Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00643)

At 05:59 PM 5/10/96 -0400, you wrote:

>A couple of days ago I made a comment to Alexis -- "The
>shaman/healer/teacher/leader who can do her duty correctly and without the
>dynamics of control dramas is a rare find".  By control drama, I mean the
>dramas or processes we put ourselves and others through when engaging with the
>ego.  Shamans, healers, teachers, and leaders are all in a position of control
>.. they gain energy from what they do.  It is a lot of responsibility, and the
>temptation of misusing that power over others is quite alluring in of itself.

Donna:
It's pretty obvious to me that our experiences of and with Shamanism have
been through entirely different approaches to Shamanism. I won't even
pretend to assume what "schools" of Shamanism you have had your experience
with because I only know the one with which I work. I have spent a great
deal of time and thought, along with my co-shaman and lover in trying to
make sure there is no ego manifestation in what we do. People come to me for
healings and to him for "spirit quests", we do what we do for free as we
have material sources of income. To every person that comes to us we explain
carefully that neither of us does anything at all, we only serve as conduits
to the spirits. Then as I said the other night, I place my hands on their
shoulders or head, open my mouth and take a deep breath and begin to chant.
I am not the controller of the chant, I am just the vocal cords. I have done
chants that Cherokee Indian People present have told me they learned as
children, on the other hand occasionally I do Hawaiian Chants (about which I
know absolutely nothing at all) and quite regularly I do chants of an Arabic
flavor. I neither gain nor lose energy in the process I simply "pass it
through", though I do believe my own health is maintained by passing the
cosmic harmonic through me. I can easily live with this being my Dharma, but
to me, unfortunately "Duty" has far too judeo-Christian a "ring" to it.
Most native Americans I have met say that what I do reminds them of what
their own Shamans do, but I make no claim to knowing what I'm doing. This is
equally true of my partner.

You have a nice weekend too.

alexis