186 SECRETS OF SHAMANISMwith disease and regained his old strength, he somehow
knew his life was changed forever. He tried to hunt and
fish as he had done in the past, but his heart wasn't really
in it anymore. He knew it was because of the visions he
had seen during his long coma.
In one vision, Mantuk met a beautiful woman who told
him that he would recover, but that afterward he must
follow the healing way, the way of the shaman. But to do
so, he would have to undergo the most severe test he
had ever been through, even tougher than his present
illness. She told him that he must become like her. He did
not understand and asked her what she meant, but she
only repeated the same message each time Mantuk saw
her.
When he recovered, Mantuk had tried to resume his
old competitive way of life without success. Finally he told
Pestak everything that he had seen and heard in his vi-
sion. Pestak sat still and mulled it over for a long time.
Then Pestak told him, "You have received your path but
you avoid it. You know that you will fail if you fight her.
She is stronger than you and you fear her. The only solu-
tion is to do as she bids and become like her. That means
giving up the hunter's life and finding another way. You
must leam to heal and nurture. You must become recep-
tive and feeling. Then you will find power and strength
and she will not defeat you."
Mantuk was horrified, but he knew that Pestak was
right. For the next year Mantuk gave up the life of the
hunter and instead lived in Pestak's house, dressed as a
woman. He learned the healing ways. This was indeed
the most severe challenge he had ever undertaken,
harder even than sled-pulling or spearfishing, or illness.
Mantuk became a great shaman.You need not practice such drastic measures to find your
own state of internal balance. However, if you want to be a
powerful and successful person, you must come to terms with
these polarities within you. You need to get to know the side
of you that has been repressed or ignored in favor of your
specialty.
We are not suggesting here that, if you are a man, for
example, you become a woman. Rather, we would suggest
that you sense your level or ratio of dynamic and magnetic
energy. Those amounts can then tell you where to concen-
trate in order to bring yourself into greater balance. For ex-