Assuming the Lack of Health
Today we love to talk about disease.
Just watch TV for one hour, and you're bound to encounter our culture's assumption of the lack of health. We're urged to talk to our doctor about a new pharmaceutical drug. We're warned that we need to get screened for cancer. We're asked to support a politician's new approach to fixing our healthcare system.
The message is clear: If you're not sick right now, you will be soon. Be prepared. Get ready for battle!
This message gets carried over into other areas of life. Workplaces are competitive arenas. Marriages are battlegrounds. Schools are places where the vulnerable get bullied. There's something wrong with all of us, and we have to feel superior, fight, or push others around as a result.
Don't we? No, we don't.
Going Deeper with Shamanic Healing
What we actually have to do is come closer to ourselves, make friends with ourselves, and heal ourselves. That's where shamanic healing can provide help and support. Shamanism goes deeper than a prescription and sees what is invisible to us like an other-dimensional imaging machine.
Medical doctors are healers who have the right tools to treat you at the physical level. But do you want to look more closely at the unseen cause of whatever is troubling you--whether it's a disease, a relationship, or any other part of your life? If so, then consider doing something bold. Consider consuting a shamanic healer.
In all indigenous cultures throughout the world, the shaman was someone who consulted with spirits in order to help others. But shamanism isn't a bygone practice that has become obsolete. There are practicing shamans all over the world today. Thanks to people like Michael Harner (founder of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies), many modern westerners have been trained in shamanic healing and are integrating it into our culture.
What We Should Be Asking
When someone is diagnosed with a disease, usually his or her first question is, "What can the doctor do to help me?" Often doctors answer this question with a prescription for a drug or advice that surgery is required. The disease or imbalance is considered the enemy--an evil force that has invaded the patient and that must be defeated. So often these days we hear that a beloved celebrity has died after losing a "brave battle" with an illness.
When faced with a symptom or diagnosis, however, there are other questions we should also be asking. For example: "Might this disease have a spiritual cause, rather than just a physical one?" "If I treat myself on the unseen level, could my outer reality change?" "Besides consulting my doctor, is there anyone else who can help me?"
From the viewpoint of shamanism, the answer to all of these questions is "yes." The body is not just physical. It's also not "just a vehicle" for the spirit. To heal ourselves, we must first understand that the body is the spirit and vice versa. The two coexist as the person we present to the world.
The Messenger of Imbalance
So how can we possibly address illness or any other imbalance without knowing who we truly are? Healing is not just the absence of disease. Healing is a shift that brings us closer to ourselves.
According to shamanic healing, disease is just a messenger, letting us know that some imbalance is calling for our attention. Real healing starts within.
As it turns out, no matter what you may see on TV, disease is not the enemy.
Disclaimer: Contents of this article represent the opinion of the author. Shamanic healing is not a replacement for medical care.