Here's a thing I'm mulling over. Much of the traditional shaman's work would have been the physical ailments that were afflicting people. In the UK, we have the NHS for that, and other countries have their own arrangements. So where does that leave the healers? By and large, with people's psychological ailments - which, as Jung said, invariably comes down to what it is that gives meaning, that is not being lived. So, in Shamanic terms, it comes down to people having a good relationship with their Spirits: they are our connection to meaning and to the Great Mystery.
I don't think our main job is going into people's Otherworld and doing extractions, retrievals and depossessions. That will happen occasionally, and that has its own beauty. I think our main job is relating, one human being to another. If our Spirits are around us in this reality, without having to bang a drum and head off somewhere else - which they bloody well ought to be - then that will bring the other person closer to their own Spirits: closer to themselves, in a deeper sense. That is, ultimately, all we are here to do.
Regarding illness and healing, my thoughts go to Caroline Myss, the famous medical intuitive. She did thousands of readings on people and wrote a book on why people don't heal and how they can. She has a set of archetype cards and noted that there are 4 archetypes that came up for her again and again in readings: the child, the saboteur, the prostitute, and the victim. Also, Donna Eden is a clairvoyant and wrote a book, Energy Medicine. She sees chakras and can see blockages in them. A lot of times, we have blockages in chakras... for example, the 5th chakra is where the thyroid gland is, and a lot of people with 5th chakra issues (Mercury, with challenging aspects, perhaps) could have problems not being heard, or perhaps haven't found their 'authentic voice' yet. LOVE YOUR WORK, BARRY!
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