Hi there, i'm new to the forum. I've been interested in shamanism for a while but i don't know where to begin... I've dabbled in magick and whatnot in the past much to my regret and i want to learn how to do it properly.

First thing: You don't go out to be a Shaman, Shamanism finds you.

Second, It's normally an eight year apprenticeship followed by a two year "journey" in which you test yourself on the world of Shamanism. If you are not willing or able to do this as a day by day conviction you can always go take a course, pay some money and send in two box tops of your favorite cereal and POOF, you are an alleged Shaman.

Shamanism is a life, not a hobby.

i do understand that it is a life and not a hobby, i think i would be interested in it but i'm not sure... i'm currently an agnostic and seeking a direction. I don't know where to begin let alone whether it would work for me which is why i am asking

There is huge amounts of information. You can check common library. There is no step by step guide, that tells overall truth about shamanism. Every person has to find their own. Michael Harner's 'Shaman's Way' is much used source of basic teachings of core shamanism.

A person can do many years of apperenticeship with a indigineous shaman, have a great number of weekenend courses or do nothing at all but be immersed by spirits and continue his daily life like nothing had changed.

Thanks for that, i now have a general direction to head into... i do get that this is a pretty ambiguous question and i really appreciate you taking the time to try and help me.

Courses and the library. Why noy wiki and google? I hear some cereal boxes have secret Shaman decoder rings inside.

Hey buddy, write me at blueplanetshaman@yahoo.com and I'll give you a few exercises to do that I use to find out where in Shamanism you should start at and what your natural skills are, for free. That's right, Crazy Hawk's low low weekend prices on Shamanic teachings, FREE!

Seriously (and not too often) these exercises work and will be the insight to who you areas far as your Shamanic potential.

i like you, you have a sense of humor i'll get back to you when i'm sober... had a few ciders

_____________________________________________________________

Just a footnote, it's been nearly 2 years since this and I am a lot wiser and mature than I was back then, that is all.

Rather wiki and google than a person, who promises to teach for free.

Sorry guys. I almost forgot we are supposed to charge large fees so that we will validate each others large fees to newbies.

OK, $25 a lesson but you can't pay it to me. You have to give it to someone who has less than you. Wiki that.

Wow, you must be really desperate to find an apperentice your own. I learned a long ago to run for my life to get far from people, "who knows and want to teach others" - puppet masters.

But anyway, every person have to learn that lesson, hope you can contribute that well.

First of all, Welcome, how's it going? how's your folks? doin' well? cool.

Second, if there were shaman cereal and decoder rings I would have joined
a thousand years earlier.

Third, if your interested, try stuff out. Being raised as a psychic actually helped me make my start. Any practice of magic with a positive nature will continue to help you further yourself, don't think of it as a mistake, think of it as a first step.

If you seek direction ask for one. If your open to it, you'll get it.

I tried wiki, I tried...
But it did not help. I also became tangled with very wise person's advise:
"There needs to be some kind of energy exchange in any type of Shamanic encounter.Bottom line: If you don't allow people to make the exchange, you are cheating them from the full circle. Look it up, it's a form of Black Magik."

I could not cheat the full circle, could I? I couldn't give 25 to any person. There would be unbalanced energychange. The person who has less? Some said the richer is not the one, who has more, but the one who needs less. Who has less, poorer or richer??

I am so confused and need direction. Any free shamanic exercises for me?

Hydra,

Take your time. Shamanism is about service to the people, to the earth and to the universe. Find something that works for you. You will be working with entities that have been around for thousands of years. Energies that you never expected.

There are books which will give a good start. Experience will come.

Hydra gave a very important point. Take your time. I started my apprenticeship in United States in 1964. If I were to say there was a universal way it can be found as the similarities in all Shamanic systems.

The other thing is to study a new language every year, for the rest of your life. It's ok to go back and refresh an old language. Shamans have always been multi lingual. It teaches you so many ways to see and think.

I'll be posting those free exercises on my blog in the next couple days. You may even get a chance to win a Shamanic decoder ring.

Hi Hydrassas!



Excellent Hydrassas! I feel sure that you will find it, be it here, within you, or elsewhere - and maybe all 3!

I don't know if this will help you, Hydrassas, but I have learned that the place of being direction-less is the best of all places to find your "next step".

You are perhaps familiar with the quote "". Well, it is franky rubbish! The best journeys begin at the place of "emptiness" - the place of having NO next step, the place of where our last "direction" has fizzled out. This is a powerful place to be.

Headless Chicken!
Avoid any temptation to rush around desperately like a headless chicken. Key ingredients [but NOT the whole pudding!] lie within you - stop, breathe, feel. So many people rushed into a new direction based on "WHAT I DON'T WANT" or "WHAT MY SHORT-SIGHTED INSECURE EGO WANTS" rather than what will really nourish and fulfil my life and lead to that inevitable death where I might honestly be able to say "I've lived and savoured this life to the full, and it's now time to move on!"

If you want a shallow experience, start your new direction from the shallow place of "conscious mind". If you want a deeper, richer, more fulfilling life, you need to dig down into the deeper, richer resources of "conscious mind". Shamanism offers many techniques for doing this, and there are techniques from other disciplines too, including psychotherapy. You could explore a few, and find what works for you.


The Power of Now!
[see also "Power of Now" Resources]
What energies move within you right now? What is your breath doing? Do you want a "next direction" that is driven by fear, craving, escape from the past, escape from yourself, or desperation? If so, get going now with the headless chicken thing, and reap what you sow.

If you want a direction and harvest that contains more nourishing and fulfilling energies, stick with your negative energies until they change. Breathe them, feel them, share them [preferably with advice-less companions - be they human, animal, sky, river, mountain or plant], express them in art, poetry, dance or destructiveness [inner or outer cleansing/purifcation], also occasionally "Letting Go" or Meditating without them - and look out for the new buds of hope, soul-longing, inspiration and "inner-knowing" to emerge!

Healing the Past
If this "Power of Now" journey is blocked by elements in your "personal shadow", find a healer to help you - for if we don't learn and grow from our past, we are destined to repeat it, and there will be no "new direction"!

Teachers & Travelling Companions
If you wish to journey to new experiences, you will need new resources from both within and outside. If your journey is to progress you will inner and outer guides, role models and travelling companions. When these flow naturally into your life you wil know that you are "on track", when the flow stops, this is a sign that you need to revisit the "first principles" mentioned above.




I tend to go with Jusma on this one. Although I would never, ever withold stress management, healing or shamanic services from someone in genuine need who could not afford my fees, I do find that up-front mention of fees act as a useful "filter" to screen out the casual "tourists", the energy vampires and the parasitic-lifestyle people. Do I want to encourage my disempowered brothers and sisters to stay trapped in these ungrounded, dependency lifestyles - certainly not!

I no longer waste my time, experience and efforts with folks who are not taking mature responsibility for their own lives. I see my role as essentially a training one and I know that people do not experience sustainable learning without 3 essential ingredients [in addition to the humility necessary for knocking on the door to training]:

A: RESPECT FOR THE TRAINER [including the trainer's energy]

B: SELF-RESPECT that comes from taking personal reponsibility

C: SELF-DISCIPLINE so that personal energy resources are not constantly dissipated

I am also aware of that old adage "If you pay peanuts, expect to employ monkeys!" - Providing quality services and keeping onself and one's facilities "up to the mark" does require financial support. I prefer to obtain that support from the recipients where possible, rather than being parasitic on hard-working taxpayers.