TO BEGIN WITH

Welcome to A SHAMANIC WAY: Rituals, Rattles, and Recipes for Awakening Your Inner Spirit. Our intention in providing you with this book is to give you an overall guide for learning Shamanic Ways. This is not intended as an anthropological work documenting Shaman history through the ages and around the world, nor is it intended as the ONLY way for you to acquire Shamanic skills. A Shamanic Way is much more involved than what is offered here, however this book will provide you with basic skills to start developing your life in A Shamanic Way.

LESSON 1 – The Way of Ritual

Ixtoii (Ishtoy) traveled to the far reaches of Nepal and Tibet seeking ways from many Shamans to become a better practitioner. Each Shaman she studied with told her, "This is the only correct way to do it." The first Shaman told her she needs to light the candle with her right hand. The next Shaman told her she needs to blow three times on the candle before lighting it and it did not matter which hand she used to light the candle. Again and again she heard the words, "This is the only correct way." But each Shaman had a different way. Ixtoii became more and more confused, which way was the REAL way if they all have a different way? She tried all the different ways of performing the various rituals and found she noticed no difference. She woke up one morning with the big

AH-HA! SHE REALIZED THAT THERE WAS NO CORRECT WAY. THERE WAS ONLY THE WAY THAT WORKED FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL.

Like anything, as you learn, as you experience, you will grow. Your practice will become more and more personalized as you find what works for you.

Shamanism is an almost timeless practice, those in the know believe it to be as much as 40,000 years ancient, and is used primarily for healing purposes. Culturally Shamanic traditions are interwoven with ritual and ceremony. Core shamanism is not ritually based but similarities of approach can be found on every continent. Essentially core shamanism is the ability to move between states of consciousness at will and access both ordinary reality as we all do everyday and non-ordinary reality, a place of infinite knowledge, wisdom, and energy. The rituals, ceremonies, and Sacred Tools used are culturally specific to the person performing the Shamanic practice. This includes you. You will find the right tools, the right methods, and right songs that work for you as you grow in your knowledge and experience. A Power song may come to you, a smudging song may come to you. These are not necessarily songs with words but may simply be sounds you vocalize.

Shamanic thought is that all things both animate objects and inanimate objects, have Spirit and have energy, and that everything is connected through that Spirit and energy. In other words, the energy of a rock is as potent as the energy of a person. There are four (4) kingdoms; plant, mineral, animal, and human. All of these kingdoms manifest energies that interconnect and affect our life on a daily basis.

Developing relationships with the plant, mineral, and animal kingdoms is a key component of developing one's Shamanic abilities and as important as our relationships with our fellow humans. These relationships are forged in both ordinary reality and in non-ordinary reality (as in the Spirit world). A Shamanic Way is also integrated in relationship with the four (4) elements of fire, earth, air, and water. With practice your Shamanic abilities will connect you with a tangible thread to the four kingdoms and the four elements. A recipe is included for you to "feel" each kingdom and how everything is connected by energy.

A SHAMANIC WAY: Rituals, Rattles, and Recipes for Awakening Your Inner Spirit is an introduction to Shamanism that combines both core Shamanism and ritual or ceremony. It is a demonstration for you to build upon speeding up your own experience and development of Shamanic practice in your everyday life and in living life in A Shamanic way.

It is said that a Shaman becomes a Shaman in one of three ways. The first is to be born into a line of Shamans, carrying on a tradition that is centuries old within a specific culture. This of course is, with some exceptions, not really a viable option in Western culture. The second way is to be trained by a Shaman after receiving a calling; a dream, a traumatic experience, or a near-death experience. This also is not a common occurrence in Western culture. However, there is a third way, accessible to all. Because of the inquisitive nature about Shamanism and Spiritual issues of many in Western culture a wide variety of books approaching these subjects have been written. A SHAMANIC WAY: Rituals, Rattles, and Recipes for Awakening Your Inner Spirit is yet another approach. It is designed and written as an experiential guide.

This book is influenced by Native American traditions of ceremony and ritual, the traditions of the "Curanderos" (people who heal) or "Gente de Conocimiento" (people of knowledge) of Mexico, and includes information on basic energy work. This reflects the training, work, and experience of the authors.

NOTE: Please Remember that our book and the information, recipes, and rituals offered are simply guidelines. There is NO RIGHT WAY OR WRONG WAY. The terms we used such as "required", "should" or "must" are the result of what works for us. Your job, should you choose, is to discover what works specifically for you. Living life in A Shamanic Way is a very personal undertaking.

RECIPE 1:

BEING IN THE NOW

Stop Being Dragged Into The Past Or Propelled Into The Future

Living life in A Shamanic Way means paying attention to the present. Unfortunately our tendency is to lament the past and worry about the future. We miss the PRESENT. How do we corral our attention to notice the NOW?

MATERIALS:

1. Wrist watch with stop watch ability. (This can be the cheapest of the cheap.)

2. Notebook.

PROCESS:

1. Set alarm to go off every hour. (Try to do this for several consecutive hours during the day, but it is not necessary to do it for the entire day. However it will be great if you can do it for the whole day.)

2. When the alarm rings notice what your thoughts were.

3. Were they in the past?

4. Were they in the future?

5. Are you in the moment only when you stop and notice?

6. Make a note in your notebook if possible of what your thoughts were in a few brief words.

7. Close your notebook.

8. Close your eyes.

9. Take three (3) deep breaths.

10. Give yourself the mental order to bring your thoughts into the present moment.

11. Open your eyes.

12. Reset your alarm.

Do this exercise over as many hours as you can. Overtime reduce the frequency to alarming every...