The damp, warm air hung heavy in the night and there was an eerie stillness that permeated my surroundings.  There was no breeze to rustle the leaves of the trees and no sounds of birds.  Even the jungle insects seemed to be waiting in peril.  Everything was on hold.  Waiting.  Just waiting.

Things were not going as planned.  For hours I had been tracking the lush, wild jungle terrain for the one that would bring me great strength and fearlessness.  And somewhere in my hunt as opposed to being the hunter I had become the hunted.  I was no longer on the offensive. Feeling powerless and scared, I now sat huddled on a low tree branch contemplating my next move.  My body was trembling uncontrollably with a combination of fear and pure adrenaline from the chase that had taken place just moments before.  Not able to go any higher I decided my only choice was to sit paralyzed and just wait it out. The large black cat calmly circled the base of the tree, as her bright yellow eyes stayed fixed on my every twitch.  I sat naked and without protection.  I felt alone, scared and ashamed that I had failed at my task and pursuit for jaguar medicine.  I felt as if I no longer knew the ways of the jungle and had lost my membership to the land that had birthed me.

I figured the cat would eventually get tired and decide I was not worth eating, dawn would come I would be able make my way back home.  But she did not get tired and dawn never came.  The darkness of the night did not shift and my hunter never relinquished her position of power.  After an unknown period of time, exhaustion overcame my hope for survival and my body began to loose its grip on the slippery bark.  My hands began to slip and I heard the hungry growl of my hunter, who was poised patiently a short distance away.  With no other choice I let my hands loosen and began to freefall to the ground.  I landed on my back and to my surprise, popped to my feet and began to run.  I ran, and ran and ran, but the energy burst was short lived and I fell to my knees in surrender.  Within in seconds I was staring directly into the eyes of a jaguar.  Her breath was hot as it washed over my face with each growl.  I had no fight left.

“Kill me!  Just kill me!  What are you waiting for?”  I screamed at the top of my lungs.  With that she reared back, opened her large mouth and gave me one last growl as her right paw came thundering down on my left cheek.

That was when I woke up, just as I felt that giant paw take a swipe at my head.  I was breathing very hard, and although it was the middle of winter I was drenched in sweat.  I lied very still for a while, trying to remember where I was and the details of the night.  I went to the bathroom and washed my face.  That was when I noticed the scratch on my left cheek and a trickle of blood that was starting to harden.  I stared into the mirror with disbelief.  “How could this be?”  I was awestruck, speechless and incredibly excited.  I had been struck with the medicine of Jaguar.   That meant she was now an ally and teacher, and if I followed her guidance I would someday be able to walk as a beautiful jaguar in my own jungle.  I went to my altar immediately and made offerings to the spirits for the gift of Jaguar.  For months, every morning I would meditate with jaguar, getting to know her, dialoging with her, letting her teach me.  Every time I went into nature I would first call on Jaguar to run with me.  “Show me your ways great warrior of peace.  Show me how to become a person of power and grace, beauty and calmness.”

Over time I became less fearful of confrontation.  I learned to use my body and senses in new ways to track the hidden layers within myself and situations, so I could take different action and alter the course of events for the better.  I became more comfortable with myself, speaking truth and drawing boundaries.  I learned to see beyond the physical and how to move with more ease during times of challenge.

Jaguar came to me at the beginning of this month.  It was the first of January and I had not settled on what to write about.  I was in tune with the intensity of the cosmic energies for the month and had read some shamanic channeled writings that confirmed my intuition and the messages I had been receiving from the spirit world.  In short, January is a month of forceful energies that will create friction, confrontation and breakage of what needs to shift.  Resistance to what is naturally occurring will only bring more suffering, so it is time to embrace radical change and the gifts that are birthed from letting the old go.   Jaguar is making her presence known and her medicine available to those who call on her during these times of great change.

When we call on Jaguar we are calling forward an ancient archetypal force that shamans have been calling on for thousands upon thousands of years.  This force of instinctual intelligence is known to shamans as the organizing principle of life and death and the way of creating sudden change.  Shamans associate the jaguar with these principles because of its keen awareness, speed and precision with which she hunts and maintains balance within her environment.

Because the jaguar is at the top of the food chain in the Amazon she is considered a protector and guardian of the rainforest.  The shamans call on her for protection and strength to be used in their lives and while in ceremony.  This great feline moves through her lush environment with ease and peace.  She is curious and playful, has no predators and lives free of fear.  When we call jaguar into our lives we are asking for her to show us the way of walking with this same ease and grace in our own environment.  We are asking to walk as a peaceful warrior who knows her place in the world and as one who is in balance with the world around her.

Because of their swiftness and ability to alter a situation dramatically, shamans associate the jaguar with the realms of the mental and emotional levels of perception.  Think about how quickly we can change our experience when we change our perspective.  We are all aware that our individual conditioning, beliefs, judgments and imprints left from past traumas organize our inner and outer reality and create the way in which we view the world. Jaguar medicine teaches us how to be keenly aware of our own mental and emotional state, beliefs, judgments and prior conditioning. Jaguar perception is the state of awareness that on the physical plane not everything is as it appears, and that by shifting our point of reference from which we are viewing a situation, the event can change dramatically.

When we use the eyes of the jaguar to track into the night, into our shadow, and when we use the heart of the jaguar to hold compassion for ourselves while we unearth these old roots, we develop clarity as to why we react and engage in a certain manner.  Once learned, we can use our jaguar instincts to pounce on our old reactions before they over ride the potential for a new way and a new experience of with ourselves and with life.

Jaguar will put us back in touch with our instictual self, the one that acts from pure wisdom and without the override of mental and emotional anguish.

A simple and effective way to connect with the spirit of Jaguar is through moving meditation and sound, either in nature or in your meditation space.   If being inside is your best option, try putting some tribal, drum music on that invokes the primal nature within.  Light some candles and sage.  If being in nature is an option that’s great, just follow the same guidance.  Now, set your intention to connect with Jaguar.  Call on her and make an offering with the sage or tobacco.  Then come on to your belly and begin to breath deeply. Getting in touch with your body and breath, noticing any areas that are restricted or that need to be awakened.   Become acutely aware of your mental state and use your breath to quiet your mind.  Let the sound of the drums or the sounds in nature lead you deeper within.  When you are ready, come to your hands and knees and call the spirit of jaguar to you.   Watch how she approaches you and learn from her movement.  How does your body feel as she gets closer?   Do you feel scared or do you feel inquisitive and playful?  Do want to run or do feel you need to fight?  Allow yourself to let go into this engagement with the jaguar.  Ask her how you can learn from her.  Tell her why you have called on her.   Run with her.  Walk with her and feel your body become the body of a cat.  Stretch and awaken the jaguar within.  Allow yourself as much time as you need.  When you come out of this journey, take note of any changes you feel in your body, and in your emotional and mental state.  Write down what you experienced, and the dialogue you had with jaguar.   Close your ritual with gratitude and a knowing that jaguar is always walking with you.

]]> http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/2010/01/13/walking-wild-jaguar-instinct/feed/ 0 http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/2009/12/02/walking-wild-the-alchemy-of-ceremony-ritual-sacred-space/ http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/2009/12/02/walking-wild-the-alchemy-of-ceremony-ritual-sacred-space/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:59:32 +0000 Chandra Sun Eagle http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/?p=62 May the heart of the earth

flow to the heart of the heaven

through my heart

and through all our hearts together

And may our hearts be

the heart of every being

in all the starry sky

And may the heart of the heavens

flow to the heart of the earth

through my heart

and through all our hearts together

And may our hearts be

the heart of every earthly creature

from  Father Charlie Moore in Guatemala

I find this prayer so beautiful.  I use it each morning upon awakening to begin my day in a ritualistic and sacred manner.  I often light incense, sage or palo santo and make offerings to the four directions, above and below to amplify my heart’s intent, while saying it.  Every time I say this prayer of activation, with my fullest attention on each word I feel a warm wave of peace and connection wash through me, as well a reconnection to Source and the collective heart. Try saying it 2 or 3 times very slowly, with a few pauses.  For the first pass try to be aware of your body and the quality of your breath as you say the words.  On the second pass pay particular attention to your heart center, while connecting your breath with the energy beyond the words.  Let the words lead you on a journey.  Go ahead try it and just see what happens.

Ritual and Ceremony is an essential aspect to the shaman’s path.  Since the beginning of time it has been the creating of sacred space and the art of ceremony that has opened the doors of communication between the indigenous people and the spirit world.   The act of ceremony was and remains to this day a space in which the medicine person is able to suspend the mind and enter the domain of the soul and the domain of the Great Mystery, where true understanding of the self, the spiritual realms and true healing can happen.  It is in ceremonial space that we create offerings for the Mother Earth, the spirits and Great Spirit, in order to give back, seek guidance, and to bridge the worlds.

Creating sacred space in your life can be as simple as creating an altar somewhere in your home, which should face the East direction to align with the path of the sun.  The East direction is also known as the place on the medicine wheel in which Spirit enters our lives and the ceremony taking place. Candles, bowls of water, musical instruments, stones, feathers to represent the elements, and statues symbolizing your favorite deities or angels can also be used.  The purpose of the altar is to make what I call a landing pad for these forces to anchor to and to come alive in this dimension. A few other simple suggestions are to place a few specific crystals in the four directions of your yard or home, and even in your car or office.  These items will act as a reminder for you to connect with the sacred as you go about your daily activities.  There are of course more elaborate ceremonies that involve days or weeks of preparation.  For example, the Vision Quest, Sweat Lodge, Fire Ceremony and sacred pilgrimage.

While thinking about what to share with you this month I contemplated sharing various forms of ritual and ceremony.  Being that this is such a vast arena, because I couldn’t decide which ones to share and the important message to convey here is not how to do ceremony, but rather why do ceremony, I will share with you a time in which the power of ceremony opened my heart, shifted my perception of who I am, and imprinted within me the importance of holding sacred ceremony in daily life.  I share in the hope that if ritual and ceremony is not a part of your daily life, that you make it one.   Ceremony is an essential key to the expansion of your experience and connection with life and a way to deepen the meaning in which you live and create your reality.  Ceremony is the language of the soul and is what every soul and every heart craves.  And it needs to be brought back into our daily lives.

“While in ceremony we step out of linear time, beyond language and reasoning, and into the sacred where true understanding, healing and wisdom reside.  We are able to step beyond the limitations of the mind and into sacred time, where the boundless potential of the heart and the intelligence of creation unite with the forces of nature.”

My Initiation into the power of ceremony

and Apu Salkantay

In the Andean tradition it is said that each initiate on the path has a sponsor mountain that will guide and impart wisdom to the initiate.  And that when it is time for the individual to step on to their path, the spirit of the Apu will send an estrella, spanish for star, to summon the initiate.  At that time the medicine person to be must make offerings to the Apu and Apukuna, (mountain spirits) and must prepare themselves to make a pilgrimage  to the Apu who has called.  Apu Salkantay, I would later learn is where ritual and ceremonial specialists go for their ultimate initiation.

As I looked around the candle lit tent, smoke from the burning herbs and incense stung my eyes.   My body ached from several, eight-hour days of hiking and very little sleep.  My head pounded from the altitude and I was having a hard time sitting up.  I sat in circle with my fellow shamans in training. Pasqal and Don Francisco, medicine men of the Q’ero nation, our guides and teachers for the past two weeks, worked meticulously  to create the group’s healing mandala and offerings for Apu Salkantay.   The ceremony they were performing is an ancient and timeless creation known to the Q’ero as a despacho. (To learn more about the despacho visit www.soncovia.com/ceremony)

We were a group of 20 students from different parts of the world that had been called to Peru and to walk the path of a medicine person.   For most, this trip was a destination after many years of study.   For me it was the beginning of my journey, a blast off of sorts, into an unknown world with unfamiliar territory, and a hint a recollection buried deep in my bones.  The majority of the group had been studying shamanism for a few years and were full Mesa carriers.  I on the other hand had no special cloth, stones or talismans of power.  What I carried was an eagerness to find my life’s path and an insatiable hunger for adventure.

For the past two weeks we had spent our days doing ceremony in sacred sites in and around the Urubamba Valley of Peru and studying the mysticism and healing techniques of the Inka.   The nights were also steeped in ritual and healing ceremonies.  Committed to healing our hearts and dismantling the illusions of our conceptual minds and egos, we had cleansed our energy fields and prepared our bodies for the upcoming trek.

APU SALKANTAY

After several days of trekking, we were now situated high in Andes, at the base of Apu Salkantay’s peak, one of the twelve holy mountains that the Q’ero shamans source from.  The Q’ero medicine people maintain that the Apus hold the wisdom of their ancestors, the mystical wisdom, a connection to the heavens, and energies that can bring healing and balance to the children of the earth. Tonight was the night we would receive the rites of passage associated with this mountain, known as Salkantay.  For me it was also my initiation into the Q’ero lineage and the ancient wisdom of the Andes, the path of Munay (Love).   To the Q’ero the path of munay means to embody and interact with life through the universal, unconditional and timeless love that brings together all life and all levels of consciousness.  Munay is the beauty of the magnetic beautify of the moon and the radiance of the sun.  It is what binds the succession of seasons, the flow of rivers and tides, and the cycles of life.

Don Francisco prayed to the Apu for its blessing.  Finally Pasqal motioned to Don Francisco, then turned to Apu Salkantay.   He spread his arms and narrowed his eyes. His appearance took on that of a condor as he invited the powers of the Apu into our sacred circle.   I watched in awe as the atmosphere in the tent became palpable with magical sounds.   Whistles, mysterious sounds and colorful lights filled the air and danced around us.   It was time.   My stomach was in knots and my heart pounded uncontrollably.   Praying while blowing through their mesas into our energy centers, one by one Pasqal and Don Francisco transmitted the rites to each of us and welcomed us, as bothers and sisters, into their family.   Tears of gratitude and joy streamed down my cheeks.  I was overwhelmed with the sensation in my chest.   It was as though all the protection I had so carefully constructed had dissolved and my heart could breathe freely with world around me. Open.   Awake.  Light headed and full of wonder of what really had just happened, I stumbled to my tent, collapsed in a heap and fell into a deep sleep.

In what felt like only seconds later, I was suddenly awake.   There was tremendous pressure in my lungs, in my head, in my entire body.   It felt like my system was closing in on itself.  My breathing was very shallow and I thought to myself “I wonder if this is what death feels like?  I must call out to someone.”   No sound would come out of my mouth.  Just as panic began to over take me I heard a voice.  It was a woman’s voice telling me to relax and trust.  I opened my eyes and could faintly make out the shape of figure with long hair and flowing clothes.  Am I dreaming?  Is this real?  In a soft and reassuring tone she began to speak of my soul’s journey and asked me if I was ready to see deeper into the nature of reality.   Without moving my lips, she read the curiosity and yes in my mind, and asked,  “Well then, are you ready die?”

“Ready to die?  Not sure about that one.”  I answered back without saying anything.

“Try to relax,” she said.  “You are only dying to an old self, an old perception of the world and who you think you are.   Like the serpent, who sheds her skin, you must let go of that which no longer serves and no longer fits who you are becoming.   It’s time to walk with courage and reclaim your power as medicine woman.  Trust me, this is your path and your gifts are needed in the world.”

Even through all the exhaustion my mind clicked in.  I had so many questions and so many doubts about what I was hearing.

More sternly now, the woman hovering above me, told me take a deep breath into my heart.  Instantly I was pulled through my heart chakra and out of my body, outside of time, beyond the confines of the physical world.   We followed the strands of Grandmother Spider, the weaver, until we were swimming unencumbered through the Milky Way.   Keenly aware of stars around me, I could see my body on the ground.  Reluctantly I released my fears and let myself go.   The beautiful goddess by my side continued with her teachings as we floated, swam and flew through a galaxy of stars and tribes of beings that inhabited the Milky Way galaxy.  We meet other spirit teachers along the way who lovingly caressed my head and imparted words of wisdom.  This is what I remembered in the morning.

“It is not an easy path.  Along the way you will be tested.   This is not your first initiation and there are many more to come.  It is important to keep your physical body strong and healthy as you become more familiar with your light body.  Work on clearing the clutter from your mind and continue to notice where you have resistance.   You must free yourself from what you have accepted as truth and drop the need to fit into the social consensus of reality.  There is a greater truth that awaits you.  Turn the perception that fear is your enemy into seeing it as an ally.   Reestablish trust in your intuition and remember to laugh and not take yourself to seriously.  Engage life in a sacred manner and know in your heart that all life is to be honored and learned from.  You will always be guided and remember to share what you learn along the way, other wise it is wasted, and the exchange will not be completed.”

The Elder.

The wrinkles on his brown, leathery face were as deep as canyons that had formed over thousands of years.  His eyes were inviting and dancing in the green of his iris was the “Great Star Nation”.  The old man studied me in silence for a long time. I could not see the rest of his body and he said nothing as my guide in white and I waited patiently.  I felt uncomfortable about staring, but couldn’t help it as I drifted deeper into the vastness of his gaze.  The love that enveloped me was almost too much and I found it difficult to receive.   It was as though I was completely disappearing.  Then two objects appeared and the ancient voice of this timeless soul began to speak.

“You see two pipes before you.  One was yours.   You carried it many life times ago.  It has been living with the Star Nation and if you recognize the one that is yours, it signifies the time for its return to the earth.  Do you recognize your pipe?”

I had no doubt and pointed to the one that was singing my name.

“That is right.  It will come to you when you are ready.  Now continue on your journey,” he spoke with a slight smile.  I could tell he was pleased.

Then my attention was brought back to the stars as they danced in code to the music of the night, and at that moment I understood the meaning of “oh great start nation, my brothers and sisters”, and the eternal connection to the star seeds within.

Following the spider’s web I was eventually returned to my body that lie shivering in the mountain air and fell back into sleep.

The next morning I woke with a vivid sense of expansiveness and an unspeakable knowing of my oneness with all life.  I was newly infused with the energetic totality of who I am, the power of sacred ceremony and my role as a ceremonialist.

In munay,

Chandra Sun Eagle

Enjoy your ceremony!

]]> http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/2009/12/02/walking-wild-the-alchemy-of-ceremony-ritual-sacred-space/feed/ 0 http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/2009/10/30/the-shamans-way-their-role-in-creation/ http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/2009/10/30/the-shamans-way-their-role-in-creation/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:27:17 +0000 Chandra Sun Eagle http://chandrasuneagle.causeyourebeautiful.com/reach/columns/?p=6 In my late 20’s, through a sequence of external events, life like dreams that sometimes left scars in the morning, and spirit visitors in the night, I began to awaken to the path of the shaman, the shaman’s sensibility.  For me this was an awakening of my soul’s purpose, a remembering of past lifetimes and what I feel my true calling and service in this lifetime entails.

Over the next 11 moon cycles we will explore the world of the shaman, how to awaken the shaman within, the shaman’s archetypes and perceptual states, seeing through the veil, shaman’s rites of passage, becoming a steward of the new earth and shape shifting.  We will also explore the use of ritual, ceremony and shamanic journeying that aid in the process of transformation that our physical, emotional, mental bodies and our souls are under going.  I will share techniques for soul retrieval, harnessing power and life force, and aligning with your destiny.  I will also share some of my personal encounters to aid in understanding and to hopefully propel you on, or into, your own shamanic path.  To begin the awakening it is important to understand the role of the shaman and life on the shamanic path.  I found very early on that this path is a path that requires endless selflessness, courage, a continual surrendering to the unknown and a capacity to love and accept unconditionally.

 I still have many people ask me what a shaman is, but to hear the word shaman or shamanism is becoming more common in the modern day.  This is partly due to more and more people awakening to a shamanic calling.  It is also because the ancient wisdom keepers are coming out to share their knowledge and the energetic transmissions that are necessary for the survival, rebalancing and evolution of humanity and our Mother Earth.

The shaman and the shaman’s way is what has been missing in our modern world and why so many people are feeling disconnected, are living in fear and don’t know where to turn.  It is our hope that more people will return the sacred ways of the earth stewards.

PRAYING FOR VISION: at shamanic workshop

 What is shamanism?

In the indigenous cultures, it has been the shaman that has lived in devotion to their community members and in devotion to holding their community together.

Shamanism has existed all over the world for tens of thousands of years.   There are of course many cultural variations of shamanism, but at the core of all living and established shamanic ways there are many base similarities.  All shamanic practices are based on the wisdom that we live in an animate world, a world in which everything in it is alive and possesses a spirit.  All shamans are profoundly aware of this and that the world is filled with spirits and spiritual energy.  Shamans live a life of action based on this wisdom.  Shamanism is about living proactively and in harmony with all our relations, the rivers, the trees, the whales, our star ancestors and all who live and walk on the belly of Mother Earth.

The shaman’s daily rituals and ceremonies hold meaning in their purpose to maintain a harmonious relationship between the spirit world, the two-leggeds and the natural world.  Many of our rituals involve daily chants and song, making offerings of simple ingredients such as tobacco and herbs, or more elaborate offerings that involve pilgrimage, day and week-long ceremony.   

Andean Despacho: A ceremonial offering to the Pachamama (earth mother) and an energetic exchange with creation

Who is the shaman?

There is something I refer to as shaman sensibility.  To me this sensibility is the state of sacred awareness in which the shaman resides.  And shamanism is the practice of living this sacred awareness.  A shaman is one who lives in oneness with the natural world.  It is the integration and embodiment of the secrets of the natural world that allow the shaman to step out of their rational mind and into direct knowingness.  This knowingness is then brought into action.  Part of the shaman’s role and responsibility is to dream the world into being.  What kind of world are you dreaming?

Shamans are healers, teachers, leaders, visionaries, priests and priestesses of their communities.  They have the knowledge of the spiritual structure of life.  They are mediators between the spirit world and the world of man.  Shamans learn to travel and communicate in the spirit world and learn to understand and navigate the fluid nature of existence.  In essence, they assist with the dance of life and the molding of creation.

Although many people are learning the shamanic techniques, the original definition of a shaman is the one who is born with a special relationship to time and an innate ability to journey to other dimensions, time and space.  For the shaman there is the linear time of the watches we wear, but true time for shamans is not linear, it is circular and it is synchronistic.  And it is through attaining illuminated states of awareness, trance states and with the assistance of plant and spirit allies that the shaman is able to journey through this circular time and act as a mediator between the worlds and between people. Through this mediation the shaman is able to bring healing to events of the past and facilitate multidimensional healing in the present and future.

CHANDRA SUN EAGLE WORKING WITH ANDEAN SHAMANS OF PERU

What is the significance of shamanism in the modern world?

The ancient wisdom keepers and earth stewards, also known as shamans, have not only maintained a healthy relationship to the earth, but a relationship to the stars as well.  For them, the stars are a place of pure cosmic energy that not only symbolizes order and direction, but also provide a navigational map for humanity’s wellbeing and evolutionary process.  For the indigenous people, the Milky Way is our cosmic mother, and the stars, in particular the star cluster Pleiades, also known as the seven sisters, are the keepers of our collective becoming.  The astrologers of ancient cultures in the Americas believe that the Pleiades are repositories of energy and information that hold the keys to humanities next phase of evolution.  Ceremonies are performed regularly to commune and receive this information.

Almost everyone alive is aware, on some level, of the dramatic changes that the earth and humanity are going through at this time.  There is a rebirthing of the Feminine principal and a restructuring that is breaking down old paradigms and the patriarchal systems of an age in passing.  We are in a stage of purification, as well an activation of higher frequencies and consciousness.  This is creating what appears to be more chaos and is causing a lot of agitation for people.  Not only is this stage a part of the natural course of our evolutionary process, but when seen and approached with new perspective, provides an opportunity for growth and mastery.  

For ages, it has been the shaman who has led the people through dark times and guided them to new ground.   It is my feeling and the feeling of my elders that all beings, because we come from the same source of life, contain seeds of shamanic wisdom and understanding.  It is also my understanding that as we transition through what is commonly referred to as the “Shift of the Ages”, and as we awaken from a deep and long sleep in the denser realms of consciousness, what many shamans refer to as the collective nightmare, each one of us will resonate and reconnect with some or all aspects of the shaman’s sensibility and the innate wisdom of the shaman’s way.  The shaman’s wisdom is what has been missing in our technologically based, modern day living.  And it is the wisdom of the shaman’s path that will help guide us into the future. 

A man named Drunvalo Melchezidek, author and spokes person for the Mayan Council, describes in his book, The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life, about a law in nature that man has very closely explained through a series of numbers known as the Fibonacci sequence.  It is too long to go into here, but in essence, Drunvalo speaks of the importance of this sequence and his interpretation as to why it is important.  The Fibonacci spiral describes how life evolves through a series of numbers and creates new life by taking into account where it has come from.   The ancient earth people and wisdom keepers know this.  That is why many of them are now sharing their wisdom and their rituals.  Indigenous prophecy around the world speaks of the time we are in and the need to merge the old ways with the new world.  It’s important that each of us connect with our roots and seek out the ancient knowledge and the elders who have kept the oral traditions and timeless knowledge alive.  The importance of keeping these teachings alive through action-based integration in our daily lives and is a major key to our happiness and the understanding our existence.  The old wisdom and earth keeper’s way is essential for humanities evolution and ascension process. 

ENHANCING LIFE FORCE DURING A FIRE CEREMONY

AWAKENING THE SHAMAN WITHIN:

As I mentioned earlier, many people are awakening to the shaman’s way and to an inner calling to once again be a steward and caretaker of the new earth.  Many are spontaneously awakening through dreams and others through the guidance from teachers.  My journey began with dreams I didn’t always understand and a one time meeting with a shaman of North America.  The following story details that meeting and my first awakening to an old power within.

THE OPENING

 “Please come in.   Make yourself comfortable.”

I was hesitant. My palms were sweaty and my head felt light, almost like I might faint, and I was a bit disoriented.  I was hardly comfortable.  

I raised my eyes from the floor to meet her invitation and stepped through the narrow doorway, as she pulled back the grey blanket that covered its opening.  I entered a small room that was dimly lit with candles. Strange shapes and shadows danced on the walls.  Smoke from the burning incense, which I recognized as sage and eucalyptus, hung in the air, making it even more difficult to see.  Once my eyes adjusted to the light I was able to make out some of the objects that were poised around the room.  I looked around slowly, trying to conceal my nervousness and quiet the chatter swirling inside my head.  Feathers, drums, stones, pottery and what looked like ancient artifacts and crystals adorned the room.  There was a picture of an eagle in flight to my right, a mountain lion posed on a rocky outcropping in front of me, and a black bear sauntering through a pine tree forest to my left.  They all possessed life like qualities and the potential to jump out of their frames at any moment.  I wasn’t able to identify exactly what was under my feet, but it was definitely some kind of animal pelt.

The woman standing before me wore a long sleeve suede shirt with an eagle embroidered on the back.   Her hair was dark brown and her skin seemed to match almost perfectly.   She had soft, emerald green eyes.  The kind that have the power to draw you in, and leave you feeling like you’ve just been on a journey to some unknown, mystical place.  I couldn’t tell how old she was, but I got the sense she had no age.

A few weeks back I was talking to friend about a sadness and melancholy I’d been trying to shake for some time, but nothing was really working.  I was living a busy and exciting life in Los Angeles at the time, working as personal trainer and racing bicycles.  I had lots of friends, lots of clients, plenty of money and was doing what I enjoyed.  I had also just begun my studies in the healing arts with Thai Yoga Therapy.  But for some reason I could not get over the low-grade depression I felt.  I had been seeing a therapist for about a year who specialized in mind/body treatment and was a practicing Buddhist.   It was going well and I had definitely come to know myself better, but no matter how hard I tried, there was something that couldn’t be touched with word, my mind or therapy.  It sat hidden in my heart and the only words I had for the feeling was that it felt like a longing. 

So, my friend suggested I go to see this healer who was known as a shaman and worked in the world of energy and spirit.  Not sure what that meant, but excited, I took her number and called immediately to set up a session.  “This would be cool”, I thought,  “I love adventure and new experiences.”  

I had no idea the course of my life was about to change.

The dark skinned woman was patient as I took in my surroundings, until once again my eyes met hers.Still standing, she motioned me to have a seat on the floor across from her.  Her presence was one of power and grace and her movements had a fluid quality.  She slowly lowered herself to the floor in front of me.   A slight gesture with her hand for me to lower my chin towards my chest was all that was needed for me to understand what she wanted.  She did the same and then closed her eyes.  I closed mine too. 

“Follow your breath for a few minutes and when you feel ready match your rhythm to mine.”

 Her voice was warm and assuring.  After several minutes of nervous, shallow inhales and tightly controlled exhales I was finally able to relax and my breath smoothed out.  As my breath smoothed and became more rhythmic I noticed that my thoughts slowed and eventually my mind surrendered.   She sensed this immediately and instructed me to lie down.

“I’m going to journey for you,” she said softly,  “tracking your soul’s path and looking for what will bring healing for you.  All you need to do is focus on your breath and relax.  When I am finished we will talk more.”
The room was silent for a few minutes and then she began to sing a chant of the Chumash Indians, the native people who used to live abundantly on the land where I was now lying.   I didn’t understand them, but the words felt familiar and my eyes swelled with tears.  Then a deep toned boom from her drum began toning the rhythm of a heartbeat. It felt like an explosion in my heart.  My breath sped up and then slowed again as the beat of the drum changed to a fast, repetitive four-count beat. 

I slipped into darkness.

Not knowing how much time had passed the next thing I remember was feeling someone above me, blowing into my chest and running feathers over my body.   Curious, I opened my eyes, but no one was there and the beautiful woman at my feet was still drumming with her eyes closed.  There was no time for trying to make sense of this, because almost as quickly as I had opened my eyes, they fell shut with heaviness and I was out again.  

This happened a few more times throughout the drumming, with different streams of information, messages and visions coming through, until slowly the beat changed back to gagong, gagong, pause, gagong, gagong, and she once again began to chant those ancient words of the indigenous people.  This time the words brought a smile to my face.  Drifting in and out of awareness as I lay on the floor, I had the feeling of floating.  Floating somewhere between my body, the earth and the vast expanse of the stars. I became acutely aware of all my senses.  It seemed my hearing was clearer, my sense of smell stronger and there was a powerful buzz and electrical current running the length of my spine, out my hands and feet. I wanted her singing and the sensations I was experiencing to last forever.  But after a few minutes her singing stopped and there was a long pause of silence as I tried to regain “my senses”.   Like a child, I felt anxious to talk and tell her of all the cool things I saw during the journey, but she shushed me gently and began to speak.

“Leave your eyes closed and listen to me intently.”  Her voice was still soft, but more firm this time, as if to stress the importance of what I was about to hear.  “The journey was good and we brought back much for you.  A long time ago you lived as I and many other medicine people live today, close to the earth and practicing ancient ways of  knowledge and healing.  Your soul longs return to this and it is time.  There will be many other souls who will be awakening to the call and remembering the earth way.  You have a strong connection with the Mother Earth and part of the sadness you feel is her pain.  It is the pain we all feel as we continue to stray from living in harmony with her and each other.  You must spend more time sitting and walking in nature.  Moving slowly, observing the animals and elements. You must also pay close attention to your dreams.   They will guide you and reveal clues along the way. You will be guided to other lands and traditions.   Teachers will come and bring gifts for your journey, but remember that the true teacher is within. I have retrieved aspects of your soul.  They are seeds of unborn potential and their qualities will develop over time if you nurture them by listening and following the path of your heart. Your destiny is in your hands and it is your choice what you do with this calling.  But remember, to fulfill your destiny is to align and act in accordance to your highest nature and soul’s purpose.   I have spoken the words of the ancestors and so it is.”

She then lifted herself from the floor and helped me to my feet.   I felt deep relief as she held my ankles and encouraged me to breath deep into her hands.  Finally someone had helped me touch the aching piece and unknown calling in heart.

“Can I see you again?”  I asked.  Her answer was confusing to me, but it was obvious I was not to rebut.

“We have done good work together and you have what you need to begin.  Go knowing that you do not walk alone and you will be guided.”   She gave me a long hug and placed a stone in my hand.  “Carry this with you.”  And then she walked me to the small opening where I had first entered the room. 

I was sad to go and I had so many questions that leaving felt like jumping into the abyss.   Wondering if I would ever see her again, I walked down the rocky path that led back to my car, wanting desperately to remember everything that had happened and everything she had told me.  My body felt light and unencumbered, like I could walk and walk and never get tired.   “Maybe I could walk home,”  I thought.  But the home I felt like walking to seemed oceans away.  And my home in the city was three freeways and 30 miles south.  So I got into my maroon, Toyota truck, tuned the stereo to Bob Marley and turned the key. 

That was twelve years ago.

If you were to see me on the street, at first glance you would most likely see a light skin, green-eyed, surfer girl in baggy shorts and slippers. If we had a moment or two to stand in each other’s presence, you would most likely see a light-hearted individual who loves to laugh. And if we were to sit side by side while in ceremony, you would most likely experience a passionate and intense woman, with wings like Eagle and Jaguar eyes, a woman who has come to be a carrier of the the ancient ways and protector of the Earth, and a trail guide for others through the vast domains of the seen and unseen worlds. I am one of many who have come to bridge the worlds, the past, present and future, and to pave a way of unity of love for a new era. Tinorangatiratanga! “To gather the people, to walk one path, forever.” And so it is.

I grew up in a small mountain town in Colorado, with two older brothers and one younger brother, a mom and a dad. Nature and sports were my passion, and the term “tomboy” was often used by others to describe me. I was a tomboy, if that’s what you call a strong, athletic girl who preferred hiking and skiing over shopping and makeup. I didn’t really have a problem with being a tomboy until I realized that that was a prominent way in which I was viewing myself and was viewed by others. It came to feel like a box that I wanted to break free from. As a young girl and into my late teens, boys would often slug me on the shoulder to say “hi”, failing to see that inside there was a young girl who was just as sensitive as she was tough, and wanted to be treated as such. It was in my late 20’s that I felt a strong desire and urgent need, to step out of some old shoes, (on many levels). This inner desire became an exploration of my femininity, my goddess self and what it meant to live more aligned with the wild, native soul within. In the beginning I wasn’t sure who or what I was growing into, and to be honest I was nervous to find out. Awkward with myself through all of the changes, I realized over the years that an essential component to riding the winds of change, was having people in my life that truly saw me and could see my potential, when I was not able to. Thank goodness for dear friends and teachers who could see what I couldn’t at the time, a young woman who had many different faces, all of which were ok to express, and an old power that was just waiting to be reborn.

I now reside on the Island of Kauai where my spirit sisters and I tend our land in Kahuna Valley, offer shamanic trainings and workshops, retreats, shamanic energy healing, sound healing circles and ceremony for transformation. I work with individuals and groups.

What Toni has asked me to share with you over the next 12 months is my experience as it relates to becoming a Shaman, the vision that was gifted me, and how I have come to the place where I am today. As I share with you pieces of my journey, I want to thank you for hearing and honoring my story and I hope that I have the opportunity to hear of some your story someday. My wish for theses writings is that they are a source of inspiration, laughter, guidance for your journey, and that they serve as way to give back all that I have been blessed to receive.

So, I would like to invite you along for an adventure. A journey that may in the beginning seem personal to me, but is really the same journey you are on. Our encounters and experiences along the way are perhaps different, but at the core, the essence of what we seek is the same. Peace. Joy. Love. Meaning. Acceptance. Courage to live freely and to express our creative voice. One could call this journey we are on a return HOME. Or perhaps a soul’s journey to Unity with the collective heart. For me it has been a return to living in communion with the sacred nature of my soul and with all my relations. This journey is a process of remembering. Remembering our original essence, our divinity, our interconnectedness with all life and our purpose as it relates to the Whole and the creation of Beauty. It is a process of recovering and healing our past, while uncovering and releasing the inner restrictions that bind us to stagnation, fear, self doubt and to repeating the same unhealthy patterns over and over. This is a great adventure we are all on, one that requires the balance between discipline and spontaneity, the courage to change and the acceptance to surrender. The success of this momentous adventure commands the ability to find stillness and the ability to flow. And learning the undeniable art of self-mastery and self-love.

In the activation of past memories of being a medicine woman, warrior and star child, and once again being able to let the force of creation live through me, I have come to know a raw power that is wild and full of primal, un-potentiated essence. This essence is capable of moving mountains and shifting the forms of the physical world. And it lies at the very essence and core of who I/We are. This fertile and fluid life force that moves through each of us is neither feminine nor masculine. It is both. And it is neither. It is the unnamable life force and flame of creation that makes stars, gives birth to babies, creates tornadoes and the Mystery Intelligence that brings people and places together through, awesomely, synchronistic events, that at times seem “to magical to be true”. We are each a thread that is woven into this blanket of Oneness. And we are the weavers and the patterns being woven. We are the weavers. And we are the woven.

The path we travel is not always clear, nor is it always comfortable. Moments of challenge can be seen as roadblocks or they can be seen as stepping-stones. The choice is ours in very moment.

Stay tuned.

With munay

Chandra Sun Eagle