New Age, Alternative,
|
|
Previous Page Next Page More Articles |
Shaman|
Shaman article continued next page, click here! What
this story
illustrates
is the intersection
between ritual,
synchronicity
and metaphorical
meaning. As
is my custom
in group and
private sessions,
Marnie and
I had begun
our time together
with ceremony,
opening the
mesa (altar
or medicine
wheel) by
calling in
the spirits
of the directions.
It is through
ritual that
we dial up
the spirit
world; after
that we can
start watching
for the metaphors
and synchronicities
to pop in.
This time
it was the
synchronicity
of our mutual
experiences
with sweetgrass
and the answer
to her stress
showing up
in a divination
deck. Once
sacred space
was open,
all I really
had to do
was follow
the lead set
by the spirits. After
Marnie came
out of her
hypnotic state,
I read her
the meaning
of the card:
“Amidst
the seeming
complexity,
simply stop
and breathe,
simplify,
slow down.
Grasping and
holding on
will only
slow your
growth process.
Consider whether
your choices
derive from
the movement
of Spirit
or from the
constriction
of unconscious
belief.”
The card confirmed
what I had
already deduced
through spiritual
sleuthing.
I wrapped
up the session
by observing
that the spirits
had provided
the sweetgrass
for a purpose
- to burn
in ceremony
to assist
her in reducing
the stress
in her life.
And by so
doing, she
would be dialing
in to the
spirits again
with ritual,
and so the
cycle of ritual,
synchronicity
and metaphor
would continue. The method I used to identify Marnie's issues was not that of logic but of metaphor. Logic is about cause and effect while metaphor is about meaning. When Marnie first mentioned stress, it would have been logical to explore causes and management. Instead I went with the metaphoric mind, which had a curiosity about how sweetgrass might be associated with Marnie's issues. Although we didn't do so in the session, we could also have explored the metaphoric meanings of the plant as answers to stress. The grass, for example, is sweet and natural; the job was neither, which might be pointing Marnie toward spending more time in nature and less on the job. Spiritual
detective
work is like
solving a
riddle: once
you've
unlocked the
secret, the
richness,
depth and
joy it affords
is far superior
to having
the spirits
efficiently
hand out answers
in plain English. Judy
Winters practices
Peruvian-based
shamanism.
For groups
and private
sessions or
a schedule
of monthly activities, contact her at 770-391-0991 or singingshaman@aol.com. |
#EXEC calls have been disabled for this virtual path