To: K-list
Recieved: 2002/08/23 11:59
Subject: Re: [K-list] Shaman Question for Mystress
From: Mystress Angelique Serpent
On 2002/08/23 11:59, Mystress Angelique Serpent posted thus to the K-list:
Hi Jason:
Why does everybody wanna be a Shaman? I would not wish it on my worst
enemy. Believe me, Shamanic training makes Kundalini feel like a walk in
the park, by comparison.
Being taught by the spirits directly is one aspect of Shamanism that
some Kundalites share. Most Shamans are also K. awakened, but few
Kundalites are also Shamans. There are many different definitions of what
makes a Shaman, but my own consideration looks for several specific aspects
and experiences.
Since I was getting Kundalini and Shamanic training both at once, it
is a little hard for me to define which is which, in my own experience. I
observe differences, in my time on this list and through my own work I have
seen a lot of people go through the whole K. process without encountering
stuff that I observe to be purely Shamanic.
If the spirit that claims you does not do its best to kill you with a
severe, life threatening sickness shortly after you meet, then you are not
a Shaman. CFS, fibromyalgia, cancer, or suicidal impulses is not Shamanic
sickness.
Shamanic sickness involves high fevers, hallucinations, transient
comatose states, visits from the spirit that claimed you, etc... the
sickness may last weeks or months, however long it takes you to surrender
to the training, or die. It is estimated that 1/3 of those who are called,
do not survive the sickness. The sickness is a cleansing and a testing.
I had once slave who became a shaman shortly after I claimed her. I had
given her a necklace with a serpent symbol to wear, and her work sent her
to Thailand shortly afterwards. She toured a Buddhist temple while she was
there, looked a Naga serpent idol in the eye with recognition of unity,
thinking of my mark, "That owns me" and promptly started getting the
Shamanic sickness. By meditating she could get through her work day, but
her nights were awful, with fevers and hallucinations of the Naga and the
Fire Serpent in her room. She called me long distance asking for help,
because she feared she would die of it. I knew she would not, and
instructed her to surrender. To this day, she has the Naga within her, as
friend and guide. I did not initiate her as a Shaman, no human can... but
she made contact with the Naga and he claimed her for his own. Very similar
to what happened to me in Chichen Itza. Typical Shamanic awakening.
Unlike Kundalini, one eventually "Graduates" Shamanic training, and
surrender to the teaching spirit is no longer required. It becomes more of
a spirit helper friend. With Kundalini, eventually the separation ends and
one recognises "I AM That", but there is still humility.
Goddess is a greater power than Chacmool, but I was brought to serve
and learn from Chacmool when I asked Goddess for a guide to teach me how to
be a Pro-Dom in service to the Light. Becoming a Pro-Dom was not my idea, I
resisted it for quite a while, but it was as Goddess Willed.
http://www.domin8rex.com/serpent/spirit/chac.htm
Kundalini may give you ego death experiences, but one aspect of
Shamanic training is meeting, integrating the archetype of death itself. It
often first shows up as the "Portal Guardian of the dream time" a great,
vaguely human shaped black shadow being, that reflects your fear back
multiplied with destructive force. It may also show up as the typical
"death" image, a cloaked being with a cowl, no face. You may face it over
and over, being utterly destroyed in dreams and visions over and over, till
you learn to approach it with unconditional love... at which point you
enter the next phase, you become that being, your consciousness a passenger
within it, as it goes about reflecting fear and destroying.
I experienced that aspect as night terror dreams as a preschool child,
that did not end when I woke up. I shut down the process with prayer as
soon as I learned to say prayers at night. It was relief, but I feel it did
not serve me, in the long term. I was stuck partway through, being a
reflection of fear, and got a lot of abuse from people, adults and peers,
alike. If I had continued, the Portal Guardian would have become my friend
and guardian in travels through the various dream dimensions.
The process was sparked again and continued after my meeting Chacmool
in Chichen Itza. I was much better able to handle it, as an adult.
After the Shamanic sickness had passed, my shadow showed up as a
teacher who resembled Vlad the impaler, and used mockery and humiliation,
amongst other things to get me to accept that which I believed I was not. I
called him "Armand", and he had a very black sense of humor... I tried to
excorcise him many times, before I came to honour him for his gifts.
Another name for him is Lucifer... bearer of light. Demon comes from the
latin word Daemon, which means "inner self."
Integrating the Shadow also happens with Kundalites, but it is a gentle
process of facing the Mirror of all that is, not Shadow taking form and
manifesting as teacher-guide.
This integration with the death archetype leaves Shamans with a
particular vibe, like the death vibration of poison mushrooms, or the all
out terror of a bad acid trip. Not that Shamans live in fear, because the
energy is integrated, but it does sometimes scare other people.
Recently someone was asking me about it, so I pulled up that aspect of
myself for her to see, and she was visibly shaken... I took her fear back
from her, and she was glad I did... I could invite list members to look
into me, and see what I am describing, but you might get some ferocious
nightmares if you do... if your own guides allow you contact with it, at all.
Shamans having integrated death, have one foot in the underworld.
Kundalites deal with ego death, resolving their fear of death and dying,
but Shamans have a relationship with the archetypal being that is death
itself, and integrate that being into themselves.
When I get people claiming to be Shamans, or asking if they are a
Shaman, that death-vibe is what I look for. Ego death does not leave that
imprint, but Shamanic training does. I also tend to get kind of hostile to
people who claim to be a Shaman because they took a course on Shamanism. It
does not work like that. Shamans are born, claimed, then taught by the
spirits directly.
A Shaman does not initiate other Shamans, rather a Shaman may recognise
that another has been chosen or born a Shaman, and assist with the
unfolding. The teaching happens through the spirits directly, although it
is not unusual for a new Shaman to be drawn to a more experienced one, to
have a hand to hold to make it easier to accept the process.
Shamans also seem to get a lot more info about how to travel to various
dimensions, deal with nonphysical entities, and are called upon to relate
more directly with various beings and archetypes. Kundalites do experience
dimensional travel, through the opening of the chakras, but Shamans
experience the unreality of the "real" to a much greater degree.
For example, the recent thread on driving... I live in a city that is
notorious for bad drivers, and awful traffic. We get a lot of Hong Kong
Chinese immigrants who buy their first car at age 40, old dog new tricks...
their process of learning to drive is different than someone who learns at
age 16.
Vancouver is a coastal city with islands and peninsuals, and rush hour
traffic needing to be funnelled over bridges makes for some chaos... but
not for me.
Years ago, I occasionally worked in the film industry as props buyer,
and I could see the clarity or muddiness of my own energy reflected in
traffic. If I was out of sorts, I would encounter a lot more traffic and
bad drivers... if my vibe was clear, even a left turn onto a busy road
would be easy, no traffic for miles in either direction. Even today, when
my husband is driving alone he will go blocks out of his way to avoid a
busy left turn... but when he is driving with me, or I am driving, the
traffic disappears. Bad drivers may exist, but I do not encounter them. The
world is simply not the solid place it appears to be. It is infinitely
fluid, a reflection of the observer's attitude and beliefs.
I am a Shaman and also a Witch... Witches also take training from the
God or Goddess they devote themselves too, or the one that shows up to
teach them... but again, the vibration is different. There is a magical,
fey or ritualistic vibe rather than a creepy death vibe.
There are Shamanic elements to the training of a pagan Priest or
Priestess, and one can be born a Witch, if there has been a past life
initiation... the relationship is similar... but most Witches do not get
the same sense of the unreality of the world. One can be initiated as a
Witch, in this lifetime by another Witch... not so with a Shaman. Witches
may also spend time walking in the underworld, but it does not become an
integrated part of them in the same way. Visitors, not residents.
Does that answer your question? Blessings...
At 06:16 PM 22/08/02, LBra782595ATnospamaol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 8/22/02 5:23:24 PM Central Daylight Time,
>I feel like that is exactly what's happening to me. Is that the way "shaman"
>is usually defined?
>
>In spite of all my studies of kriya yoga, it seems I learn more just
>practicing on my own and surrendering to the energy wherever it moves.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jason B
http://www.kundalini-gateway.org
http://www.domin8rex.com/serpent/spirit/kindex.htm
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