Power
Animals
For the shaman, a Power Animal, sometimes called a Totem, is a helping
spirit ally which assumes the form of a specific animal and bestows the
unique abilities and powers which that animal possesses in ordinary
reality. From my own observations over the years, it seems to me
that the strengths and attributes of a shaman's Power Animals usually
closely resemble the inner qualities of the shaman himself, often
amplifying and augmenting innate character and healing traits that were
there to begin with. For me personally, and for many I've spoken
with, Power Animals also bring to the shaman qualities that need
reinforcing.
They help us to be wholly ourselves.
Power
Retrieval
Calling to onesself and retrieving a Power Animal is usually one of the
first, if not the first
journey a modern urban shaman undergoes
in order to make contact with the first of his or her helping spirit
allies. Recall that shamanic healing is simply the moving of
energies: appropriate energies in and inappropriate energies out
of a person's energy field. Retrieving a Power Animal is the
fundamental way that shamans use to retrieve a person's innate
energies, of re-spiriting a person, re-integrating their core energies
and bringing them a true ally for healing, life-guiding, and for
relationship.
Sometimes ally retrieval will happen spontaneously during a shamanic
healing session; usually this is unequivocal to the shaman as the new
Power Animal presents itself in a dramatic way as if to say, "Me!
Me! Pick Me!" Without exception to date, whenever a
Power Animal has shown up for a client, the client has a deep sense of
"of course! Just what I needed!" when the animal's attributes,
behaviors and strengths are researched.
Power Animals have that which you need. They want to work with
you!
Power
Animal Retrieval Journey
Calling a Power Animal for a client is a rather simple journey.
The shaman journeys to the Lower World and calls out to the helping
spirit community for an ally who is willing to work with a
client. Sometimes there is a bit of vying for attention:
many allies show up! As I was taught this technique, the ally who
shows up four times (four is a sacred number in many traditions) or who
shows up in four different apects is the one that is meant for the
client. The shaman asks the question, "Are you the Power Animal
who wishes to be retrieved for <client>?" If the answer is
a "yes" either in words or actions, the shaman gathers this energy
essence into his or her heart and exits the journey at that
point. On returning to ordinary consciousness, the shaman tells
the client who it is that showed up. If the client assents, the
shaman blows this Power Animal essence into the client at specific
points, usually the crown of the head and 7th cervical vertebra,
although these locations can change based on direction from the spirits
to the shaman.
The client may or may not feel anything at the initial moment, or s/he
may indeed feel something new. My own experience of having Power
Animals retrieved for me is that when they are blown into me, I feel a
stirring, an infusion of
energies kind of like being immersed in a warm bath. The first
time that this was done for me in a workshop
I knew which animal it was
before being told; the practitioner simply blew it into me without
telling me (that's how the instructor had us do it that time), and I felt like the animal, as if I was
looking out from its eyes! It was
amazing. Evidently this is a rare response and I feel grateful
for having had that experience.
Power
Animal Integration and Honoring
As with any shamanic healing technique which adds or removes energies
from a person, there is a period of
integration, adjustment and honoring of these new energies that have
come to live
insided the client's energy field. Energies of the spirits
and of our own souls are not merely poured into us like liquid into a
vessel, they are reunited
with us like old friends and just like having an old and dear friend
return into one's daily life, we honor their return and celebrate their
friendship with us. These energies are conscious.
One traditional way to honor the new Power Animal is to "dance" it,
to move to a drum beat while letting the Power Animal enjoy having a
body
to work with as you lessen conscious control of your physical
body. Simply let the energy of the Power Animal come
through. The client
frequently finds that s/he moves in ways that are specific to the Power
Animal, maybe without even knowing that this particular animal moves
that way in ordinary consciousness. Letting your Power
Animal(s) have fun and
freedom of movement in your body from time to time is a wonderful way
to honor them and to begin your relationship with these new allies.
Another way of honoring is to have images or carvings of your Power
Animals in your living and working spaces. Bringing these
energies into your daily life is a simple way of reminding you both
that you honor and trust each other. Over time you may find that
these relationships become very important to you, and that your Power
Animal indeed brings you many, many gifts in ordinary state of
consciousness!
Power
Animal Retrieval for a Group or a Business
All things have spirits. Buildings, houses, land,
businesses. After all, a business is an "artificial person" in
legal parlance; it has a life of its own so why shouldn't it also have
Power Animals?
I know of at least one practitioner who retrieves Power Animals for
businesses and for groups. His experience with this has been very
positive and quite productive for the businesses and for the employees
and managers.
Jeffrey
Rich
|