Shift Happens!

While going through the process of shamanic initiation, we apprentices have done a good deal of work with journeys, soul retrievals and hands-on healings. We act as both the shaman and the recipient. I find that this is a very powerful learning tool, not only to develop and practice our own shamanic skills but also in experiencing what it is like for someone who is going through the process of healing and transformation.

I’ve noticed that after every workshop, or after I’ve had powerful transformational work done on me, I’ve been experiencing some negative side-effects. I feel, to some degree, there is a retrograde effect. There is a very strong need for “down-time” and recuperation in the week that follows. On a few occasions, I’ve also been physically ill as it feels like I was working something out of my system to accommodate the shift in energy that was about to occur. I physically and emotionally reach a very low point. I throw myself back into my Muggle world, repress any shamanic inklings, and sleep as much as the demands on my Ordinary Reality will allow. And then just when it feels like all the work and healing that were done were for naught, a shift occurs, and I pull out of it. I find I have the energy and zeal to do dive into the shamanic realm, connect with Spirit, and get my work done. Transformation comes not only through having a healing done on you, but in holding up your end of your contract with Spirit to do the work.

Much of the work we are doing in our shamanic apprenticeship is to help us establish find our purpose and greater Life’s Work. I often feel at our group gatherings, and in time as I’ve grown in this process, I have a better sense of what my purpose is. After receiving so many healings to aide me in that transformation, I find there are definite side-effects and a need for my body and life to catch up to the changes occurring. Once the shift begins to occur, the upswing is as swift, and I find that my sense of purpose is not only something realized, it is also felt.

At our last gathering at the beach, after checking in with some of my fellow apprentices, it occurred to me that we are all having very similar experiences, shamanically as well as in our personal lives. So I’d love to know if anyone else in the tribe or anyone in the community at large has experienced the side-effects of performing and receiving shamanic work.