Jose ATID LENA STEVENS 39is as fundamental as the experience of gravity is to anyone
who has dropped something. And for shamans, an under-
standing of this web of power is the key to success.
Shamans believe that without this knowledge a person is
truly the victim of circumstance and can have no mastery
over his decisions and actions. Shamans feel that under-
standing the physical world of form through modern-day
science and technology is okay but certainly not adequate.
These approaches fail to address the spirit realm that is so
essential to their world view.
This world of spirit exists within all forms, but remains
hidden unless you unveil it. In this chapter, we will begin to
familiarize you with the spirit world and how you can open
your senses to it. When you have unveiled it, realms of
knowledge and therefore power become available to you.
But like most treasures, they may elude you for a long time.
You may walk over a diamond or a ruby many times before
you discover that it lies beneath a layer of crust and dust.
So it is with all physical forms. To the uninitiated and
inexperienced the wind is the wind, a rock is just a rock, and
a tree is just a source of lumber or shade; water is for drink-
ing and washing, animals are flesh-covered bones, and
humans are flesh, blood, thoughts, and feelings. Take them
apart and all you find are smaller pieces of them. Take them
down to the atomic level and, surprise, they are all made of
the same basic materials. Take them down to the subatomic
level and, voil&, they are mostly space (or spirit). They are
particles that are really waves or vice versa. At this level,
chaos begins to reign for the physicist, but not for the sha-
man. Even this simple scientific breakdown just begins to
crack open the door from the shamanic perspective. From
the shamanic point of view, there is spirit within all wind,
within all rocks and earth, within all plants and trees, water
animals, humans, and every other form of life both animate
and inanimate. Furthermore, this spirit, this source of energy
is what you communicate with mentally in shamanic advis-
ing.
Mike slammed his fist down on the table. That mon-
key's done it again!" The door to Max's empty cage stood
open. Although Mike scoured his small animal hospital,
there was no sign of the wayward rhesus monkey. By
now, he could be halfway across town, dining on garbage
in every trash bin in town. Mike realized that he would
have to work fast if he was to get him safely back.