“Indian conjuror” engraving by G. Veen
My interest in shamanism began while reading Carlos Castaneda as a teenager. Captivated by his writing, I at last had a framework from which to explain experiences I had from an early age.
Often while playing in the woods as a child, I’d suddenly feel a shift in my perception and the look and feel of my surroundings would alter completely. I would be in this state for several minutes before awakening back into ordinary reality. Reading Castaneda gave me the language to explain these experiences.
Later, while studying metaphysics at the Healing Light Center (Glendale, CA), I learned about the techniques used by the indigenous peoples of North America. I also took a workshop with Michael Harner that further deepened my experience with shamanism.
I began using journeying and soul retrieval in my healing sessions. And, I even got the chance to take a workshop with Castaneda himself shortly before he left this earth plane.
I then began studying the Tibetan Bön tradition which is shamanic at its core. And, here I am, years later, still on a journey to discover a more meaningful reality.
Have you ever had a animal spirit come to you while you were fully awake? A few months ago while thinking about the Andean spiritual path of the Q’ero, the spirit of the Humming bird came to me while I was sitting on my deck. Now I’ve been in touch with my spirit animals for many many years. But this humming bird would not leave me alone. I could tell he was checking me out“I felt it was a male spirit“and I,almost never wrong about this. He was flying from side to side for the longest time. Now I won’t get mad at them but this guy was being, well put it this way I got up and went inside. He followed me to my couch and still flew around me for several more min. WHY??!!! No one has helped me yet. Can you give me some insight. I do have a theory.