I was asked – is shamanism just a placebo?  Do you have to believe in it for it to work?

A question that frequently comes up in drum journeys is the “second guess.”

Is it a spirit?  A past life?  An ancestor?  What is this information?

The mind wants us to put it into little boxes of belief and say, “It IS a spirit!” or “This WAS my past life!”  Or even – “I’m just making this up, it’s all imagination!”

I’m going to suggest that letting go of that is most empowering.  It doesn’t matter.

As a child, does it matter whether the learning came from a parent, a teacher, or your own senses?  The teaching is a teaching.

If a symbol comes up in a journey or a dream, it is a direct message which is important to you in the here and now.  It may take the form of what could be a past or future life, or animal medicine, or a tree spirit, or an ancestor.

While we do want to honour the Teachers, one way to honour them is to not impose a belief onto them.  Don’t tell them what they are.  Let them be what they are.

Perhaps you don’t want to believe in Spirits at all – then, for you, these messages are symbols from the subconscious and the Collective Unconscious.  They are still important and vital to you, and gratitude will take you a long way on this journey.

Learn from them, don’t judge them, and let them be whatever they are – free of your preconceived notions and judgements.

Here’s how it works for me:  the subconscious mind is pre-verbal, so it communicates as sensory input, symbols, feelings, images, smells, sounds.  IT DOESN’T MATTER whether you are seeing eagles or trains or hearing whistling winds, or experiencing a past life as an African herbalist.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s information from the subconscious, provided to you NOW, as what is important NOW.

You can ignore it, or you can pay Attention to it.  As you know, the Power of Attention is one of the most amazing things about being human.

If you ignore it, you are “business as usual”

If you pay attention to it, you are given access to a well of information.  The information may seem like nonsense – colours and smells, or it may seem important – riding on a tiger and meeting the Queen of Heaven.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s information, and the act of Paying Attention to it, is healing, teaching, empowering.

Paying attention is giving respect to the teachers.  It is also important to express gratitude that you have been given this new teaching.

NOTE:  Sensitive people have less “social filtering” than others, so more of this “stream of collective consciousness” gets in, and too much information can be confusing.

The structure of shamanism gives you a form and system to use to sort through the information.  These techniques are highly recommended for sensitive people.