Shamanism
Our Ancient roots are
shamanism wherever we live and whatever
sort of culture we have grown up in. It is
our spiritual heritage. Look back far enough
in time and all of us come from shamanistic
cultures. Long before such recent concepts
as organised religion, humans sought understanding
and knowledge of the wider universe using a
variety of experiential ways and tools which
are just as applicable today as ever. These
practices are still in use in a surprisingly
large number of places in the world and many
shamans of indigenous cultures are now teaching
Westerners.
Shamanism is the oldest spiritual path on planet earth of maintaining,
healing and harmony in society and the individual
and keeping our connection with mother earth
and all creation. Our outer world may be different,
but our human inner landscape has the same components
as always. Our outer health and wholeness is
an expression of our inner health and holiness.
We are here to bring spirit into matter and matter
to spirit.
The shamanic journey, the trance-dance, the vision quest, the purifying
ceremony of the sweatlodge, these are ancient but eternally relevant
ways to contact the timeless reality that exists parallel to and just
out of sight of the world we so mistakenly call the ‘real world’.
It is here in the everyday that we experience the reflections of who
we are, of our actions, our deepest beliefs, our ‘dreams’,
but it is in the non-manifest world of the spirit that the hidden causal
interactions take place. Hidden, that is, until we begin to open the
doors and ‘see’ with an expanded vision.
The revival in the West of shamanism since
the 1960s embodies an approach of reflecting the ways and understanding
of the ancient and indigenous cultures. This movement towards self-development
and spiritual awareness, and potentially a more community oriented way
of living, represents a step forward for these cultures which have been
the most predatory towards others and towards the earth in the recent
past centuries.
Shamanism ‘good medicine’,
is like tapping into a vast fund of ancient timeless knowledge which
can be practiced anywhere under any conditions. It is about helping us
humans to heal the effects of past traumas, to live in an inner state
of balance and harmony while dealing with the challenges and vicissitudes
of life, to develop the best in ourselves no matter what comes our way,
and it is about the quality of how we relate to each other and to the
earth. All this is as important now as it ever has been or will be.
Our outer world may be different, but our human inner landscape has the
same components as always. Our outer health and wholeness is an expression
of our inner health and holiness. We are here to bring spirit into matter
and matter to spirit.
Eagle’s Wing
The work of Eagle’s Wing is to help people connect their
inner and outer worlds, to heal old wounds within, to become able to
bring dreams from the world of spirit into matter and thus enjoy a creative
and fruitful life, to dance their dreams awake and to become a part of
the solution instead of part of the problem of human life on Earth.
Eagle’s
Wing Centre for Contemporary Shamanism was
launched in 1985.
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