Growing Deep Roots

Yesterday I asked you to think about how deep your roots are in shamanism and I also wrote that I would respond in my next post with some ideas about how to grow deeper roots.  When we want a plant to grow we nourish it, we give it fertilizer.  The same is true with shamanism.  So here are a few of my ideas:

1. Shamanism, unlike the book religions, is not a spectator sport.  Being a shaman or a shamanic practitioner means that we practice, and that we practice often and deeply.  Many (most) of the christians that I know go to church once a week, sit through a sermon, and think that they have taken care of their spirituality for the week.  That won't work with shamanism.  Shamanism isn't about belonging to a group or identifying with a church, or being a passive observer in a religious service.  It is about who we are deep inside.  Who we are in our cores.  Being a shaman is who we are, not what we do.
2. Don't let you inner child drive the bus.  Decide what is the driving force behind your practice.  It should be spirit.  That means that it shouldn't be ego, status, or identification with a title.  Spirit should be driving your spiritual bus.  
3. Be prepared to be bored.   Some of the time, and maybe even most of the time, when you do a shamanic ritual you (1) won't feel like doing it . . . so do it any way, and (2) it won't be a highly motivating spiritual experience . . . so do it anyway.  Show spirit that you are committed, that you show up and do the work.  Woody Allen once said that 80 percent of success in life is just showing up.
4. Learn to ground your energy.  Electrical circuits need a ground and won't function without one.  So does your energetic body.  Learn grounding techniques and learn to know what it feels like to be well grounded.
5. The heart of contemporary, core shamanism is the shamanic journey.  Journeying isn't the only shamanic practice, but it is at the heart of many of the things that we do.  So, practice journeying everyday.   Get to know your shamanic neighborhood, know how to get in and get out, learn the roads and byways, get to know your neighbors.  The only way that will happen is if you visit frequently, very frequently.
6. Avoid the tendency to jump ship.  We live in a culture where we have learned to seek instant gratification and excitement.  If a relationship gets to be boring we get out of the relationship and find a new one.  Most people stick with a job for three years or less, then its time to move on.  We want to experience everything and we want everything to be exciting or entertaining.  If you want to develop deep roots in your shamanic practice then you need to stick with the practice.  Shamanism seems new, exciting and different at first, just what we have been socialized to look for.  However, pretty soon it won't be new (we will have been doing it for a while), it won't be exciting (it will seem like the same old stuff, like one more 30 minute shamanic journey listening to the same drum track), and it won't be different because we have been doing for a while.  Resist the urge to drop it and move on to the next new, exciting and different spiritual practice.  Stick with it so that it becomes part of you, so that if you miss a day of journeying you really miss it.

This probably doesn't seem like a very exciting list.  It's not.  If you played sports in high school or college you probably remember how you improved your skills.  For example, if you played basket ball, then how many practice free-throw shots did you take in practice?  Thousands?  Shooting thousands of free-throw shots in practice over three or four years of high school isn't new, exciting or different so why did you do it?  To get better, to perfect your skill.  Maybe you didn't play basket ball, maybe you were on the track team or the tennis team, or you played soccer.  It doesn't really matter, you improved your skill little-by-little every day.  And if you kept at it, it worked.  You did improve.   Shamanic practice is exactly the same.  Work at it every day and little-by-little your skills will improve, and more important, Spirit will start to recognize you and work with just because you show up.

I'll look for you in the lower world this evening when I journey.

​Dr. Dave