Finding a Shamanic Mentor

part 2 of 3 - Teachers

This post, the second of a mini series, is about finding the right mentor/teacher for you...

Most practitioners/teachers will tell you in their materials/website what to expect from an apprenticeship:"a sense of oneness with Spirit," "an ability to connect with ancestors," "a deep knowing of your truth and purpose..." and so on and so forth. I am not poking fun at the wording - it is (without knowing you are you considering) likely all very true and heart felt. When we have the honor to step into teacher role, it is one taken with a reverent amount of gratitude and humility.

But much can differ between teachers. Some are hands off, some are always available. Some will hold your

hand in guided journeys, helping you decipher your experience - while others will send you an update of to-dos,with some illuminating content. There are some in between, and there are those who are using

teaching to avoid doing their own shadow work and honestly, they shouldn't be teaching at all. Then of

course, there are accredited programs who teach shamanic skill sets and wisdoms through the container of

university settings.

Then, you have various teachers who offer content from multiple spiritual paths, tribes, or lineages. There

are also more pan-theistic teachers, and those who pull from natural and galactic energy rather than deities.

Do you have an ancestral calling to one or another lineage or path? Do you have a total fanaticism about a

spiritual group that you want to enrich your understanding about? Consider this while you are "choosing"

your steps. (I put that in " " because many are called to the path* (see post 1/3)

Ultimately, finding the right teacher is about knowing two main points:

1. What are you in search of? What is calling you to this path?

2. Do you want to live shamanically,- or live as a shaman? The difference is wether or not you want to put the tools and lessons into being of service to others and the world (path as shaman), or just live with a shamanic understanding of your self and the world (living shamanically)].

Knowing this will help you: hone down the search to the lineage you want to learn from (ie: norse, andean,

or indigenous american...); know what duration program (six months, a year, three years - in person vs virtual, or retreat based) you are interested in pursuing. And also will help you know what you DONT need... I have knowledge of, and work with, plant medicine but I am not an herbalist...

The path of a shaman has is multiple faces - it could be the wild woman who lives with animals and plants by the land - it could be the teacher in a zen garden with a center that offers disparate classes around

mindfulness and wellness - it could be the therapist who integrates journey work into their sessions - and it

could be someone like me who has a full time job but understands that this is in my blood, my spirit, my

energy and I am honoring MY purpose by being of service to the divine, Mother Earth, as well as to my

communities.

(and to be called a Shaman one must apprentice with teachers in human form, learn from and go through Rites of passages and initiations from Spirit, and then be claimed as Shaman by the community).

We don't all look the same, nor do we practice the same rituals and ceremonies. But shamans do have

generally one central tenet in common with another - we are the bridge between spirit and human and we

live in service of the divine within all.

Ultimately - you won't know what you truly want to do, or how it will manifest when you begin your

apprenticeship... You might know generally what you are getting yourself into, but you will change in this

time and as such, you won't know what you want or who you wish to be at this point... that self-awareness,

(and also, lol, release of expectations) will come in time. So do the best you can to sit with what is RINGING true for you - a teacher, a path, a method for learning... follow that gorgeous intuition, gut feeling, inner knowing, voice in your head... follow that to the teacher who is right for you.

And when all seems to fail around your face and you don't know what to do? reach out and ask your spirit

helpers to send you a message... then listen. truly listen with your heart, ears and eyes. You got this, friend.

(and if not, you can totally reach out to me and I will ask questions and listen to help you sort through your

thoughts, LOL).