My Shamanic Weekend--a healthy dose of skepticism, plus likes and dislikes

This'll be the last post about the shamanic workshop 2 weeks ago, but I wanted to share a few dislikes and doubts as well as stuff I thought was cool. A few remaining pics from the state park, too.

If you click on this photo, you may be able to see the rainbow in the sky between the trees!

Discomfort and Dislikes
Naturally, when you sign up for something like shamanism, you gotta expect the weird and unusual--especially when it comes to fellow participants. There was this one guy, "Ben," who was actually friendly and outgoing, but I also began to question his sanity. Wait, I know what you're thinking--maybe I should question my own sanity since I'm the one calling myself a shaman!

Ben was just a bit too excited for me. And he kept asking me direct questions about my wolf spirit totem. He even claimed he could "see" the wolf himself. Ben wanted to know details about what the wolf looked like and so on. I found this all slightly offensive and intimate, like he was crossing a line. Those kinds of questions are hard to answer, and I didn't even know Ben. Maybe it was just me--maybe he caught me off guard because he was obviously so comfortable talking openly about these things when I'm still very private about them.

The other thing I found uncomfortable is that we had an audience a couple of times during our activities. Once we were doing some tai chi walking in the parking lot behind a building. No big deal, right, but still I was self-conscious about the steady traffic in the lot and couldn't focus on the experience.

Then at the state park the next day, I knew there would be other people around. We mostly stayed off the main trail and to ourselves. But once we were at the side of the mountain, and were supposed to place our 3rd eye against the bare rock (like in photo at right). I was skeptical anyway about all this, and in addition, there were 3 people watching us. To their credit, they didn't leave or make fun, and one woman even tried it herself and asked questions. Still, made me squirm.

Healthy Dose of Skepticism
Here are several things I'm still trying to figure out. Do I believe they "work" or have "power?" Not sure. And why did we do these things in the first place. I have general ideas, but I guess I'm betraying my novice nature. The facilitator did encourage questions, but I guess I didn't want to seem completely clueless. I may email him some belated questions, and I plan to do more research on my own.

• We gave tobacco as an offering to the mountain. Why? What does the mountain need with tobacco? Felt silly doing this.
  

• We learned a couple of formal blessings and greetings, and I'm not quite sure why these were needed. Do the spirits or whatever get offended? And do I even believe in this kind of thing anyway?
  

• We also worked with crystals and magnets, and while they're fun to play with and admire, I'm still skeptical about claims that they can be used to alter or direct "energy."

• The year 2012. The Mayan calendar predicts the end of one age and the dawn of another, and it seems doomsday scenarios abound. It all reminds me of Christians predicting Christ's return and Armageddon or other doomsday cults--all their predictions have failed. First the Age of Aquarius and now 2012. Just don't buy it.
  

Cool Stuff
Things I enjoyed and found meaningful were these:

We each went off alone to practice calling the four directions and meditate on the elements of earth, air, fire and water. We made observations of all these and listened to the wind. This activity really seemed to make me more aware of the earth, the trees, the sky, the heat and wind and all of nature around me. It helped me open my eyes and see.

We also all sat in a circle after this activity and had a good session of drumming and rattles. Out there on the mountain surrounded by only nature, that was pretty cool.

The other was more of an unplanned experience. Several of us were atop this rocky outcrop and you could see for miles. The facilitator said he wanted to do a chakra activation ceremony for this one woman who was absent the previous day. It was an interesting activity, nothing earth-shattering but not so odd after all--too much to go into here. So were all doing a little chant, and the facilitator does his thing, and it only takes maybe 5 minutes total. When we all opened our eyes, there is a flock of vultures circling overhead! (Photo below shows a few of us on the rocky outcrop.)


This was cool because we saw one or two vultures circling here or there earlier but never so many in one place. Vultures have a rich and powerful symbolism, too:

• guardian to the mysteries of life and death
• feathers are used in rituals for grounding (our purpose that weekend)
• symbolizes the disintegration of the physical
• denotes the ability to use energy powerfully and efficiently (part of our meditation)
• performing rather than just talk
• new relationship between psychic energies and the cosmic forces

So right as our fellow participant's chakras were activated, we saw the vultures circling overhead. Then they just as quickly dispersed. Makes you wonder what drew them to that point!!

All in all, a good experience. I generally felt it introduced as well as reviewed some basics about shamanism while confirming this is a path on which I belong. Another workshop is coming up later this month, and I plan to be there.

This little guy appeared just as we were leaving and paused long enough for me to get his photo.