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Exploring this way of living and interacting with the world is up to you. The support will be there as you need it. How you foster and channel your personal power is up to you. Other people on this path can be companions and guides for you. The ultimate teachers will come from the spirit realm. By developing strong relationships with these spirits, while staying connected and true to your inner divinity, you create a link to the divine knowledge of shamanic traditions throughout the ages.
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Historically, it was the shaman’s job to dream on behalf of the community, to have a vision for the collective that was nourishing and sustaining, to dream the world into being. When ordinary reality was not going well, they needed to dream a new dream for their community. We are in one of those times. But it’s not just the shamans who are able to dream. We all help dream our world into being. What would an ideal world look like to you?
Journey to experience a new dream or vision for your world.Page 409
Ceremonies mark changes of seasons, phases of life, accomplishments, and dreams. They are used in times of great happiness, sadness, union, dissolution, beginnings, and endings. They are performed to honor and bless. They can be particularly powerful for healing and evolution when crafted in partnership with helping spirits and performed with intention and focus. We are weaving the visible and the invisible worlds into new realities when we work with ceremony and ritual.
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Many people feel disconnected from themselves. It is not surprising we have forgotten the sacred spark we carry within us at all times. In order to be fuly present with others, to offer love adn empathy, you need to begin to love yoruself. Practice compassion toward yourself. Forgive yourself. Be kind, indulgent, and gentle to yourself. This is not selfishness: it is self-care…Think for a moment how you would treat a newborn child. You would beam down love on your baby with every gaze.
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A client recently asked me if I thought it was important to meditate. I told him that I did, but I define meditation pretty loosely. You don’t have to spend an hour a day in the lotus position to gain the benefits of meditation. The main premise of my advice to mediate is not based on achieving enlightenment or another end goal, but to help you live more connected to your life, your body, your breath, in each moment of the day. If you’re able to take a five minute walk on your lunch break and devote your attention to your breath and your feet touching the earth, that is your meditation. If you are able to find ten minutes of silence after you step out of the shower and before the kids find you, great.
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The natural world is a rich source of information to help us in our lives… The appearance of a particular animal may represent a message from the spirit world, especially if the animal is rare or acting uncharacteristically…The timing of a gust of wind may be an indication to be quiet, or prepare for upheaval. As I’m writing these words a gentle rain bursts forth from brilliantly sunny skies, each drop glittering radiantly as it falls to the ground. I take it as a small gift and go outside to say thank you.