Shamanism 101

Recently I finished a 4 week Shamanism 101 course, which was fantastic. It was taught by an Arapaho medicine man, Two Horses (Dorian Sanchez), Shaman Goddess Renee Shaw, and a few other shaman staff members. This was definitely a first for me, and some parts of it were a bit too "unknown" for me, but that's good! A huge part of my goddess journey includes many things that are new and unknown. I'm dedicated to trying to new things on this goddess path, and getting out of my comfort zone. With that, expansion is inevitable. It's interesting that Renee has been teaching Shamanism 101 for years, but I'd never felt called to go to the class until now. Timing is always perfect.

The course started off with a sweat lodge (pictured above), which was fascinating to watch and be a part of. This was my first one and I didn't know what to expect. A lot of my friends had been to one, and they each had different things to say about them. One thing everyone warned me about is how HOT and SWEATY you get inside the lodge. The funny thing is, that didn't bother me at all! In fact I relished the hot, thick, moist air dancing with the scents of aromatic herbs thrown onto the glowing hot rocks in the center. When the water was poured on them, the herbal steam filled the air and my lungs, and I drank it in like a healing elixir.

I could definitely feel the powers of Two Horses, powers from an ancient time. He is so connected to the earth, and has such respect for the Grandfather and the ancestors. It actually made me tear up listening to him talk since he speaks with such deep honor and sacredness of "our eagle brothers" or "our rock brothers." He is a healing poet with his words and medicine.

Inside the lodge, we did different forms of sacred ceremony, united as a connected group in intention and space for healing. Two Horses sang many chants, offered many prayers, and performed different forms of healing and cleansing. It was pitch black, until the door was opened to let in more hot rocks from the fire, and create more steam. 

Some other things we covered in the 4 week course were:

Prayer ties (left)
Medicine wheels
The elements and the 4 directions
Medicine bundles for healing and ceremony
Sacred and protective herbs (salt, cedar, tobacco, sage, sweetgrass)
Pipe ceremony
Male/female balance
Attuning to the powers and energies of nature and animals/totems
Ancient chants and mantras
Energy work and healing
Shamans in many cultures and different specialities of shamans
Cleansing and purifying ourselves and spaces
Sacred colors and symbols of Native American Shamanism
Native American astrology 
Father Sky and Mother Gaia

 One of my favorite things was seeing the different personalized medicine bundles that each of the staff had collected over the years. They were all so unique and fitting to the person's personality and life experience. The woman who had lived in Australia for many years had many Aboriginal artifacts that had meaning to her. Another person had a gigantic staff he had carved and decorated with feathers, leather, and meaningful symbols for him. Another one had essential oils and symbolic items she had collected in her travels from around the world. She explained that each one had powers from ceremonies she'd done with the items. Renee had a gorgeous collection of symbolic musical instruments she had acquired in her travels as well, from Peru to Uluru. It really got me thinking about the different healing tools and sacred symbols I would collect for my own shaman kit and medicine bundle. 

 At the end I got to collect some of the different protective herbs in a little bundle (above) to keep with me (and my car!) at all times. Neato! I loved that. It was also very interesting learning about the symbolism and power of the medicine wheel. Arranging the rocks (must be of specific colors) in the exact pattern that they do creates a portal! How cool is that? I didn't know WE could create portals. I guess I just always thought they existed and we were just lucky to happen on them from time to time. I really loved everything I learned, the sacred energy with which everything was presented, and the wide opening of my shamanic horizons and sensibilities.

I'm so grateful to my guides for leading me to these wonderful teachings, and for each of the teachers for sharing their gifts and inspiration. Powerful in so many ways.