Perhaps some examples. Shamans actually tend to specialize. It was considered that a Shamans gifts and personal spirit suited them better for some things than others, though they did explore the spirit world in general as a rule. Everyone familiar with Crazy Horse? Or from eastern society, Genghis Khan?
Khan was very famous, and he was a Shaman among his people. Leader of the Mongol and would come to conquer most of Asia and a large part of Europe as well. His specialty as a Shaman was prophecy. He would use various methods to induce trance and seek the guidance of his peoples spirit allies and ancestors to guide his decision making. Though he had a darker history than most Shamans, his insight was remarked on far and wide.
Crazy Horse was a war Shaman. His focus was calling on strength. He was able to lead his soldiers in chants and ceremony as well as provide spiritual guidance that would help them find the power it took to both out think and out fight his peoples enemies.
Each Shaman has a speciality in that they funnel the life energy into a specific area of focus? Yes. Sort of like a natural talent or handedness, maybe.
Is that limited at all? Kind of like only having a hammer and everything is a nail? Actually, not really. In fact, to refer to Shamanism as a single path is a bit misleading. It’s potentially many paths.
Remember earlier when I said that everything that exists has its substance because of life energy? All energy is life energy? Well, everything that we share this world with has life energy, and the Shaman can at least figuratively borrow from anything. You may not be able to literally transform your flesh and blood into fire, but you can make your spirit burn with the intensity of fire and illuminate your senses with the wisdom of fire. As well as restore the warmth of life with the awareness you gain from watching the way of fire in the world. Fire needs air, say, so someone might have their life rekindled by being given air or CPR. Fire needs specific fuels at specific times, so a sick person might need to change their type of fuel.
To the Shaman, everything that exists has something to teach you. The moon has life energy that it can share with you, and so does the sun. And the vision you have in moonlight won’t be the same as those you have under the sun, because the wisdom of the moon and sun are different.
Sounds like a rich world. Indeed, it is.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~