As many of you already know, I am what can be referred to as an eclectic shaman. I have been exposed to and trained in many different styles and forms of Shamanism. Some find this outrageous because they believe that everyone has to choose one tradition and one tradition only in order to be authentic. I do not live my life by that rule. In fact, I look at it as an opportunity to understand and become good at many different styles and techniques of healing and being. Things change all the time. We cannot limit ourselves to just one way of being because if we do then we miss many opportunities for growth, development and healing.
In addition to the many forms of Shamanism, I have also studied many forms of religion. Anyone who has read my blogs or who knows me personally will know that I approach religion with great caution. The reason for that is that I have found in my studies that religions can be both liberating and limiting. I prefer the former over the latter, but the latter tends to dominate in people’s minds. It is not religion itself that becomes limiting. It is the people’s approach to it that becomes limiting. Basically, all world religions teach love and peace. Some even go so far as to teach love and respect for the environment. However, people who follow the same religions will often have a “thou shalt not” approach to everything and instantly label anything and anyone who does not believe the same thing as “evil” or even go so far as to call them “satanic.” This is where they and I will part ways, FAST.
On our journey up Sacred Mountain to see the Creator, if we are paying attention we will see that there are many different paths up that mountain…on all sides of that mountain. But as humans, people often don’t bother to notice, or if they do then they try to either say that the other path is non-existent or irrelevant. What is worse is that they will sometimes try to move their path overtop of the other paths. It is as though they believe that if they plough through the forest that grows up that mountain and destroy the other paths in the process, it will make their own path more relevant and more important. This is the mentality of a two-year-old who has not learned to cope with the other realities of the world around them.
Those who open themselves and their minds to a variety of practices are the ones who end up being the happiest. And you don’t have to be an expert in anything in order to be able to have a spiritual practice that works for you. You do not even have to follow any rules set out by anyone else in the world in order to connect with your spiritual fortitude. You just need to go about things in a creative manner. So go ahead…connect in whatever way works for you. Leave everyone else and everything else to their own practices.