QUESTION: How do you know if you are a shaman?
ANSWER: That's like asking "How do you know if you are an athlete?" If you think the way an athlete thinks and do what an athlete does, you can be called an athlete. The same is true of a shaman. It is a vocation, not a state of being. If you think the way a shaman thinks and do what a shaman does, you can be called a shaman. In a particular culture, there might be an initiation to recognize your status in the community, but it is your demonstrated ability that makes you a shaman, not the initiation. And, since "shaman" is only a borrowed word to describe someone who engages in certain kinds of activities and views the world in a certain way, the precise definition of a shaman can vary from culture to culture and place to place. Of course, if you don't know how a shaman thinks or what a shaman does, then the question itself is irrelevant.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
How To Change Yourself
QUESTION: You have said that in order to change something, you have to change something. So in personal terms, how do you change something?
ANSWER: In order to change something about yourself with conscious intent, you have to want the pleasure of something you don't have more than the pleasure of something you do have. For instance if you want to lose weight, you have to want the pleasure of having a lighter body more than the pleasure of eating more than you can burn. If you want a lot of friends, you have to want the pleasure of friendship more than the pleasure of criticizing and complaining. If you want to stop smoking, there has to be something about being a non-smoker that you want more than the pleasure of smoking. The concept is simple. It's the application that's difficult for most people.
ANSWER: In order to change something about yourself with conscious intent, you have to want the pleasure of something you don't have more than the pleasure of something you do have. For instance if you want to lose weight, you have to want the pleasure of having a lighter body more than the pleasure of eating more than you can burn. If you want a lot of friends, you have to want the pleasure of friendship more than the pleasure of criticizing and complaining. If you want to stop smoking, there has to be something about being a non-smoker that you want more than the pleasure of smoking. The concept is simple. It's the application that's difficult for most people.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Hawaiian Boat Blessing
QUESTION: How would one do a Hawaiian christening/blessing of a new boat?
ANSWER: No one knows exactly how the ancient Hawaiians blessed their boats, but a typical modern Hawaiian-style blessing could be as follows:
1. Fill a small bowl with fresh water (salt water is used for cleansing).
2. Obtain a long leaf (ti leaf if possible, fern leaf is next best, but any leaf will do).
3. Hang some kind of lei over the gangway or entrance to the boat (flowers or leaves, real or symbolic. In Hawaii maile vine would be used if possible).
4. Announce to all present the purpose of the blessing.
5. Cut or undo the lei (this is like cutting the navel cord).
6. Dip the leaf in the bowl and sprinkle all areas of the boat while giving some sort of blessing ("May this boat be blessed with love, power, and success" (in Hawaiian: E ho'omaika'i i keia wa'a me ke aloha, me ka mana, me ka pono).
7. Have everyone present hold hands on or near the boat and give a personal blessing for the boat and the owners/operators.
8. End the blessing with a song, a chant, or a simple "Thank you" and a hug.
9. Finish with a luau, a "pupu" (snack) party, or some kind of refreshments.
ANSWER: No one knows exactly how the ancient Hawaiians blessed their boats, but a typical modern Hawaiian-style blessing could be as follows:
1. Fill a small bowl with fresh water (salt water is used for cleansing).
2. Obtain a long leaf (ti leaf if possible, fern leaf is next best, but any leaf will do).
3. Hang some kind of lei over the gangway or entrance to the boat (flowers or leaves, real or symbolic. In Hawaii maile vine would be used if possible).
4. Announce to all present the purpose of the blessing.
5. Cut or undo the lei (this is like cutting the navel cord).
6. Dip the leaf in the bowl and sprinkle all areas of the boat while giving some sort of blessing ("May this boat be blessed with love, power, and success" (in Hawaiian: E ho'omaika'i i keia wa'a me ke aloha, me ka mana, me ka pono).
7. Have everyone present hold hands on or near the boat and give a personal blessing for the boat and the owners/operators.
8. End the blessing with a song, a chant, or a simple "Thank you" and a hug.
9. Finish with a luau, a "pupu" (snack) party, or some kind of refreshments.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Healing Radioactivity
QUESTION: With the ongoing recent events in Japan I was wondering what recommendations you could share about working with healing that situation from the perspective of Huna. Have been sending Reiki the past few days to specific groups of people and the earth, and have previously used your suggestions in the Shamanic Healing in the Wake of Katrina article for many things with positive results.
ANSWER: From the perspective of assuming that everything is alive, aware, and responsive, we can talk to the earth and rocks telepathically, we can dream a good dream for them, and we can grok them and gently relax. Working with radioactive materials is essentially the same, but requires fearlessness, a high degree of focus, and working as well with the humans involved, both the victims and the helpers.
ANSWER: From the perspective of assuming that everything is alive, aware, and responsive, we can talk to the earth and rocks telepathically, we can dream a good dream for them, and we can grok them and gently relax. Working with radioactive materials is essentially the same, but requires fearlessness, a high degree of focus, and working as well with the humans involved, both the victims and the helpers.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Relationship Technique
QUESTION: I'm striving to create the relationship I want, so I ask if there was one technique you could recommend (for creating this relationship) what would it be. I've tried Dynamind, as well as a number from the Urban shaman book.
ANSWER: To manifest something, we must remember that we cannot control the world, but we can influence it. The first step in manifesting a good relationship is focus on the benefits you want from it, more than requiring a particular person to provide those benefits. The second step is to turn yourself into the kind of person that someone who can provide those benefits would want as a partner.
ANSWER: To manifest something, we must remember that we cannot control the world, but we can influence it. The first step in manifesting a good relationship is focus on the benefits you want from it, more than requiring a particular person to provide those benefits. The second step is to turn yourself into the kind of person that someone who can provide those benefits would want as a partner.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Cannabis for healing
QUESTION: What is your opinion about the use of cannabis in healing. Do you think it is useful? Also if you know, please tell me the real meaning of the Hawaiian word 'pakalolo'.
ANSWER: It is possible for cannabis to aid healing because it helps relieve physical tension, the primary factor behind all illness. However, the side effects of increased sensory sensitivity, the tendency for many users to slip into dream states, and the tension-producing effects of inhaling the smoke also have to be taken into consideration.
"Pakalolo" is a modern Hawaiian word composed of "paka" - a Hawaiianized form of the word "tobacco", and "lolo" (with a macron over both letters "o") - meaning "paralyzed, numb, feeble-minded, crazy." Thus, "crazy (or numbing) tobacco."
ANSWER: It is possible for cannabis to aid healing because it helps relieve physical tension, the primary factor behind all illness. However, the side effects of increased sensory sensitivity, the tendency for many users to slip into dream states, and the tension-producing effects of inhaling the smoke also have to be taken into consideration.
"Pakalolo" is a modern Hawaiian word composed of "paka" - a Hawaiianized form of the word "tobacco", and "lolo" (with a macron over both letters "o") - meaning "paralyzed, numb, feeble-minded, crazy." Thus, "crazy (or numbing) tobacco."
Monday, November 7, 2011
Choices
QUESTION: When I have a choice between doing one of two things, like staying with a person or staying at a job, and not staying, how can I know which is the right choice to make?
ANSWER: There is no way to tell which is the "right" choice, because the future is not fixed, and future effects come out of future choices. However, you can get a good idea of what might happen if you make a choice based on current patterns of thinking and feeling.
1. Find some time to be quiet and alone and relax as deeply as you can. A simple way would be to spend at least one to five minutes looking at things or objects with lots of curves or circles.
2. Think of what you like about the current situation, and about what you don't like, for one to five minutes.
3. Now imagine two doorways to the future - one is for a future where you stay in the situation, and one is for a future where you don't stay. Each one will take you six months or one year or five years into the future; it's up to you. Imagine each door in great detail.
4. When you are ready, step through one of the doors and pay attention to what you see and how you feel. Then come back and go through the other door.
5. This will give you an idea of what may happen if patterns and habits in the present do not change. It is not a prediction, but a projection. It will give you information that will allow you to either change yourself, or change the situation. You still have to make the decision.
ANSWER: There is no way to tell which is the "right" choice, because the future is not fixed, and future effects come out of future choices. However, you can get a good idea of what might happen if you make a choice based on current patterns of thinking and feeling.
1. Find some time to be quiet and alone and relax as deeply as you can. A simple way would be to spend at least one to five minutes looking at things or objects with lots of curves or circles.
2. Think of what you like about the current situation, and about what you don't like, for one to five minutes.
3. Now imagine two doorways to the future - one is for a future where you stay in the situation, and one is for a future where you don't stay. Each one will take you six months or one year or five years into the future; it's up to you. Imagine each door in great detail.
4. When you are ready, step through one of the doors and pay attention to what you see and how you feel. Then come back and go through the other door.
5. This will give you an idea of what may happen if patterns and habits in the present do not change. It is not a prediction, but a projection. It will give you information that will allow you to either change yourself, or change the situation. You still have to make the decision.
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