The Shamanic
Approach to Animal Healing
On Shamans and Shamanism ... Shaman, a Tungus (Siberian) word,
meaning "to heat", refers collectively to those
indigenous tribal members who responsibility for their tribe
centered on healing through spiritual means. These individuals
were our first philosophers, prophets, priests, mystics, counselors,
psychologists and doctors. Through ceremony and prayer ritual,
the shaman explored exalted states of consciousness and their
ecstatic spiritual experiences were responsible for bringing
forth the information and methods, which ultimately evolved,
into our current religions and medical practices.
The shamanic perspective is that everything on earth - from
the trees, grasses & waters, to her creatures and human
beings - is alive and has a spirit. No human being is viewed
as loftier on any hierarchical scale; rather every spirit
manifesting in physical form is viewed as being an aspect
of God, or the one Great Spirit. All beings are seen as relatives
and each spirit is accorded honor and respect for it's special
gifts, or "medicine". It is this humble, devotional
perspective which sets up harmonious relationships and reciprocity
between the species, and develops a compassionate heart for
the "people". And it is the compassionate heart
that compels a shaman to explore the spiritual realms in order
to bring help to their brothers and sisters, whether human,
animal or elemental, and provides the shaman with their access
to power. All powers of the shaman belong to the Creator alone
and are drawn through the compassionate heart by the beings(s)
in need, for whom that grace is intended.
A shaman understands that the heart is the gateway to the
spiritual realms and the purpose and function of their spiritual
disciplines is to develop an open heart. True shamans can
be recognized by their refusal to lay claim to any personal
power to heal, and will dedicate their lives to doing whatever
is necessary to become a clear vehicle through which miracles
can be made manifest. They have been referred to as "the
tender-hearted ones", "those who walk between the
worlds", bodhisattvas, yogis and saints and can be recognized
within virtually every organized religion of the world.
A shaman's primary relationship in life is with Spirit; their
primary focus when considering suffering of any type is the
spiritual nature of the disorder and how that correlates to
whole health and well-being. Spiritual diagnosis results in
recommending "treatments" that may address any one
or combination of the four levels of the body, i.e., physical,
emotional, mental or spiritual, and can range from the very
practical to extremely "out-of -the-ordinary". All
are aimed at returning a being to balance and harmony by providing
opportunities for a fully-spirited life.
As It Applies to Animals Animal beings tend to respond more
quickly and completely to shamanic healing techniques than
humans because they have not been subject to our mental educational
focus and the associative mental contortions and manipulations
of our society.
Animal Healing Techniques
Four classic shamanic techniques are employed to diagnose
the spiritual body and return it to harmony, often resulting
in healing at the physical level. These are the arts of divination,
extraction healing, soul retrieval and psychopomp.
Divination is "seeing, feeling, hearing and speaking:
to the spirits and includes, among other divination practices,
direct communication with animals. Extraction healing involves
the removal of inappropriate, intrusive energies from the
spiritual body which are seen to be the root cause of physical
illness, while soul retrieval is the returning of beneficial
energies to the spiritual body which have fragmented and broken
away due to life's various traumas. Psychopomp, meaning "conductor
of the soul", applies to those practices in which a shaman
engages in order to help guide the souls of those passing
over or who have already passes and are still in need of resolution
on the earth plane.
Over 50% of the clients I see in my shamanic healing practice
are animals. Cases span the gamut from mundane to "bizarre";
they range from issues of behavior, physical ailments and
lost animals to animal spirit hauntings and even possession.
I have performed many extractions and soul retrievals for
cats around the issue of declawing; there isn't a cat I've
met yet who has been declawed and who has not named that procedure
as an issue of concern and pain for them. Many have shown
me that when humans undertake this procedure, we inadvertently
wound their spirits by taking away an ability essential to
their sense of power and self-esteem. In these cases, the
extraction involves the removal of their emotional pain and
perhaps, the memory of the physical pain involved, while a
soul retrieval may be necessary in order to return that part
of the spiritual essence, which is necessary to a cat's "catness".
(Same-same for a dog's ears and tails!)
Simba, the Dobie pictured with me above, was a willful, out-of-control
puppy. A vet and the breeder were in agreement that he would
develop severe aggression and advised euthanasia as the solution.
However, pairing spiritual diagnosis with an animal communication
session clearly revealed something akin to the Attention Deficit
Disorder we often diagnose in humans. I decided to try an
herbal formula, which is equivalent to the pharmaceutical,
Ritalin, and within two weeks saw a remarkable improvement.
Simba is nearly 8 years old now, and he is still willful,
but he is very connected to humans, well-socialized and is
affectionately referred to as "Licky Boy" by my
young niece. When another issue of aggressive behavior with
a vicious Chihuahua presented, the spirits recommended a neurolinguistic
re-programming method, doggy style - to entice the pup to
rotate his eyes in a particular direction through the use
of a "roving" treat.
I have been fortunate enough to pick up a number of misdiagnoses
with animals, and in at least two instances was able to prevent
inappropriate surgical procedures. Once was a misdiagnosis
of hip displasia, which was really a torn crusciate ligament.
Laughably, the other was a misdiagnosis of torn crusciate
ligament, which in fact was a genetic arthritic condition
of the spine. The process of
Divining has also helped me to point human clients in the
right direction when trying to diagnose disorders that are
not apparent.
And, while shamanic techniques are not always an exact science,
neither, apparently, is allopathic medicine.
Soul retrievals can be very helpful in situations of abuse,
abandonment, surgical trauma, accidents and separation traumas,
and a shamanic practitioner can often find herself involved
in a sort-of spiritual midwifery. Of interest was a very special
rescue cat who was traumatized by terror, but surprised us
with an immediate and complete turn-around when we honored
his request to rename his new "fully-spirited" self,
Jupiter. He is only one of several who have benefited from
the vibrational shift that occurs with a name chosen to honor
their true spirit.
A combination depossession/soul retrieval resulted in the
joyful reunion of two sibling cats, whose bonded relationship
with one another was nearly destroyed when both were attacked
by a feral feline while enjoying a peaceful slumber together
in the sun. The siblings became violent to one another after
the attack, were physically separated and, at the advice of
their vet, were being prepared to go to different homes, when
I received a call from their caretaker who was "willing
to try anything".
The Shamanic Approach to Death & The Process of Dying
To me, there is no more sacred or worthy service that we can
offer any being than to be fully present with our assistance
as they are making their final transition from this life to
the next. Engaging with an animal and their human companions
to help with choices in the deathing process has proved to
be an awesome privilege filled with enormous grace.
I recently came in at the tail-end of a one-year old Blue
& Gold macaw's fight with a fatal disease known as Macaw's
Wasting Disease.
This fighting spirit kept surprising everyone by making continual
comebacks from his illness which earned him the name Otis,
though I renamed him Magic at his request. During one of his
more serious bouts of attack, I offered to help his person
out by delivering him to the vet for his appointment. One
the drive, I explained to Magic that we humans were limited
in our knowledge of how to help him at the physical level,
and that his visit to the vet would involve some pretty invasive
explorations of his body to that end, I wanted to give him
an opportunity to make his own choices and let him know that
he could "leave the body" whenever he decided it
was appropriate for him. He died with great dignity one-half
hour after I dropped him off, before the scheduled procedure.
Before I received word of it, Magic visited me in spirit at
the time of his passing. Just before falling off to sleep,
I saw him hovering above me, wings fully outstretched. The
following morning I journeyed to Magic to ensure that he had
made a clean transition. To my complete and unexpected surprise,
when Magic appeared to me, he brought along Sam, a Scarlet
Macaw, to greet me. I had worked with Sam several years before,
when he had lead poisoning, but to my knowledge he had recovered
and was still alive. It was later confirmed that Sam had indeed
passed over, and even more astonishing, that both Sam and
Magic's human companions were one-time business partners and
friends.
Nothing I've yet experienced compares to the generosity of
Mimi, a yellow lab/shepherd cross. Together with her human
companions, I sat vigil with her for nearly two days while
she communicated the details of each stage of her dying process,
expressing her needs, asking questions and offering her wisdom
and parting sentiments. Before she passed, Mimi `s most urgent
need was to engage me as an intercessor so that she and her
loved ones might learn and practice spirit-to-spirit communication
together in order to remain connected and to continue their
relationship after she had moved on.
Imagine my overwhelm at witnessing the parting dance of Echo,
a magnificent white Arabian, who performed an "honoring
dance" on the astral plane to thank me just before crossing
the rainbow bridge. Or the final blessing of a Great Blue
Heron as he directly transmitted his "birdness",
passing on to me the kinesthetic sense of the greatest freedom
(not to mention lung capacity!) I have ever known. The experience
took my breath away. They all do. But at the same time, it
leaves you fuller with the grace and wisdom that is necessary
to heal through the grieving.
Conclusion ... All healing modalities (and religions) emerged
through the practice of shamanism. When approaching healing
from the shamanic perspective, we are accessing the tree of
the knowledge, rather than a branch from the tree of knowledge.
It is important to understand that each and every being is
an individual spirit with a unique set of mental, emotional
and spiritual circumstances, and resolutions to each vary
dramatically from animal to animal or from person to person.
As "spiritual specialists" shamans understand that
the spiritual/physical body relationship is essential to optimum
health. Shamanism does not take the place of traditional veterinary
or medical care. We must certainly address body-oriented disorders
through the use of allopathic specialists. However, many conditions
are not physiological in origin, and it is my belief that
animals and humans alike would be best served with an alternative
compliment. Shamanic practices enhance traditional care, support
recovery and do not negatively affect any treatment or procedure.
Healing is not always curing, but the practice of shamanism
helps us all to rest peacefully in our processes and to access
the knowing that no matter what, all is well.
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