Month: July 2024

Posted on by

Answering the Call

answer the call to adventure

Like Coyote in the story from last week, a person who refuses to answer the Call to Adventure has little or no confidence in themselves. When you have received the call, you stand at a crossroads. You have a choice. You are free to choose to continue to refuse the Call to Adventure. Such a refusal means staying in the familiar, but it also means accepting the status quo. It means surrendering to life as it is without considering the possibilities of future growth.

If you find yourself stuck here but wishing to answer the Call to Adventure, the first step is to ask yourself, “If nothing changed from now on, could I live the rest of my life this way?”

If the answer to that question is, “No,” then obviously something has to change.

To begin making this change is to begin trusting yourself. Out of the billions of people on this planet, the only person who is a true expert on you is you. You already have within you everything you need to know to begin the quest. All you have to do is to learn to trust your inner wisdom.

The path of ecospirituality involves following the Way of the Coyote. It is a spiritual journey…a hero’s journey with many signposts and crossings. Each one of these crossings represents a phase along the way to becoming a seeker and a seer of visions. When you have arrived at the end of this journey you will have discovered a new way of being in the world. The first crossing is to answer the Call to Adventure.

At this first crossing, we have to forge our will to commit to the path. When a vision seeker sets out on the path such a decision requires a firm and resolute will. The life of a shaman is not to be approached with an attitude of “I guess so,” or “I’ll do it when I have the time,” or “this looks like fun if nothing else is going on.” Such a path requires a complete commitment to the quest. Once you cross the threshold there is no turning back.

The journey of the vision seeker is one of lifetime dedication. If you’re saying to yourself, “I don’t have the time or the energy,” what you’re really saying is, “It’s not a priority for me.” If it’s not a priority, then you’re not going to put forth your best efforts, so it’s probably not the right path…or the right choice…for you at this time in your life. If that is the case, it’s better to set aside the path and return to it with a firm resolve when you are ready to commit to doing the work.

In many indigenous traditions throughout the world, the path of the shaman begins with a rebirthing ceremony in which the initiate is given a new spiritual name. This renaming signifies a person’s birth to the spirit world. The naming ceremony is the vision seeker’s announcement to the world that he or she has taken up the quest. Such a commitment is a death to the former way of being, and rebirth as a seer and a seeker of visions.

This rebirth depends upon conquering your own fears. Conquering fear doesn’t mean never being afraid. It means rising to meet the challenges of the Way of the Coyote in spite of the fear. It is the first landmark in the decision to become the person you were meant to be by embracing your True Self.

Answer the Call

As you contemplate answering your Call to Adventure, do any fears rise up in your spirit? If so, what is the nature of these fears? If you feel ready and unafraid to begin the journey, then think about what things might stand in your way in the future and use those things instead to answer the questions that follow.

  • What are your greatest fears?
  • How might you conquer these fears?
  • How might you forge your will so that you may take up the path of the vision seeker with a firm and steadfast commitment?
  • What Supernatural Aid might you require to help you succeed?
  • How might you strengthen your resolve to commit to the journey?
  • Which thoughts, feelings, and habits will you have to sacrifice to be reborn into the life of a seer/shaman?
  • What is your reason for seeking the path that leads to ecospirituality?

Over the coming week, contemplate your answers to these questions to determine if you’re ready to answer the Call of the Coyote.

What do you think? What would help you to answer the call to adventure? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on by

Refusal of the Call

The Call

The Refusal of the Call happens when the pain of changing is greater than the pain of staying the same.

The People went in search of Coyote to ask him to go on a quest to find a new place for the People. Chief Buffalo sent Brother Eagle and Sister Cougar to find him.

They came upon Coyote playing in a field of fallen leaves and told him that Chief Buffalo had summoned him, so Coyote followed them back to Chief Buffalo’s lodge. When Coyote approached, Chief Buffalo greeted him politely.
Brother Coyote said in return, “Why have you summoned me here on this fine but chilly day, Grandfather Buffalo?”
Chief Buffalo spoke, “I have asked you here to request that you go on a quest for the People.”

“A quest?” Brother Coyote asked skeptically.

“Yes, a quest,” said Sister Cougar, “The days and nights are getting colder, and nobody can say whether they will ever grow warmer again. The People are afraid that the warmth of the Sun might never return, so we are asking you to go on a journey to find a new place for the Tribe to live.”

Brother Coyote loved to play tricks, but now he felt they were playing a trick on him. He felt the disbelief rising in his heart, and said, “You wish me to go on a quest? Are you mocking me? Surely this must be some jest! Brother Eagle, I do not have your keen eyes and ability to fly high in the sky, so I could not escape danger, nor could I see it coming ahead of time. Sister Cougar, I am no great hunter like you. If I were to go on such a journey, I would surely starve!”

Why not send Sister Doe, who can sniff out predators and run away quickly? Or send Brother Bear, who has great strength, so he could fight an enemy should one overtake him?

“Sister Doe is much too timid for such a journey,” said Chief Buffalo.

“And Brother Bear is sleeping and has been for many weeks. Nobody knows if he shall ever wake again.”

But Brother Coyote was not convinced. One by one he named all of the creatures of the People; but one by one Chief Buffalo gave him reasons why they could not go. He explained that if Brother Coyote could not go, it could be nobody else.

“I am not a warrior!” cried Coyote, “I am not a hero! I spend my days running through the forest, playing and joking with the People! I am not clever enough, or strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough for such a journey! I cannot go!”

Chief Buffalo, Brother Eagle, and Sister Cougar looked upon Brother Coyote with sadness. They thought about pointing out all the ways that he was wrong about what he had said. They thought about listing all the strengths that Brother Coyote could bring to their quest, such as his ability to track, hide, and deceive a predator on the trail. But they had been down this road with Coyote too many times before. They knew that it would only lead to more arguments and more hurt feelings if they tried to talk him out of his decision. So instead they walked away with pity in their hearts.

As Chief Buffalo turned to leave, he said to Coyote, “I am disappointed in you. I thought you would be happy to help out the People, who have been victims of many of your cruel jests. I would think that you would like to make amends for your pranks. I can see now that I was wrong.”

And with that, Chief Buffalo walked away.

Of all the things Coyote had heard from the People this afternoon, the words of Chief Buffalo stung him the most. He had always admired and respected his Grandfather Buffalo, and it hurt Coyote deeply to see him so disappointed. But Coyote did not see what others could see in him. In his own eyes, he was just a trickster and a fool, incapable of great deeds.

With a sad and heavy heart, he walked away from the Chief’s lodge to return to his own den.
 


Answering the Call: A Change of Context

Change is scary. The comforting thing about the familiar is its familiarity; we know what to expect. This can even be true if the familiar situation is grim. Quite often we’ll stay stuck in a bad situation because the fear of the unknown can be worse than the current (known) situation. Such a sentiment is often expressed in the phrase, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.”

The familiar, however uncomfortable it may be, is at least familiar. We often choose to stay in a familiar, yet miserable, situation rather than to fly off to ills we know not of. When faced with the possibility of change in such a situation, an element of the unknown must be dealt with. We don’t know what to expect. What if, by acting, we make things worse? What can we expect to happen if we leave the familiar for unknown, unexplored territory? Sure, things might get better, but they might get worse too. When we let our fears of the unknown overwhelm us, it is easy to, like Coyote, refuse the Call to Adventure. It’s simply easier to stay in misery than to set sail on uncharted waters.

I was once traveling to a workshop on shamanism. This particular seminar was being held in a hidden-away corner of the Southern Appalachians. This was before the days of GPS, and I was having difficulty finding my way, so I stopped at a little country store to ask for directions. When I told the clerk where I was going, he jokingly replied, “You can’t get there from here. You have to go someplace else and start over.”

Of course, he was being facetious, but his answer was a great metaphor for the journey into the world of shamanism. If you plan to journey to the Otherworld which is the realm of the shaman, you can’t get there from here. This is one of the reasons for the death and rebirth experience so common to shamanistic paths throughout the world. The shaman must die to his old way of living and being in the world and be reborn into the life of the shaman. Sometimes the rites required to complete this task may seem odd or downright silly to modern eyes. Celtic shamans were required to stand on one foot like a crane, with one eye covered, while seeking visions or pronouncing prophecies. Some Native Americans stood for days with pebbles between their toes to keep them awake while seeking visions. Some shamans painted their naked bodies, lay down in boats at sea, ate special foods, slept wrapped in a buffalo hide, or engaged in drumming, singing, chanting, and a variety of other behaviors all designed to put the shaman’s consciousness in touch with the Otherworld.

So it’s pretty obvious that some of the rites, rituals, and tools of shamanism will feel weird at first. That’s okay. If they didn’t feel strange, you’d already be doing them. Given time you will become accustomed to these new ways of being and new ways of doing as part of your spiritual practice. If you cannot get past the unfamiliarity with drumming and chanting, wearing a feathered cloak, or performing rites, then you “can’t get there from here.” In such a case, you are not ready to enter the Belly of the Whale, and you are still in the Refusal of the Call. Answering the Call of the Coyote means setting forth with purpose, with determination, and with will. There’s no, “I guess so” on the Path of the Coyote. If you are not certain that you are ready, then you are in Refusal of the Call and are not ready for ecospirituality.

The way out of this Refusal of the Call is to trust the process. Trust your own instinct, and trust your own Supernatural Aid. Trust in your connections to others, to nature, and to self. Meditate on what your inner voice may be trying to tell you. The way to know if you are ready to take the call is to know with certainty that it can be no other way.

When you achieve this sense of certainty, you will be ready to die to your old way of being and to be reborn as a follower of the Way of the Coyote.

Posted on by

Characteristics of Shamanism

characteristics of the shaman shamanism

Shamanism is known throughout most indigenous cultures of the world. The word shaman itself comes from the Evenk language (Tungusic) of North Asia, and originally meant, “one who knows,” so a shaman is a wise person. The word itself is North Asian in origin, but most primal cultures had some sort of concept of the shaman, even though they might not have been known by that name. In ancient Scotland, they were called “taibhsear,” or “vision seekers.” In Lakota, they were called “Wicasa Wakan,” or “holy men.” In Hawaii, the word is “Kupuna,” meaning “Elder” or “Ancestor.”

There are nuances of meaning from culture to culture. Some cultures get offended when people use an Evenk word to describe their own shamanic traditions. Still, the word “shaman” has become ingrained in common usage to refer to anyone from any culture who practices a spiritual path with the characteristics listed below:

Ecospiritual shaman drumming
  • Out-of-Body experiences – These experiences are sometimes called “soul journeys” or “magic flights.” In such an experience, the practitioner’s soul leaves the body and travels to distant places and/or times to gather information for healing and other purposes. Most cultures that practice shamanism also have a belief that the shaman can visit the Otherworld; the realm of the dead that is the dwelling place of the departed Ancestors, and sometimes of the gods as well.
  • Chanting, drumming, and dancing – These rhythmic and repetitive sounds are specifically designed not for entertainment, but to induce a trance-like state that can then be used to journey to the Otherworld.
  • A codified system of training – This training system usually takes the form of an apprenticeship in which an experienced shaman trains a student in specific tools and techniques usually geared towards producing visions and otherworldly journeys.
  • An initiatory crisis involving a death and rebirth experience – This is usually a ritualized event in which the student or apprentice “dies” to the old way of life and is reborn to a new way of being in the world. It usually also includes a new way of seeing the world.
  • Gifts of divination, diagnosis, and/or prophecy – Shamans are able to see the future, diagnose sicknesses, and make prophecies. Divination and prophecy usually take the shape of journeying to the Otherworld and bringing back information, or consulting with the gods about the fate of a person or situation. The diagnostic aspect can incorporate basic medical skills but also moves beyond the physical to seeking diagnostic information within the spiritual realm.
  • Healing rites and rituals involving spiritual matters – Shamans from most cultures journey to the Otherworld to recover lost souls who may have left their bodies behind during a sickness. They may also recover spirits trapped in various versions of Limbo.
  • A belief that diseases are caused wholly or in part by spirits, witches, sorcerers, or curses – A modern take on this belief is the idea of doing energy work in order to prevent the influence of negative energies and to promote the influence of positive energies.
  • A belief in and interaction with totem animals and spirits – Most shamans have at least one totem animal, and many have more than one. Totem animals assist the shaman in spirit journeys, and in completing magical tasks. They may also watch over the shaman and people under her protection.
  • An ability to shape-shift into different animals – This shape-shifting doesn’t necessarily imply a literal transformation. It could be creative costuming and mimicry. Shamans from many cultures wear feathered cloaks because birds have the ability to shift between the worlds of earth and sky. By impersonating birds, shamans gain their powers and abilities. So by dancing like a bird, the shaman gains the power to travel between the worlds.
  • Ability to cast and cure curses – Shamans have the ability to see things others cannot. This means that they can recognize the influence of negative energies in the form of curses. They also have the ability to hurl curses at others using their own spirit allies.
  • Ability to perform hunting magic – Shamans have the ability to predict the movements of food animals, to bring them closer to the tribe, and perform rites and blessings of thanksgiving for a successful hunt.

Shamanism: Becoming an Ecospiritual Shaman

Looking over the list of the characteristics of the shaman outlined above, a modern spiritual seeker can readily identify with some of those characteristics, while others might be more difficult to put into a modern context. It’s easy to engage in ritual chanting, drumming, and dancing around a campfire, and to have a ritual death and rebirth experience (in a metaphorical sense, that is). It may be more difficult to cast curses or to engage in hunting magic in a contemporary urban environment.

What does it mean to be a shaman in modern times? How do we walk the shaman in an industrialized society? A redefining of the role of the shaman is necessary. The way to begin this redefinition is to first answer the call.

In the Departure phase of our journey to ecospirituality, we are leaving the familiar world to partake in a journey of self-awareness. We are learning a new way of being in the world and challenging our old assumptions and perceptions about the way the world works. We are allowing ourselves to awaken to a world of wider possibilities by being willing to do things in a different way. It may mean challenging the old dogmas by which we have lived our lives in the past. It may mean allowing Coyote to devour our sacred cows so that we can come to trust our own inner voices. It may mean learning to trust ourselves and our own supernatural aid enough to be willing to take that first step into a new reality.

The choices you make create that reality for you.

The Call to Adventure is the catalyst that sets the Hero’s Journey in motion. It could be an inner need to change one’s circumstances, or it could be an external event that triggers the journey. For Buddha, it was the inner desire to seek enlightenment. For Luke Skywalker, the Empire forced his hand. In either case, the hero recognizes that something fundamental has changed, and he/she can never go back to the way things were.

You may have received such a Call to Adventure. It is up to you how you choose to answer that call. In the coming weeks, we’ll be talking about how.