YOU ARE SIMPLY A BUMBLING HUMAN BEING WHO SAYS YES WHEN PEOPLE ASK FOR HELP

It seems to strike a note when I write about the difference between religion and spirituality, as one might term it. A feeling for that distinction has always been one of my main intentions in this blog. It is still something I am working through for myself.

It is the difference between received authority and our own connection with Spirit. Maybe most of us start out needing that guidance from others, it is probably a necessary thing. But life wants us to move on from that. That is what the 'Shamanic Illness' is about: moving on from the authority of tradition to what that tantalising inner voice is saying. Do you dare take heed? Do you dare live with the naysaying of family and friends and even shamanic fellow travellers?

There is always this step to take. It is this guidance from within - or from outside, from the Spirits - depending on your view of the multiverse - that needs to be prioritised. The Elders may be right, they may be wrong. But you need to put your guidance from within first. Before whoever your teachers may be. That may seem like disrespect, it may seem like grand egotism. This is the fire we may have to go through to own our souls, to recover from the illness, even, that is like a tank in our front garden. A good teacher will want you to do this. All teachers will say they want you to do this. You need to be able to tell the difference.

I have often thought that the main thing we have to learn from attending teachers and their courses is not what they have to teach, but rather breaking away from them. Which doesn't mean we haven't also benefitted from them. But it's like the pressure we feel from having given away our own capacity to guide ourselves makes itself felt, and it becomes a matter of integrity to go with that. Cherish the points of disagreements you have with your teachers, for they are the routes to owning your own soul.

I think I have less illusions as time goes on, though I still have ways to go. Most of shamanism is religion, not spirituality. It always will be, for that is human nature. People generally want a simple set of beliefs and practices, and a person and a tradition to believe in. Indigenous communities are like this also, do not idealise them. There is nothing 'wrong' with this, for it is what many of us need, at least to start with. Although, in our pride, very few of us recognise that this is what we are doing.

Never put the 'Elders' of the past or present first. Or your teacher. Put your own judgement first. That is the heretical essence of spirituality. Don't give yourself a label. You are not a teacher or a shaman or a healer. You are simply a bumbling human being who says yes when people ask for help, and you do your best, without promising anything.

Listen to and learn from others, but don't get drawn into being a formal student or apprentice, for then you are becoming part of the teacher's needs. Just learn in your own way, ignore the inner circle and its status. Especially be wary of a teacher who is protecting their own authority. That way lies giving away your own power.

Why do people set themselves up as 'teachers'? There is almost invariably something self-serving going on. It is what creates religion, for they become the authority that everyone relies on. And they love it, need it. There are no such things as courses or certificates in a real sense. There are just people you might learn something from by being around them, from the way they are as much as from anything they might say. It is individual, informal, and it is based on relationship.

I try not to underestimate myself, for that serves no-one. I know I have some useful things to say, and ways of being around myself that can be of help. But don't ask me what I 'teach'. I respond in the moment. What I say, and how I am, changes by the day, for everything is in progress. But I have a deep feeling for being of help, to any of you guys reading this. You are welcome. I will do what I can. And I will attempt to be be open, and to learn from, what you have to say also.