker service.

 

The desire of today’s apprentice to claim the role of Guru or

Shaman for themselves has increased as the ego of our time has

also inflated. As the surrendered support for the “good of all”,

makes way for the “desires of one”, some have pushed past the

boundaries of safety. Students who study under such tutelage

have suffered to the point that people die and are traumatized,

even victimized by the very teachers they sought for healing. I

know of some sham-shamans who would lie down to “breathe”

with their disciples, causing deep emotional feelings to come

tumbling out. Entanglement then occurs, creating lines of

attachment between teacher and student, causing the student feel

as if they were in love with their teacher, feeding ego with this

affection.

 

Other teachers I have knowledge of “clear the energy

centers” of their more acquiescent acolytes, and touch or stroke

their bodies in ways that school children are taught not to accept.

These self-proclaimed Shamans are not the Medicine carriers

of old, but are slippery, pseudo-spiritual opportunists seeking

entry into your soul by lowering the barriers of belief, and entering

into your realm while you sleep. They use their power to fondle

their trusting students neatly groggy with psychotropics meant to

enlighten, and coerce them to give over greater and greater soil of

self to the desires of the leader. In many ways cultish, the desires

of these types of teachers, intended to hold sacred medicine, turn

to betrayal and deceit to guard their sway over the un-initiated

and guileless. Students, beware.

The truth is, there is the ability to learn to use power to hold sway over others,  if consent is given.  You, who sign up to learn or practice under them, give this complicity to them  to take you under their wing. You offer them your trust and reveal to them the best veins  with which to extract your life force from you. They may well be psychic or create circumstances that appear to be miraculous. One who has learned how to manifest from this level of  energetic entrainment does hold a measure of what appears to be wondrous power, but it is rooted in a darker exchange, and this teacher’s ability to heal or elevate is hampered by the very level from which their power originates.

When I was in my early 20’s, I began this journey myself.

It occurred around me, quite naturally, as I began my study of

Native American Spirituality and followed the roots of my lineage.

I found that this Animism and Earth Centric Philosophy suited me,

and fit my paradigm of belief more neatly than the deeply

Christian religions that I was indoctrinated into since birth. The

idea of Gaia as sentient, aware and awake felt aligned within me,

and I drank in this tradition by the bucket-full. My teachers were

old medicine men and women who were handed down power via

their traditions and lineage. They were unassuming people by and

large, who spoke softly and wielded giant sticks.

 

The ultimate goal of the Spiritual Warrior

is to become comfortable  with death

that always rides at our shoulder,

so that we can cultivate the deep,

personal freedom to be alive.

 

My North American teachers made way for Central & South American

teachings to enter my realm. While the practices share the same

roots in many cases, the turns they have taken in the darker

jungle or harsh desert realms, has also influenced the magic they

create. Often too, religious dogma weaves its way into such

practices, as the cults of Jesus and Catholicism have melted into

the fabric of life for indigenous folk worldwide.

 

Entering into the world of medicine, vision and journey work requires an

enormous amount of discipline, as was insisted upon by my teachers,

so that the abuse of power and the enlargements of the ego did not override the work.

Taking medicine was not done as a short cut to enlightenment, nor was it the point

in and of itself. It was simply one stop in the developmental journey potentially useful

in assisting the clearing of mental and emotional baggage. One’s own personal demons

and history must be reconciled and made clean before the next layer of awareness can begin.

Imbibing the flower or root, vine or tonic on an unclean soul is a recipe for disaster.

Led by a teacher who is themselves in thrall to the power of the drink,

students might miss the habits and inclinations of unfinished business

which become disguised under a pretense of completion, and thereby

sink deeper into the game of feeding ego food for manipulation later on.

 

Those who get a glimpse of fascinating realms beyond the

normal human perception, may discover a feeling of specialness

that they alone can hold. And although you may get a glimpse of

the realm of the Infinite along the journey with the medicine, this

does not mean that you have attained any mastery within it once

you return to the trials and tribulations of being human. Which is

why after any journey, a good teacher ushers in Reconciliation, a

time to allow what has been uncovered an opportunity to merge

into daily understanding, and encourages their student time to

grow with what was revealed. Moreover, taking medicine does not

need to continue once the affliction has been healed. More does

not equal better. Teachers who share medicine as their job are

missing the point of the work, as much as the doctor who relies

upon drugs to mask symptoms, rather than heal the underlying

cause.

An unclean teacher of any discipline always has hallmarks to be aware of:

• Your first clue, is how do you feel about them in the first second that you come across them?

What is your initial gut response? You may feel certain inherent anxieties and

un-comfortability present within you that caused you to seek help

in the first place, but if in the presence of this person they

escalate in any degree, trust your gut.

If you sense any signs of darkness, step back and move on.

• Unless there is danger of physical harm, no teacher should

ever touch you without permission, not when you are awake, or

dreaming or in altered state. Especially not in altered states. A

teacher who does so has their own interests in mind. And while

I’m sure it sounds amazing, the practitioners of Shamanic work

can learn to affect your psychic stability and infiltrate your non-conscious reality,

so be aware if you feel watched or have uncomfortable dreams that feel uber-real.

• In this same realm of infiltration, if you begin to feel “bad luck”

or some level of negative energetic attachment, take it seriously.

While healing unhealthy behaviors and relationships may actually

bring things to a head, this is done as a way to clear up a

situation, not to make matters worse. Loss of work, money, home

or health and well-being can be a manipulation tactic for those

who seek to diminish their students and cause them to believe

that they must rely upon the teacher to fix it for them. In fact, the

opposite is true.

• True Shamans teach that you are the one with the reins in your

hand. You are trained to harness the inherent power already alive

within you. This experience guides the energy of your life with

intention, compassion and a warrior’s strength to stay the course

throughout the shifts that occur as you evolve from anxiety into

wholeness, from suffering into grace. The ultimate goal of the

Spiritual Warrior is to become comfortable with death that always

rides at our shoulder, so that we can cultivate deep, personal

freedom to be alive. Imbued with a desire to serve others, the

great Shaman knows that the highest, greatest good of all is

expertly achieved by the enlightenment of the One.

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