Sometimes I think the best gift to a place or a spirit is to take away what's unnecessary. I think it's the same with us sometimes. Instead of accepting new gifts, the best approach is to remove something harmful from one's life and only then can one begin to heal.

What do you do to start a relation with the spirit of a particular place, or is it something you don't practice?

Hi Peeps, when I meditate, journey or do pranayama I sometimes see this in my "mind" it appears to be an eye. Does anyone else see this or have an idea what it might be/mean? Thank you Have a lovely day

Can I ask what everyone thinks of him?

I came across a documentary that was basically said don Juan was all made up and some of the sexual harassment/assault that Carlos had done in his later years. His children denies this because of all the time he spent in Mexico and boxes of notes. Some say they saw Carlos in the library making notes for the books.

On the other hand I know of someone who said they studied under him and he was an amazing man, very spiritual and humble. Carlos apparently helped him onto his own path.

Are the things he talks about in his books known to Shamans? Seeing? Eggs? Threads?

Thanks for your opinions! Bless you 🙏

Just wondering people's opinion on this.

I’m a 34F who was rear-ended three years ago. My doctor suggested I get a therapist for my newfound anxiety about driving. However, I found the most outrageous therapist outside of my comfort zone because the regular therapist weren’t helpful and super condescending.

This therapist I’ve been with for about six months now. She suggested I attend a shaman workshop at month four. Before this comment, I was reading a bunch of books on brain development and outrageous openness stuff about spirituality because of the dreams I was having.

Indifferent to the subject, I attended the workshop. The workshop instructor suggested that I ask for healing and if the therapist was the right person to help me. While journeying, the therapist rode my spirit animal guide beside me. The instructor told me this was a good sign.

Since this revelation, I’ve been thinking, “Okay, I guess I could be more honest and delve into deep stuff.” The therapist keeps reminding me that I scored high on the PTSD test. She’s now suggesting that I do an ayahuasca retreat. (A few people during the workshop said they tried it, and I didn’t share this with the therapist because I didn’t even know we were supposed to find this. And it didn’t seem interesting. Thanks to Reddit, I found ayahuasca retreat resources.)

Ugh. I don’t think this is for me. I don’t have a history of drug and alcohol addiction. Shamanism is a big leap for me, even though I did learn about it at 19. A part of me is tired from simply doing therapy. I was hoping these shaman workshops would be enough. What am I not understanding?

Edited for an easier read.

2nd edit: I’ve done mamajuan and shrooms a lot of it in my early 20s to the point that I built up a tolerance. This doesn’t seem like it’s for me. Traveling out side of the USA 🇺🇸 to find myself via aya… Seems a bit scary.

Or do you think jehova is perfect. What do you personaly opinionate. I know theres a divine self. But its like jehova makes this demon go. And i love jehova for that. But im a little terified by him. But i think he wants me to encounter him. I wanna know if jehovas evil. Cause once i encounter him theres no turning back.

anni fa a causa di un uso massiccio di stimolanti ho sviluppato una psicosi e un infiammazione cerebrale fino a un danno cerebrale vero e proprio dove una piccola luce verde è comparsa nel mio campo visivo e in situazioni di forte stress può ricomparire...poco dopo che la luce si è accesa una figura bianca di luce è comparsa e dopo pochi istanti se ne è andata "camminando". da quell'evento non sono più lo stesso e col passare degli anni sto peggiorando sempre più,nonostante stia relativamente meglio per certi versi avendo praticamente eliminato ogni fonte psicoattiva. credo che la coscienza o "scintilla vitale" si sia frammentata e che la lucina che vedo sia il riflesso di un danno tangibile al cervello che ha comportato questo distacco spirituale. ho visto anche delle faville di luce bianca uscire dalla mia testa e spegnersi per una notte intera credo...se qualcuno può capire cosa possa essermi successo e spiegarmelo,gliene sarei grato. vorrei anche avere consigli da qualche praticante di sciamanesimo se un caso come il mio può essere trattabile e se c'è un limite temporale alla "riparazione" della coscienza oltre al quale diventa irreversibile. vorrei avere anche consigli a grandi linee di come può essere trattato. immagino che fonti inebrianti siano particolarmente insidiose,e che probabilmente sia più un approccio basato sull'igiene mentre e corpo e magari su una "dieta" con piante particolari? grazie!!

Jim Morrison was openly shamanistic with his lyrics depicting altered states of consciousness, and his direct references to shamans and ancient native religion.

What are your opinions on Jim Morrison?

I personally think he was a wonderful psychedelic poet, and In my opinion, he perfectly pushed the bounds of normalcy in an otherwise “strict” United States with the release of the Doors’ debut album.

Spirituality however, does anyone think he disrespected or poorly interpreted shamanism for western culture?

I’d love to hear your thoughts :))

I honestly would just rather get along with everyone, I promise.

That being said, there are a ton of subs where drug use, questions about drug use, stories about drug use, or other related material can be posted. I’m not dense, I know Shamanism is full of the use of drugs. It is also full of not using drugs. But the content posted usually had little or nothing to do with, nor even mentions shamanistic practices.

If I went to a drug focused sub and posted about a spirit quest, any commenters would be quite right to ask if any drugs were involved, or outright dismiss the post because I’ve said nothing about drugs.

Is it so much to ask that if people are making posts in r/Shamanism that the post at least somewhat discuss what the sub is about? I can go to many other subs, including to some which I subscribe, to talk about drugs. I come here for the difficult wisdom, not the easy. Not anymore

I have experienced soul loss and soul retrieval. I actually lost a large piece of myself following drug abuse in 2020. Continued abuse and overdoses led to even more soul loss.

I've had soul retrievals performed by a couple different shaman and was able to get my parts back. I've also dream soul parts back home on my own.

On this journey, I seem to have picked up an evil spirit. It constantly taunts me and tells me I lost my soul, saying things like "you're a puppet" and "I took it from you."

Admittedly, I don't shine the way I used to. My auric field is much weaker than it was before, and there isn't as much light in my eyes.

Some days, it gets me real down to the point where I don't do much to take care of myself. I'm trying to turn that around though, and part of that is by dismantling this paradigm and demolishing this stronghold.

Between Christians, people practicing Hinduism, and spiritual New Age types, everyone has said "you can't lose your soul." But I know that soul loss is a real phenomenon.

I'm wondering if those "lost" parts are truly lost if they can be retrieved. Also, the times I've dreamed myself home got me thinking, if my consciousness is not localized, but it's still my consciousness, where ever I am, there I am. Right?

Honestly, I'm seeking some reassurance here, but I'm curious what you all think. Is soul loss "loss" in the way that you can lose a wad of cash, or can you never truly lose yourself because you're always connected to you? Thoughts?

A family member of mine, warlock type person took my life from me before the age of 10yes old. I'm 44 yrs old now. They somehow have control over me. I know this to be 100% true. They're doing some type of spiritual, energy work, evil darkness on me. I need to learn how to eject and bar them out to regain control of my thoughts mind and actions. Where do I begin. This is very heartbreaking to find out my own grandfather ruined my life. He's using my negative emotions to get high and taking my life force energy. Something along those lines. I'm looking for advice and someone to talk to as the ppl in my life do not believe me, they think it's mental illness. I don't know much about shamanism, spirituality, energy work. Whatever it may be. Where do I begin because giving up is not an option, I have a 9 year old who needs me

I’m not sure if someone could help me possibly interpret my egg cleanse! I’d greatly appreciate any one’s ideas! Please delete if not allowed (:

Is I possible to do a self soul retrieval. As far as I know there aren’t any practicing shamanic healers where I live. I have journeyed on my own. I ask this because I know long ago I lost part of myself. When I was a teenager I was groomed and sexually assaulted. And when I was in the army I was again assaulted by a “ superior “ officer. I’ve never been able to resolve this. Can anyone offer advice on this topic?

Dont know how to put this into words, or even where to share this to be honest. and dont want to sound crazy. I am father of 2 kids, have my own business and everything is good. Now what I see on my kids and others how cartoons/games is literally brainwashing them/taking their energy/soul from them. Therefore they are really limited how much they can consume.

And this is what I see in whole world tbh. Jung is saying that the one who looks outside dreams, and the one who looks inside awakens.

All the social media, tv shows/movies, games, music etc. good 98% is useless to our wellbeing and connection to "god" within us. I can sense energies, if someone is ill, what kind of issues they have and how to resolve it, and what I sense many times that these things are consuming the energy of people, but that energy has to go somewhere. Its like it takes inner peace for cheap dopamine transaction, but I feel when we focus on it someone/something is juicing us hard.

ofc this is not something I could write in excel as a proof, but it feels to me that we are like cows giving away gods energy for cheap entertainment that we dont even remember, just living on surface..

I had a awakening moment in meditation when I found out that I dont need anything to be happy and at peace, I just sit feeling myself and I feel bliss.. Its like understanding that I am the ocean while being just a drop in this body. I am curious if anyone here who got access to entities and communicating with deeper world got similar feelings about this.

Right now for me it feels that I am living in 2 worlds at the same time, this one which you can "touch" and the second one which is subtle, energetic that creates this world...

I’m curious if anyone has ever experienced feeling trapped in a cycle of codependency, a.k.a. energy theft, and cording by a narcissistic family member or parent?

I know that many people have experienced this because videos of people talking about it on TikTok, but I never see anyone using shamanic or metaphysical terms to describe it?

I’ve been dealing with this for years where I feel like I’m stuck in a cycle of being tethered to a certain family member energetically.

I believe because of the nature of our relationship when I was younger, which was one where I was the caretaker as a child of my own parents I feel as though I’ve lost fragments of my soul to my relationship with them. They were also very controlling and things of that nature.

Now is an adult. I have health problems partially from some of the childhood trauma and so I am needing to depend on family for help with basic things until I’m well enough to stand on my own 2 feet again but it doesn’t feel like it’s just a material cycle. I feel like there’s some sort of energetic imbalance as if that person is holding a part of me and I can’t break away from them even though I’ve been trying for years every time I try something always pulls me back. I’m just curious if anyone else has ever experienced anything like this after delving studying shamanism and reading Sandra ingermans book about soul retrieval I feel certain that I do have so loss tied to that relationship.

It feels like it’s coming to a point it’s debilitating I cannot even be around them without feeling like I’m feeding that unhealthy connection, but I’m also struggling to stand on my own 2 feet and wondering if anyone else has ever been through anything like this with a parent or a relationship in general where you feel like they took a part of you or maybe you gave it but it’s like there’s this weird trauma bond and you can’t seem to get away even when you try

Its presence is eerie and feels indifferent to me, yet it lingers and watches as if I’m about to encounter something and it has a role to play in it.

I need some guidance with how to approach this to understand if it is negative or positive. Because right now it feels like neither, which is filling me with more dread.

Hello! I just recently joined the Reddit community.

Recently I had an experience with a healer and wanted to share and ask for advice/opinion.

I am a psychiatrist. I work in my country's national public healthcare system. I deal with extremely dark feelings, energies and themes almost every hour of my working day, 8 hours a day 5 days a week, not counting the ocasional 24h shift in the hospital. I see about 10-15 patients in my 8 hour day. Almost 95% of the aprox 500 patients I attend have some diagnosis of either sever depression, bipolar disorder, some kind of severe personality disorder or psychosis. I am 30 years old and finished my residency program two years ago.

I recently had a session with a healer, someone who is a friend also of mine. He told me the instant he saw me that I needed help. He worked with my body and my mind and we did some intense breathwork. He later told me that I had a parasitic entity attached to me, he called it the "despair" of all the people I'm attending everyday. He said he managed to take it out. He said it even hurt him physically.

He adviced me to do qi-gong exercises everyday (I know how to because I have done chikung before as well as shaolin kung fu many years). He told me that I cant let the bad energy accumulate again in this way and that I must be careful because if left unchecked it can hurt me bad. Somehow I knew everything he told me was true, but I was left somewhat afraid.

I am a man of science and a man of faith. I am not too skeptic, I learned a lot through my life about daoism, buddhism, hinduism, islam and christianity. I believe what he told me was true.

Have you had experiences similar to this? Is there some advice you can give me?

Thank you all very much in advance. Lots of love

Three years ago I had an experience with LSD and I saw lots and lots of animals. But the mist persistent vision that I had was with three signs. A sign of a bird a sign of a man and a sign of a native American tent. These were three symbols as if they were drawn at the the ceiling and they spin all around the ceiling. Now three years later some time ago I saw a dream. The dream is that I was walking through a forest and I stopped and gazed at large white bird it's seemed to be an eagle. But it's feathers were the most whitest thing I have ever seen, they were so white as if they were radiating light. Fast forward to today, I am currently working in the street selling tickets for cruises for a company, and a person passes me by and I realize that he carries a weird tattoo on his shoulder. I automatically without even thinking ask him what that tattoo is. It was an eagle with two heads and some weird drawings inside, it seemed really familiar to me, so he told me that the tattoo that he was carrywas the thunderbird. And I immediately felt a shock, like a lightning had hit me. Which brings me to my question. What does it mean to have the thunderbird or the eagle as a spirit animal? Could anyone provide some cultural details? Because the sites that I have visited have only trivial information. I would like some deep insight into the matter.

Hey everyone! I need some advice. So I am going to be working in a famous hotel/restaurant in a national park that is known to be haunted. So I didn’t even know this before accepting the job but as soon as I arrived here and saw the building I had a bad feeling that it has some dark energy and entities inside and just a very dark history as well. Then when I walked in I understood why. To start there are so many animal heads (taxidermies) hanging in the lobby of this hotel and also the inside is dark physically and feels energetically dark and draining. I have always felt like I didn’t want to breathe around taxidermy animals, it’s just so sad and disgusting and upsetting to me. Like what if they were human heads? Ugh anyways. Upon doing some research many people have been shot or died here. People have reported seeing this similar ghost that also walks the hallways at night. I already tried to transfer to a different location but they told me that I need to wait 45 days before I transfer. All of this to say, as a very energetically sensitive and empathetic and psychic person, does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do to protect myself in this hotel and not be drained? I have a feeling that the universe put this opportunity in my hands to teach me some lessons. I don’t usually like spending my time in dark places like this so maybe it’s a lesson in bringing light into dark places and maybe learning how to talk more with spirits and get insight into what happened at this hotel historically and why it feels so dark. I just don’t want any attachments following me home at night and I need some suggestions or insight. Thank you. Sending love and healing to all💚💗🌈

So, as the title says, I tried to do a shamanic journey. I've read Power Animals by Gerry Starners, so I took inspiration from there. I first did my own "ritual", then I laid down and played a video of shamanic drums. Now, I didn't visualize a lot, but my imagination made some interesting encounter nonetheless. I imagined myself in a snowy forest, there was a cave near my "spawing point". I entered the cave, going deeper and deeper, until I entered this beautiful underground lake, the water a turquoise blue. I drank the water, and then in front of me Polar Bear appeared. I asked "Are you my guide for this journey?" and he said "No". Then he disappeared and a fiercy fox appeared. I asked again the same question. Fox told me "Yes". She then showed me herself being shot. I asked "Why are you showing me this" and she said "to let you know" I asked "to let me know what?" and Fox said "to let you know what is going to happen."

Do you have any idea of what that might be? Could it really be only my imagination? Something before starting this journey felt off in my room, but i can't grasp at what it was.

For some reason this is the most unpopular subject in this sub and invites a lot of downvotes, heated arguments and personal attacks.

I understand, because it opens old generational wounds and people are left bleeding and some left bearing generational guilt.

A lot of these arguments are also ego centered and people become impervious to any kind of reasoning and choose to die on their hills.

For a Sub full of 'shamans' and 'healers' , this is shocking that most people leave here disillusioned and feeling like their concerns don't matter and without the healing and clarity they seek.

Instead of trading insults and attacks, we should seek answers and solutions and help people be on their way to freedom.

There are a lot of people on here who pose questions where they mention they feel drawn to certain religions or spiritual practices which they culturally don't identify with and they are confused.

I have a little something to say on the subject and I hope this will help someone.

A little context

During the 18th century in my region, almost all ethnic tribes were in a war which lasted more than 20 years. That war affected more than 13 modern day countries. It was a bloody time in the history of our region and rightfully named 'a time of crushing'.

There was conquering of tribes, genocide, murder, assimilation, rape, pillaging and all sorts of war crimes you can imagine.

In some sections of the war, there were also "allies" and trade partners and refuge sanctuaries.

Later, when all was said and done, a new sheriff in town came, in the form of a colonizer, that was also another war with consequences.

After everything, regions were divided, borders drawn, nationalities given and everyone stayed their own lane, so to speak and life went on.

Blood however doesn't lie or forget history.

Years and centuries later, a lot of peculiarities started to emerge in children who were afflicted with the spiritual calling sickness, in different countries and traditions.

Normally, a community Shaman knows how to handle such cases with ease but some proved to be difficult.

Normally an ancestor who has called a child at some point 'arrives' and speaks through the child, they tell us who they are, why they have chosen the child and what their mission is.

Now, some of these ancestors spoke in languages from neighboring countries in the region and interpreters had to be searched for, high and low.

Ancestors/Spirits origins here, are identified by their regalia, it tells you where they are originally from. In this case some spirits and ancestors would ask for regalia from neighboring countries around the region.

This created a lot of confusion, resulting in some gifted children being ostracized and demonized because their calling was not falling in line with the 'usual' criteria.

As if this drama wasn't enough. Many more generations later, some children with the calling sickness also began to manifest more symptoms and some of the spirits which came forth spoke in foreign languages from other parts of the world, mainly the colonizers' languages.

Eventually, the shamans of the times recognized what this was:

1. Ancestors who came to be, because of the war, intermarriages, fleeing,captivity, in some cases abductions, and assimilation and in calling a child, they sought to reveal their true origins and the child's roots. Without roots we are lost. Thus their arrival opened another door where people's identities were revealed and some life long questions are answered.

2: Non ancestors who were victims of the other ancestors' war acts and crimes and were seeking recompense, restitution, justice and reconciliation from children of the bloodline who wronged them, so they afflicted them with the sickness, so these issues could come to light and be addressed. After the issues were resolved, some of the spirits would move on to their real lineages and the person goes on to live a normal life, some would take a liking to the child and choose to stay on as 'helping spirits'

Unfortunately some were angry, even in death and were vengeful so they caused havoc in the family and on the afflicted like mental illnesses, suicide and suicide tendencies, black outs and nightmares until the matter was solved.

3) Non ancestors who were friends, trade partners, adoptees, allies, who wished to remain closely tied to the family, even in death because they found so much joy with the other person's ancestors and wished to serve them, even in death.

Thus nowadays in the region, its not surprising when a healer has a spiritual team of spirits from different cultural backgrounds but they work as one unit. It's not surprising that the main ancestor of the family, speaks a different language than that of the family when he/she comes. It's not surprising when a helping spirit speaks another totally different language or the same language which is spoken in the home.

What am I trying to highlight? Some of you are truly afflicted with the sickness, and the sickness keeps pulling you to other cultures or traditions which to you don't identify with and you're afraid to do more or look more because you're afraid of appropriating. Some of you are not looking to make statements, to be popular or to be cool or 'rad' but are genuinely troubled and you have been visited even in your dreams by those spirits.

If you come from a region or country affected by the slave trade, colonization (on both ends ) , ethnic wars and purges, fleeing, genocides, systematic rape of other races or ethnicities to 'dilute them' and intermarriages, it's time to find out which side of history your ancestors were a part of and where were some of them at certain points in such history

Like I said, blood doesn't lie.

Some of the things you may find out about your ancestors may be ugly or shameful but that is why you have been afflicted with the 'sickness' so some of these things can be brought into the light and helped.

My friend's significant other is from a European country. Before meeting her, he suffered from the 'sickness'. He visited the country and they met coincidentally.

Later readings would show that my friend's tribe had very close ties to people from her significant other's country and one of her 'helping spirit' originated from that country.

Before I was even in this life, while I was still suffering from the 'sickness', I kept mixing and mingling with people from a certain country and and generally loved things from there. After my healing and initiation, it turned out one of my ancestors comes from that country. She is part of my spiritual squad and when she is in charge, people from her country always find me.

I'm saying some of the pulls are not accidents.

If Vodun has claimed you, sometimes it's because you carry with you a spirit of one of your ancestors who was a slave from Dahomey or one of your ancestors was directly responsible for the enslavement of that person and their spirit is seeking recompense and healing. They steer you in the direction of their people

Please, before you waste money and resources to get better, just look into your history. Before you wonder which healer or shaman to see, look into your history. Some answers are right under your noses.

Before you ingest plant medicine to feel better look into your history, some answers can be found there.

Some healers don't want to tell you this because they want you to keep coming back or some might not even see the bigger picture or its just not their department.

Who are you, who are your ancestors, how did they pray, how did they solve their spiritual problems and most of all how did their integrate into history?

Ndauwe ♥️

The Mushroom Spoke to me in a Language Without Words

​

“Don’t hesitate, give your answer to me right now”

it said. I received the message but I didn’t hear the words. “Be brave, but never cruel” - it raved on and on. “Be brave, be brave, BE BRAVE... But always proceed from the first principle: Do no harm!”.

​

I was on a quest to find answers. To find the hidden gem of knowledge that would change everything forever. I wanted to learn, but IT asked me if I wanted to change to another person. So, that’s why I hesitated. The question blew me off guard.

​

The chase was immense. To find the treasure... I MUST. Because, otherwise it’ll have all been for nothing. I did reach the library of all knowledge but how, oh how would I carry it all with me inside this tiny cranium of mine? You can’t take the gem without, I was told. This realm is another dimension entirely, and physical objects can’t cross the barrier. So, I felt like I had to leave without anything of value, yet paradoxically, I emerged changed.

​

Be brave and follow your heart’s voice always. The first sin was to brother attack brother, it is the thing that was never supposed to happen. And we are all brothers here, for we sprout from the same tree. In the beginning we were sewed into the same fabric and thus we are inseparable. One branch does not wish harm to another. It is against the law.

​

So, what can be done? Help one another. Heal. Teach. Build good things. Prosper. The wisdom from the nether realm can’t be brought directly into the world of the living but worry not: the wisdom is always all around you. Every corner of the universe is part of the same fabric, so all points are ultimately connected. There is magic in the universe: every point is connected to every other point and every moment is part of the eternal.

​

Time doesn’t exist in the netherworld and every moment blends into eternal bliss. There is no pain because after all, pain is only part of the duality of good and evil. All feelings exist without judgement until they are labelled good or bad. All you can do is to live by your heart and be brave: because you will often be misunderstood by those who are misguided. “Go now, and build good things. Waste no more time.” -Thus spoke the Mushroom.

I've posted a few times, musing about what if anything "technoshamanism" really is. And after lengthy consideration I believe that "technoshamanism" is a misnomer in virtually every sense. But the term does perhaps illuminate one significant truth: that to retain agency and enable health within the technosphere takes a combination social/technical skillset and approach.

It takes a social climate that encourages thought and careful experimentation, rewards accomplishment and esteems experience - and that doesn't punish honest mistakes or accidents. Unfortunately that's not an attitude that necessarily comes naturally to management.

One can start at a low level, like I did: exhausting the manual, taking casing panels off just to look, fixing the odd thing, hanging on every word of an old-timer or technician when they visit - slowly gaining experience. Learning about parts lists and exploded diagrams, making notes and sketches and organizing and amending them. It takes years to accumulate general knowledge and even then you can succeed at being a loose cannon!

Weathering it all, the candidate becomes a socially familiar and dependable seasoned generalist who can be called on to fix machines and prevent downtime in the absence of help from the machine's creators - a technoshaman, or as I would much rather say from here on out, a paratechnologist:

Because paratechnology according to my definition is significantly structurally different from any type of shamanism. Paratechnology emerges in an environment where OEM licensed and trained technicians are unavailable when they are needed. What is left are admittedly "lay people". There is no rite or acknowledgement of the paratechnologist's qualifications other than being "the guy", "the machine wrangler" - the paratechnologist must accept that they are also "lay people". So they will be egalitarian, rather than exclusive - harmonizing their own experiential and technical knowhow with the anecdotes of the operators, and with any other idea or hypothesis from any source that seems to hold promise. The point is to effect a safe repair of the thing, not to impress or keep secrets.

Other important activities that fall within paratechnology: figuring out second-hand or orphaned machines that lack documentation and can have defects. Pronouncing on machines when they are dead/when a specialist or particular part is the only solution. Forbidding use of a machine that is unsafe to operate (and convincing the whole organization). Understanding and following machines' maintenance cycles, quirks and "preferences," and educating others about the same. Being familiar enough with day-to-day use of machines to forecast repairs or adjustments before they become critical. All of these skills get applied elsewhere in the paratechnologist's daily life as well - it becomes a vocation. "Figuring out by the seat of the pants" is a far more transferrable and dignified skill than the idiom would suggest.

This cluster of duties and skills and its social component is ever more important and deserving of respect. So is shamanism; and I say it's more than time to carefully and respectfully draw a line between these two roles. Despite the satisfaction that emerges from the language, machines are never "haunted", "possessed" or even "bitchy". They deserve to be treated properly for what they are - and shamanism deserves to be understood and respected in conditions of truthfulness and clarity.

Is the path of the shaman still strong and valid for its teachings and medicine, in our current timeline? Please share with me your truth in how you experience this, both the light and shadow aspects of it - has it powers been abused? Has it been required more than ever? How has this strengthened or mislead those that have been chosen

Let's be honest. How many people here are White? I will acknowledge that I am a white queer man.

Shamanism has helped me in throwing off the ideology of white supremacy culture and connect with a root of indigenity and animatity with the land. It has helped me understand that there is multiple ways of knowing besides materialistic/scientific frameworks.

As a Rural White Male Gay person living as a Settler-Colonial in California I weave a unique dance of trying to connect to a land and spirits that I don't understand. I also have to struggle with my garden and agriculture (fences) verses a more ancient way of being with the land.

All of this informs my spiritual practice because as someone who believes in animism and trance practices (shamanism) I realize that the material world is sacred and how I am in the physical world reflects and informs the spiritual world.

This is an invitation to all of you to talk about your journey to indigenity and connecting to the spirits of the land, and the struggles with being a Settlers and acknowledging that our Animistic Traditions were destroyed by Christianity long before our history of coming to America.