I don't believe in healing people. My instinct, even my passion, is to help people to do that themselves. I will shunt energy if it is really necessary, and that has its place. I shapeshift in order to do that, but the animal presence which does it has been reluctant for at least 15 years now. I think it was partly to do with our 'quickfix' culture, as well as not taking agency from people.
I think it makes Shamanism narrow, and even counter-productive, when we think of ourselves as 'healers'. We are not. We are something much broader than that. We understand the earth as a living presence, and matter as spirit, and to some degree we embody that perspective.
People come to us because we stand for something they are reaching for themselves. Their woundings are often the way in. And we are only any use to people if we don't believe the pedestals they may put us on, but can stay at that point of humility and ordinariness, where we are always beginners, surrounded by the mystery of Spirit. We have names, but really we are no-one. The individual self is just a convenience, a temporary locus, while we have bodies.
Very good point but we are all different. Some are healers involuntarily when people benefit just from being in their presence. A healing spirit pervades them. Do you agree?
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