Secrets of Shamanism

Jose ATID LEIIA STEVENS 115

for an invalid, an elderly person, or difficult child because,

although they give you little in return but difficulty, you have

consciously chosen to help them as a challenge. It is impor-

tant to know your limits, however.

Exercise #6: The Steps

1. Make a list of your relationships.


2. Check the ones that raise doubt in your mind.


3. List positive and negative features.


4. Inspect balance sheet.


5. Choose your course of action.

Creation

You have seen from the shamanic perspective how impor-
tant destruction is to the ongoing flow of life and how essen-
tial it is to your becoming more powerful and successful as a
human being. We are now going to shift to its apparently
opposite pole, creation. When you clear and open the space
through destruction, you prepare the canvas for the shaman's
forte, creativity.
If you clean up a room or a closet, there is the natural
tendency for it gradually to become messy and cluttered
again with items very similar to those that cluttered it the
first time. Try to keep a closet neat, sparse, and up-to-date
for any length of time, and you will find out what a difficult
task it is. 'Hie creative principle in the universe is so strong
that vacuums are instantly filled with more somethings.
These somethings are usually just the same as what was there
before. In nature, when a lake dries up in the heat of sum-
mer, it tends to fill up with more water when the rains come.
Year after year, the lake fills up with more water unless
something different is introduced.
Similarly, you will notice that the spirit world fills your life
up with the same old things that you get rid of time after
time—unless you introduce something new. If you passively
expect your Me to fill up from the outside, then you can
expect more of the same. However, if you want something
new, you will have to give the spirit world new instructions or
directions. You have to get the spirit world to notice that you
are now ready for something new and different.
Shamans know that if they are to manifest power, they
must be co-creators with the web of power. They must exer-