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Utiseta: The Northern European Art of Plant Communication
A Selection of Daily Spiritual Practices
Dear Jaime, thank you so much for the beauty you share. June
What a wonderful article! It comes at a very auspicious time for me. I have been considering giving up my healing practice, and just maintaining the connection to my spirit guides for my own healing. Indeed, I do not call myself a shaman, my training was not specifically “shamanic” training; it was called “energy healing”. When I pressed my teachers for more definition, knowing for certain this was not reiki, they finally admitted that it was shamanic healing. My teacher and healer informed me later on that I am indeed a shaman because the skills they taught were so easy for me, the energy just flowed naturally and my connection to spirit so strong. And still I doubted.
Where I am going with this, is every time I read accounts from clients of other practitioners who have received soul retrieval, I get so damn excited and my heart feels so full. And reading accounts like this from other practitioners makes me just as excited. I have been flying under the radar, so to speak, not really advertising my services much, because I just don’t feel qualified. Even though when I look at the curriculum of the shamanic schools in my area I can see that I have every skill listed in every workshop, and spirit tells me I’ve no need to spend ridiculous amounts of money to earn a “certificate”, I still feel inadequate.
No one taught me how to do a soul retrieval. It happened spontaneously during a group healing we students did for my teacher, who was ill that weekend. Spirit helped me to see that lost piece of my sweet teacher, put the picture in my head of how to bring her back. When the healing was completed, my teacher said she felt whole, like her old self again. I mumbled something about doing a soul retrieval and she was stunned.
So now I don’t know what to do. I don’t know whether to continue with the shamanic path, give myself solely over to the yogic path, merge the two in some way, or just do my best to walk both paths and continue to offer healing services. I’ve done a soul retrieval on myself, but just may need outside help on this one.
Anyway, thanks again for an excellent article.
Wonderful article Jaime, honest, touching and also very funny. I can so relate to the constant struggle of urban shaman until being in ritual and letting the doubts glide away in order for the beauty of knowing to overcome.. I chuckled many times, realizing how much has changed from training to the actual work performed on a regular basis and we only have our spirits to thank for that. Many deers indeed, everywhere and wolfs and other power animals along the way.
This is beautiful! Thank you.
Here’s the aha for me from your article:
After Betsy does her “True Self” meditation, she expresses that when people are in their true selves, there is room enough for everyone, no matter how big you feel. That is a big deal for some of us to hear, those of us who never want to make others feel small.. and have spent so much time trying to be small ourselves for whatever reason.
Reading the beautiful, powerful poetry of the end part of your article (write more like that! mmm!) I think wow.. when we are all in our unique and crazy beauty that no one could express but ourselves, there is room enough for everyone to be beautiful!! This makes me want to be more beautifully me, and relieves the yucky guilt/competition imposed upon us by the beauty industry. To know that my personal beauty is a source of spirit makes it even a must to bring forth.
Thank you!
Thank you Jaime for this inspiring article and its gift of encouragement to stay the journey and trust the spirits.
Thank you for reminding me of the essential practice that brought me to shamanism. I, too, have keep treasured accounts of the soul retrievals I’ve done. All different. All alive with the stunning beauty of the individual I’ve been honored to serve.