Drawing on Personal Power
In shamanism, the preservation of one’s personal power is fundamental to well-
being. Specific shamanic methods restore and maintain personal power and use it to
help others who are weak, ill, or injured. In shamanism, the word medicine means
vital force or energy. A person’s medicine is their power, their knowledge, and their
expression of their life energy.
Many shamans keep power objects, their medicine, in a medicine bundle. This bun-
dle is normally kept wrapped up and is unrolled publicly only on ritual occasions.
The objects inside are highly personal and, as with other matters of power, one does
not boast of them because to do so might result in power loss. Almost any small
object can be included, but the quartz crystal is highly prized among the shamans of
North and South America, Australia, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere. Quartz crystals
are six-sided stones that are usually transparent to milky white, and in a sense,
appear to be “solidified light.” The quartz crystal is considered the strongest power
object and is viewed as a spirit helper. For thousands of years, shamans have used
their quartz crystals for power in seeing and divination. Interestingly, in modern
physics, the quartz crystal is also involved in the manipulation of power. Its remark-
able electronic properties made it a basic component in early radio transmitters and
receivers. Later, quartz crystals became basic components for modern electronic
hardware such as computers and timepieces.Controlling States of Consciousness
The Ordinary State of Consciousness (OSC) is an agreed-upon consensus of what
reality is. This OSC, also called ordinary reality or simply “reality,” is determined by
every society and learned by individuals from childhood. Reality, then, is predeter-
mined expectations. For example, in Western societies, people are not surprised
when they put a card in a machine and money comes out. Another characteristic of
Western ordinary reality is that it can be measured and quantified. Nonordinary
realities are other levels of consciousness. They can be experienced during dreaming,
or induced by drugs, fasting, sleep deprivation, or environmental factors. In Western
society, this level of consciousness is often viewed as psychosis rather than another
legitimate reality.
Shamans move, at will and with serious intention, between an Ordinary State of
Consciousness and a Shamanic State of Consciousness (SSC). The SSC is an altered
state of consciousness that may vary from a light to a deep trance. Shamans journey
back and forth between these realities for the specific purpose of healing or in some
manner aiding the community. Shamans operate in nonordinary reality or SSC only
a small portion of the time, and then only as needed to perform shamanic tasks.262 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TOALTERNATIVE MEDICINE