Secrets of Shamanism

Jose AIID LENA STEVENS 51

stacle to acquiring real power. Remember that shamans

believe in being outrageous and are not afraid of looking

foolish on occasion. They are also strong advocates of

humor, laughter, and the bizarre.

Seeing Others' Spirit Bodies

Once you are comfortable working with your own spirit

self, you can move to using your shamanic sight to "see,"

sense, or feel other people's spirit bodies. You may use the

simple method of closing your eyes, picturing the person in

front of you, and seeing or sensing their field around them.

Take notice of what you see, and if you need help in under-

standing what you see, just postulate the question and wait

for the answer to pop into your head. If you are sufficiently

relaxed, you are probably not making it up. With practice

you will be amazed at the accuracy of your insights.

Never meddle with or make changes in other people's

spirit bodies without first asking their permission. This is a

misuse of power and shamans would say that there are un-

pleasant consequences to this kind of manipulation. For ex-

ample, the person may not like your interference and reacts

by sending you a bolt of energy that can give you an intense

headache or a feeling that you are very ungrounded. On the

other hand, the spirit world may cut itself off from you so

that you no longer have access to its assistance, It is best to

heed shamans' advice in these matters.

If another person has a headache or if they ask you to

help them with another discomfort, go ahead and use the

same methods that you have learned to use with yourself in

Exercise 4. There will be more about working with others

throughout this book. It is best to leave others alone though,

until you have become proficient using these methods with

yourself.

Defining Your Own Spirit Body

In the beginning of this chapter we mentioned that each
human spirit body is a unique and creative expression of who
they are. Animals, as you shall see shortly, have spirit
bodies, too. But instead of each one having a separate and
unique one, all the members of the same species belong to
one overall spirit of the animal. Even though human spirit
bodies are unique and separate from one another, they tend
to blend together or match in frequency when in contact with
one another, just like animals in a herd, flock, or school. A