Secrets of Shamanism

100 SECRETS OF SHAMANISM

emotions of the event until you feel a release or sense of

relief.

Return from that locale when the situation seems resolved

to you. Thank your guide and open your eyes.

Presence

With all this time travel and time manipulation, you might
think that it would be easy for shamans to forget where they
are. Forgetting can be a real problem for shamans, so they
have disciplined themselves in a way that helps them always
to know where they are. Simultaneously, shamans have a
foot in both the physical world, where their body is, and in
the spirit world, where they are traveling. If they don't know
what they are doing or where they are, they easily resemble
schizophrenics who have lost touch with the reality of the
physical world. But shamans are not psychotics by a long
shot. They are masters of their trade and they have become
so through much practice and discipline.
If you find yourself having trouble knowing who you are
as you do the exercises we describe, we suggest you discon-
tinue them right away. Perhaps shamanic techniques are not
for you until some other time. Perhaps you first need to learn
the basics of being present in physical reality. This is a per-
fectly reasonable approach to take. When you have mastered
this presence, then you can return to developing your sha-
manic abilities.
The secret to maintaining your stability lies in your ability
to stay present, balanced, and grounded. To be present
means to have mastery in the present world of form. It
means to be able to make a living, obtain food and shelter,
handle challenges, and care for others. Shamans are there-
fore not only balanced in the present but masters of time in
more than one world.
Although shamans are experts at time travel and maneu-
vering between realities, they know that only by being
present can they exercise their greatest power. For a shaman,
wishing and hoping about the future or worrying about the
past are totally ineffective methods of producing desirable
results. Wishing or worrying tend to remove you from the
power of the present. Deliberate or conscious time manipu-
lation originating from the present moment is the shaman's
key to creating desirable reality.