18 SECRETS OF SHAMANISM
How You Limit Your Imagination
You have probably heard it said many times that your
beliefs limit you, and that you can only have as much as you
can imagine yourself having. By this time in our historical
development, human potential experts and metaphysical
thinkers agree about the importance of being able to imagine
yourself in the very situations that will bring you success.
They suggest that the slogan of "I'll believe it when I see it"
be replaced by "I'll see it when I believe it." Shamans are
keenly aware of this perspective and create it for themselves.
They emphasize the importance of being able to "see" the
result before actualizing it physically. And yet they are also
aware that people can only achieve as much as they can truly
imagine for themselves. Thus a shaman will work at height-
ening a person's level or ability to have, do, and be. The
ability to imagine raises our ability to have. Like a muscle
that needs to be worked, strengthened, and stretched, imagi-
nation requires exercise. Shamanism is in part a strategy for
expanding and empowering imagination.Sandy sat cross-legged on the dirt floor of the sha-
man's simple shack. It had been quite an adventure
tracking the old man down through the heat of the desert;
even now in the shade, beads of sweat ran down her
forehead and face; flies buzzed relentlessly around her
eyes. I hope this is worth it, she thought to herself, recall-
ing her friend Mike's stories about the shaman and think-
ing about the dwindling gas supply in her car. Reza was
one of the few shamans around who spoke English and
Sandy was looking forward to the full day she would
spend in his company. She hoped to pick up a few tidbits
about shamanic techniques, a subject that fascinated her.
But that was tomorrow and now Reza seemed intent on
telling stories involving many of the local people and the
work he had done with them.
Months later Sandy was to recall a story that had stuck
in her mind; the shaman had used his expertise in locat-
ing a herd of wild burros. Two villagers had come to him
at different times on the same day to ask for guidance
and information about the spot where these burros could
be found. Both were told where they could find a herd of
burros, but one was told the herd had six and the other
was told it had eighteen. Thinking at this point in the story
that perhaps Reza's memory wasn't the best, Sandy had
asked if he had been describing the same herd. "Yes,