shamanic craftswoman as healer€¦ · blacked out significant traumas in your life? 7. do you...

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PO Box 290 Robertson NSW 2577 Australia

www.schoolofshamanicmidwifery.com

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Shamanic Craftswoman as Healer

From the traditional shamanic perspective, all illness is seen as a manifestation of disharmony in a

person’s life. The imbalance may manifest emotionally, mentally, physically or spiritually. Healing

practices have been handed down through the shamanic traditions and used by shamans to heal

people of their illnesses for thousands of years. Fundamental to their practice are intention and trust,

integrity, right use of power and the idea that the shaman is the vessel through which the universe

works, the ‘hollow bone’. Modern Feminine shamanism adds to this a seeking and relating to the

different aspects of the Goddess, engaging them to participate in the healing process, serving as

Priestess to clients, translating symbols and stories and acting as a mediator between the worlds.

Various combinations of symptoms of illness when seen from a shamanic perspective represent

either a loss of power, loss of soul or the intrusion of a harmful power. The knowledge that informs

these diagnosis and related practices sees the interconnectedness of all life and the influential affects

the shaman can have on the ‘reality’ of the ‘here and now’ by actions in the other realms or realities,

such as Soul Retrieval, Power Animal Retrieval and Extrusion.

Traditional Shamanic Healing Practice

Symptoms of Power Animal Loss

These may include:

“Chronic health problems, always being ill with a cold or the flu or some other complaint of illness.

Chronic depression or suicidal tendencies is another clue that a person may be suffering from a

loss of power. Chronic misfortune.

The role of a power animal is to keep a person protected from harm. The power animal also keeps

one healthy and well balanced.

But a problem occurs when a person loses a power animal, and no replacement appears.”

The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner

Symptoms of Soul Loss

These may include:

“Chronic depression, suicidal tendencies, and chronic illnesses are also symptoms of soul loss. It is

emotionally painful to be fragmented, dissociated, and not feeling part of life. The soul may have

been frightened away, lost, or stolen. Persons who have lost parts of their souls describe themselves

as dissociated, and often have no memory of certain segments of their lives. When a person

complains to me that he or she has not "been myself" since a trauma, such as surgery, an accident,

a divorce, or the death of someone close, I suspect soul loss.”

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“The following questions are helpful in determining whether soul loss has occurred.

1. Do you ever have a difficult time staying "present" in your body? Do you sometimes feel as if

you're outside your body observing it as you would a movie?

2. Do you ever feel numb, apathetic, or deadened?

3. Do you suffer from chronic depression?

4. Do you have problems with your immune system and have trouble resisting illness?

5. Were you chronically ill as a child?

6. Do you have gaps in your memory of your life after age five? Do you sense that you may have

blacked out significant traumas in your life?

7. Do you struggle with addictions to, for example, alcohol, drugs, food, sex, or gambling?

8. Do you find yourself looking to external things to fill up an internal void or emptiness?

9. Have you had difficulty moving on with your life after a divorce or the death of a loved one?

10. Do you suffer from multiple personality syndrome?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may be dealing with soul loss. Important parts of

your essential core self may not be available to you. If so, the vital energy and gifts of these parts

are temporarily inaccessible. From my perspective, the lost parts exist in nonordinary reality, from

which they can be recovered only by shamanic means.

Let me emphasize that in all of these cases, I am describing partial soul loss. By contrast, a person

in a coma is experiencing full soul loss. In coma, the soul may be trying to cross over into death and

has become lost, or there may be unresolved issues in ordinary reality that keep the person from

making that transition. Perhaps the soul doesn't know how to come back into the body. In any case,

the soul loss is complete, and the person is unable to function in ordinary reality.”

Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self by Sandra Ingerman

Symptoms of Spiritual Intrusion

These may include:

“When a person is dealing with a localized illness, such as some forms of cancer or a pain in the

shoulder or emotional pain in the heart, there is a good possibility that the person is suffering from

a spiritual intrusion. All illness has a spiritual identity.

It is the role of the shaman to identify the spiritual nature of the illness and its location in the body.

Once this is known, the shaman removes the illness by pulling or "sucking" it out of the body. This

is called a shamanic extraction.

These spiritual intrusions are spirits misplaced in the person's body—they are not evil spirits.

Here's a simple example: If a spider comes into your house, the spider is not evil. It is misplaced,

and we hope you will remove the spider and place it outside, back on the earth where it belongs.

In an illness, these intrusions "believe" that the patient's body is home. The shaman removes the

intrusion and puts it back into nature again, where it is neutralized. The hard part for the shaman


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lies in trying to get the intrusion out of the body. The intrusion has a nice, comfortable, warm home

and has no intention of leaving. Before I work with intrusions, I want to gather all my power to me

by singing and using my rattle, so that I go into the work having more power than this intrusion

has. And I must have enough power to shield myself so that the intrusion will not enter into my

body.

Spiritual intrusions often enter a person because of negative thought forms. For example, if I am

angry at someone and can't express my anger directly, I may send an intrusion to that person, even

though I have no intention of doing harm. If the person does not have power at the time, I might

unconsciously send illness their way. In populated cities negative thought forms are constantly

flying around. Thus, from a shamanic perspective, it is essential for us to keep a connection with

our power animal to avoid becoming ill. It is also essential that we learn how to deal with our

feelings in a constructive way.”

Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self by Sandra Ingerman

Traditionally the shaman of the village or community would be called to a sick person to heal them.

She or he would perform particular practices and rituals to “fix the problem” and healing would

follow. The diagnosis was determined by the shaman, the power of, and responsibility for the

healing lay with the shaman, and the healing came from outside the person via the shaman. The

shaman would bring back a power animal for someone or retrieve their missing soul parts, or

extract a spiritual intrusion. The person was the “patient” and the shaman the “healing expert”.

This is very simply a patriarchal healing framework.

The world of shamanism has been just as affected by our patriarchal culture as everything else. The

information we have today about shamanism, shamans and shamanic practice, comes to us from the

research of mostly male anthropologists interviewing and observing mostly male shamans, this all

within the last few hundred years, and deep in the patriarchal way of thinking and analysing.

Of course this is not the whole story.

One of the first important tasks of the shamanic craftwoman as healer is to understand the current

perspective of shamanic healing and help bring that to its next evolution. This comes from

understanding the issues at hand, the perspective they were created with and then how to be with all

that as an agent of change.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert

Einstein


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Reclaiming Feminine Shamanism

The oldest known skeletal remains of a shaman belong to a woman1, and according to researcher

Geoffrey Ashe – “ancient shamanism was not an individual phenomenon but something that was

practiced by the female group. And the power of the female group is biologically rooted in

menstruation and the blood mysteries of birth.”2

In her article, Birthing as Shamanic Experience, Leslene della-Madre explores this further, “A

shaman is one who flies between the worlds, and who has a foot in both worlds – that of the seen

and unseen. When a woman bleeds, she enters the world of the unseen, the world of dreams,

intuition and spirits…..With the female group bleeding together, the collective vision is deep and

profound, with far reaching effects on the community. In matrifocal societies, it was probably true

that tribal life was guided by the visions of women who bled together. Women accessing healing

and wisdom in the unseen realms through their blood, in rhythm with the moon, together, was a

primal shamanic art. And giving birth was also a primal shamanic art”.

The woman shaman was the community healer, seer and gatekeeper between the worlds, the

spiritual ceremonialist and often the midwife. She worked with herbs, dreams, symbols, ceremony,

ritual, oracles and journeying in trance states to other realms for the purpose of healing and

mediation for others. Nature was her guide; she understood the interconnectedness of all things.

“That women's bodies and minds are particularly suited to tap into the power of the transcendental

has been ignored. The roles that women have played in healing and prophecy throughout human

history have been denigrated. All too often women who enter medicine or the ministry still believe

they're stepping into a strictly men's field; in fact, these are historically women's fields that men

have since entered. Women have been characterized as mere artisans or craftspeople— weavers

and potters—instead of recognized for the creative, lifegiving, cosmos-shaping powers these arts

represent. Why? The reasons undoubtedly range from misreading of research to sexism pure and

simple. But it's time to take another look at the evidence of millennia and of cultures around the

globe. It's time to reclaim the woman in the shaman's body.”3

There have been places within traditional cultures where the feminine shamanic approach has been

maintained, and this has allowed the differences between the male and female ways to be seen.

Ways such as men choosing other men as shamans, but women receiving a call directly from the

spirits; and the differences between their healing rituals and tools.

In the mid-1980s a Huichol shaman by the name of Ulu Temay, or Arrow Man, told his story and it

was reported on:

“His narrative, reveals the belief that women were the first shamans, and naturally gifted as such.

The only way men could become shamans was to kill the women and steal their paraphernalia and

1 The Woman in the Shaman’s Body by Barbara Tedlock 2 Shakti Woman by Vicki Noble 3 The Woman in the Shaman’s Body by Barbara Tedlock


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knowledge. Arrow Man's account suggests something essentially feminine about the shamanic arts.

And although it calls into question the very legitimacy of male shamans, large numbers of shamans

of both sexes continue to exist among the Huichol. Often they're divided by gender between priestly

and healing roles, with males officiating at temple services and females practicing as herbalists,

midwives, and diviners. Perhaps the myth reflects the fact that some Huichol men claimed the

public ceremonial function for themselves and the women allowed them to do so, while the women

maintained their family healing practices. (This division of labor is also found among other

Mesoamerican people, including the Aztec and the K'iche' Maya.)4

The difference between the masculine and feminine shamanic approaches also shows up in the tools

and focus of the shaman. “The male shamans of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, together with females

trained and initiated by male relatives, transcend illness by fighting unseen enemies (often with

swords and pistols) and ordering them away. Women shamans together with men trained within a

more feminine tradition focus on healing inner emotional and physical imbalances; they insist on a

patient's self-awareness, purification, acceptance, and surrender. And aim to "see" the cause of

affliction and help "draw out" the illness. The feminine shamanic approach has foundations that are

spiritual and interpersonal rather than heroic and individual.”5

It is well known that a woman’s experience of her fertility cycle greatly enhances her shamanic

abilities. During her bleeding time she is finely tuned to the trance state required for shamanic work

and seeing between the worlds, during pregnancy she accesses the creative and transformative

powers of her body and the natural world, in giving birth she has a significant shamanic experience

and menopause leads her through another initiation.

Midwifery, which at its best is women helping women access their inner wisdom and strength, is a

shamanic practice. Barbara Tedlock says: “In culture after culture I have found that – like my

Ojibwe grandmother – women shamans are nearly always midwives. The act of helping souls to

transform themselves in order to cross from the other world into this world turns out to be at the

heart of feminine shamanic traditions worldwide.”

“Most students of shamanism have followed Mircea Eliade in focusing their attention on masculine

shamanic paths—dismemberment, evisceration, and symbolic death leading to rebirth—as

necessary to shamanic initiation. Women on feminine paths focus their attention around birth: they

receive their shamanic calling during menarche or pregnancy and are symbolically born into the

profession.”6

“As a general rule, women shamans, and men trained within a feminine tradition, have an

interpersonal orientation; they coax their clients to become active participants in their own healing.

Male shamans, and women trained in a masculine tradition, take on a heroic role; they encourage

4 The Woman in the Shaman’s Body by Barbara Tedlock 5 ibid 6 Ibid


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their clients to take the role of passive spectators at their dramatic performances. It is vital that we

understand both paths, crucial that we focus on the entire life-death-rebirth continuum.”7

Shamanic Womancraft: A Return to the Wise Woman Tradition

Shamanic womancraft seeks to return the power of healing to the individual rather than focus on the

power residing in the healer and maintain the ‘cult of the expert’.

This is not to say that we ought to disregard patriarchal shamanic ways. Rather, we can do what we

need to do by moving from one level of understanding to the next; including and transcending –

evolving.

Shamanic womancraft is the practice and art of facilitating transformation for individuals, using

traditional shamanic techniques as well as a modern understanding of myth and metaphor and the

benefits of returning the power of healing to the individual. Others may be involved in the healing,

but from a different direction, horizontal as opposed to hierarchical. Likewise when you play a role

in someone else’s healing journey, let it be from a place of service and midwifing or facilitation,

rather than implying or thinking that you are fixing someone.

Shamanic womancraft is a return to the Wise Woman Tradition, spoken of by Susun Weed.8 And as

we know, in order to be authentic, this practice needs to come from a place of experience and

knowing of the pathway of healing through self-healing. The shamanic craftswoman as healer holds

the space for the healing to happen rather than making it happen. She guides the person within to

find their answers, encouraging them to take responsibility for themselves, their wounding, their

wisdom and their healing. She comes from the understanding that nothing is broken, so nothing

needs to be fixed, everything is in process. She supports others to find this through reframing their

woundings to bring out their deeper meaning and purpose. The Earth, Nature, is her teacher; the

cycles the way of life. The shamanic craftswoman sees all acts of healing as soul retrieval and

supports individuals to bring themselves ‘back home’. She creates community through honouring

and celebrating the Earth’s seasons and the rites of passage of the people, so as to avoid soul and

power loss; and helps by example and through guidance to reconnect individuals to their own true

nature, through connecting with the Earth and all who inhabit the planet.

Shamanic womancraft seeks to make traditional shamanic practices relevant today. In the modern

world, in our mission to facilitate transformation with people who may not understand or accept the

shamanic perspective, we can see and communicate the symptoms and treatments of such situations

as Power Animal Loss, Soul Loss and Spiritual Intrusions, both literally and metaphorically.

The loss of one’s Power Animal, can be recognized as loss of one’s inner power, strength and

ability to create effective boundaries, both externally (in relationships) and internally (immune

system dysfunction). Soul Loss is known in modern psychology as ‘disassociation’ and is a well

7 The Woman in the Shaman’s Body by Barbara Tedlock 8 Spirit and Practice of the Wise Woman Tradition © 2001 by Susun S. Weed


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known ‘condition’ for those who have experienced shock in some form. When dealt with using

shamanic midwifery tools, disassociation can become an embracing of the sacred wound and a

pathway ‘back home’ rather than a mental health diagnosis and all that entails. Spiritual Intrusions

can be seen as the physical manifestation of our thoughts and an opportunity to practice

mindfulness as well as using shamanic tools to be release the energy.

Shamanism has its deepest roots within a community that supports its philosophy and practices.

One of the most important components of shamanic healing practices is the role the community

plays in bearing witness to experiences of healing such as welcoming the return of soul. Shamanic

beliefs and practices, which form the foundations and thus health care for the people, create

community and culture. The rituals we use for our healing practices and in conducting our rites of

passage create our culture and reinforce it. In our modern world these opportunities, our rites of

passage, are mostly missed and usually result in a negative impact on the individual.

Life in our modern cultures is very different to how it traditionally was, and how it works best. “It

takes a community to raise a child” and to support the mothers, fathers, grandparents and beyond.

Community, the kind that human beings thrive in, has long disappeared from the modern western

world. There are some places where extended families live together, but in the main this is a

forgotten and even put down way of living. But alas, the state of our families shows the effects of

this isolation - divorce rates, single parent families and abuse in the home are at their highest rates.

The rites of passage of menarche for girls and puberty for boys are all but ignored and often

replaced unconsciously with detrimental experiences. Childbirth is not treated as sacred and

mothers and babies suffer as a result of clinical, harsh experiences that affect them for the rest of

their lives.

Because of all this, soul loss is more prevalent today than ever before and the role of community is

more important than it has ever been.

The shamanic craftswoman as healer can help recreate community by facilitating rites of passage

and celebrating the seasonal sabbats, by gathering like minded folk and together being ‘what the

Earth needs now.’ She draws on ancient female shamanic perspectives and practices, on the Wise

Woman Ways, on the Earth as teacher and on helping folk return to their whole state, their essence,

through earth based spiritual practices and connections. Incorporating the energy of the lunar

phases, the earth’s seasons, connecting to her inner power and strength, knowing the healing role of

movement, sound and the drum. Seeing every person she works with as a teacher bringing her an

opportunity to grow and heal too.

“Every Person who has been in your life is your Teacher and Healer” Denise Linn

And this idea develops naturally to include what we already know:

‘Every woman is her own midwife’

‘Every woman/person is their own shaman’

‘Every one is on a healing journey to wholeness’

and “Everyone is both a teacher and a student”


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This perspective does not negate the role anyone else may play in our healing, our learning etc, nor

the traditional shamanic practices and perspectives. It reinforces that if power and authority are

returned to their rightful place, with the individual, then we can shift from the power over,

patriarchal ‘cult of the expert’, which also plays out in modern day shamanism, to the wise woman

tradition described by Susun Weed.

“Wise Woman Tradition is the world's oldest healing tradition. Its symbol is the spiral. The whole is

greater than the sum of its parts. Life is a spiraling, ever-changing completeness. Disease and

injury are doorways of transformation. Each one of us is inherently whole, yet seeking greater

wholeness; perfect, yet desiring greater perfection. Whole/healthy/holy. Substance, thought, feeling,

and spirit inseparable, intertwined. No Diseases, No Cures, No Healers. Woman-centered, heart

centered, the Wise Woman tradition has no rules, no texts, no rites. It is constantly changing,

constantly being re-invented, open to the ever-changing perfection of the eternal moment. The focus

is on the person, not the problem, nourishing not curing, self-healing not healing another.”9

Shamanic Healing for the Earth

And as always “as within, so without”; through healing ourselves we can participate in the healing

of our cultures and our environments. The human condition reflects the planet’s condition. The

healing required by one is required by all. Once a ‘critical mass’ is reached, the ‘Tipping Point’ can

be observed as the time when the concept shifts from fringe to mainstream. Healing can happen

each way along the ancestral line, throughout a community and to the Earth, all at once within one

act of healing.

“so drop your pebble in the mainstream, start a ripple…”

Maxi Jazz

Specific healing rituals can be done to call back Soul and help places on the Earth which have been

damaged or stripped of their natural power and beauty eg nuclear radiation, chemical pollution,

polluted waters, de-forested lands, city areas with no gardens etc. We can help to call back the life

force of the planet. In the words of Sandra Ingerman: “the keys are intention or purpose, putting

your heart into the work, commitment to what you are doing, and trusting that the healing will

come. When we do choose to work in this way, we must be responsible to the environment once the

healing is accomplished.”10

9 Spirit and Practice of the Wise Woman Tradition by Susun Weed 10 Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self by Sandra Ingerman


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Considerations when Working with Others

1) To know how the current of healing energy works and how best to facilitate that.

2) To return the power to the person.

3) To midwife healing rather than conduct it

4) To know the true value in practicing this way

5) To give thanks for the teacher that comes to you

6) To look to Nature as a teacher

1) To know how the current of healing energy works and how best to facilitate that.

Energy, chi, qi, prana, is the life force. Accessing it basically revolves around using the breath and

different breathing techniques, drawing up the yin/feminine energy from the earth through the base

chakra and drawing in yang/masculine energy from the universe through the crown chakra.

Understanding and accessing this flow enables you to increase your inner strength, power and

available energy.

Once you are tuned into the flow of energy you can move it through your body with intention via

your mind, your hands and your heart. Teaching and practicing the basic grounding exercise11 with

your client is a good way to start a healing session and is a direct experience of energy.

The science of this is that everyone’s heart emits an electro-magnetic field that reaches about 15

feet beyond their body, with the strongest measurements being within three feet of the heart. Our

electromagnetic fields merge with, affect and are affected by those around us. The electromagnetic

energy emitted by the heart is greatly influenced by the heart’s activity at the time and this is

determined by the person’s feelings, thoughts and their environment. Also, the heart has

approximately 40,000 neurons within it and functions as a heart brain.

“These neurons give the heart the ability to independently sense, process information, make

decisions, and even to demonstrate a type of learning and memory. In essence, it appears that the

heart is truly an intelligent system. Research has also revealed that the heart is a hormonal gland,

manufacturing and secreting numerous hormones and neurotransmitters that profoundly affect

brain and body function. Among the hormones the heart produces is oxytocin—well known as the

"love" or "bonding hormone." Science has only begun to understand the effects of the

electromagnetic fields produced by the heart, but there is evidence that the information contained in

the heart’s powerful field may play a vital synchronizing role in the human body—and that it may

affect others around us as well.”12

In setting the energy for a healing session the shamanic midwife can take responsibility for her heart

generated electromagnetic field by feeling positive emotions and positive thoughts. This will

11 SSW Grounding Exercise Opening Gathering Handout 12 http://www.heartmath.org/education/education-research/emwave-self-regulation-technology-theoretical-basis.html


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increase her heart’s coherence or optimal functioning and influence the vibration of her

electromagnetic field. It will also determine how she functions and also how her client will too as

her electromagnetic field entrains with the person she is working with. The way this works is

through the higher vibrating field slowing down and the slower one speeding up so they meet in the

middle.

“The Institute of HeartMath’s research has shown that generating sustained positive emotions

facilitates a body-wide shift to a specific, scientifically measurable state. This state is termed

psychophysiological coherence, because it is characterized by increased order and harmony in both

our psychological (mental and emotional) and physiological (bodily) processes.

Psychophysiological coherence is state of optimal function. Research shows that when we activate

this state, our physiological systems function more efficiently, we experience greater emotional

stability, and we also have increased mental clarity and improved cognitive function. Simply stated,

our body and brain work better, we feel better, and we perform better.

Coherence generally involves the active engagement of positive emotions. Psychologically,

coherence is experienced as a calm, balanced, yet energized and responsive state that is conducive

to everyday functioning and interaction, including the performance of tasks requiring mental acuity,

focus, problem-solving, and decision-making, as well as physical activity and coordination.”13

Breathing can help establish coherence or optimal functioning of the heart.

“Breathing patterns modulate the heart’s rhythm, it is possible to generate a coherent heart rhythm

simply by breathing slowly and regularly at a 10-second rhythm (5 seconds on the in-breath and 5

seconds on the out-breath). Breathing rhythmically in this fashion can thus be a useful intervention

to initiate a shift out of stressful emotional state and into increased coherence. However, this type of

cognitively-directed paced breathing can require considerable mental effort and is difficult for

some people to maintain.”14

“Studies have shown that when caring people hold hands their heart rate and brain waves

synchronize with each other.

Every organ in the body has a specific, measurable, vibrating wavelength frequency.

Neurons in both the brain and heart emit electromagnetic waves, but of the two, the heart is the

most powerful source in the human body. Its electromagnetic generator emits waves that are 5000

times stronger than that of brain neurons and creates a field that extends out from the body perhaps

as far as 15 feet.

The electromagnetic radio spectrum of your heart is profoundly affected by your emotional

response to the world. In other words, your emotions and feelings affect the information contained

in your heart’s electromagnetic signal and can alter your heart’s electromagnetic spectrum. When

your heart rhythms are more ordered or coherent, the electromagnetic field produced becomes

more coherent as well.

13 http://www.heartmath.org/education/education-research/emwave-self-regulation-technology-theoretical-basis.html 14 ibid


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According to Karl Pribrum, former researcher/professor at Stanford University in California, the

electromagnetic field of a person’s body becomes more coherent as the individual shifts into a

sincerely caring state.

Neurons function as both receivers and transmitters—sending and receiving. The energetic

information contained in your heart’s electromagnetic field can be detected not only by your own

brain and body, but also by the brains and bodies of people around you. And your brain and body

are impacted by the Em energy that others are transmitting.

The negative impact that can result when the Em energy that is being transmitted is negative.”15

Once you have established your own heart coherence and your electromagnetic field, it will,

through the process of entrainment, affect the person you are working with.

‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ Mahatma Gandhi

Ways to access energy through the breath

Breathing techniques to raise energy in the body come to us from yoga, qigong and many martial

arts. The basis of these are focus, intention, depth, awareness and heating or cooling.

Restoring energy and recovering after intense experiences

When one encounters a session or experience such as a birth or death that depletes one’s energy, it

is important to restore this as soon as possible. Basic things like washing and cleansing both

physically and energetically, eating, resting, debriefing, journaling and expressing any withheld

energy through movement, sound or creativity, are of great value.

Massage, baths, receiving care from others eg meals, help with chores etc. and just simply taking

the time to rebuild your energy, by being nurtured and nurturing yourself are important. Qigong

practises, yoga, meditation, walks in nature will all help the process of building up depleted energy.

Lying belly down on the earth and breathing in through your belly is a useful ‘first aid” practice for

dealing with intense emotions that may arise from big life experiences, and for drawing earth

energy into you. Being in negative ion environments (ocean, mountains, waterfalls) and breathing

that into you will also help. As will calling your guides, teachers and power animals to you.

Be open to ‘hearing’ what you need to do to recover and replenish, it may be something you don’t

usually do.

15 http://www.arlenetaylor.org/taylors-articles/737-heart-learning


http://www.arlenetaylor.org/taylors-articles/737-heart-learning

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Ways to Create Protection for Self and Others

When we engage the mindset that we need to protect ourselves we are moving from a place of trust

and love to a place of fear and doubt. This may be appropriate, and also may not. Most spiritual

practices include various techniques to protect oneself and others and usually have in common the

creation of some sort of barrier between you and the outside world or other people or things. Also

common are practices to increase your own inner strength such as grounding and ways to let energy

flow through you.

There are various ways that Nature can teach us in these sorts of situations and they usually involve

lessons of flexibility such as bamboo bending and swaying with the energy of the wind and flowing

water taking the path of least resistance. Evolution in various plants and animals has often occurred

around their need to protect themselves and these can be seen metaphorically as well as literally.

We know from cell biology through the work of Bruce Lipton that a cell that is predominantly

engaged in protecting itself will not grow.

“There are hundreds of behavioral functions expressed by a cell, all behaviors can be classified as

either growth or protection responses. Cells move toward growth signals and away from life

threatening stimuli (protection response). Since a cell can not move forward and backward at the

same time, a cell can not be in growth and protection at the same time. At the cellular level, growth

and protection are mutually exclusive behaviors. This is true for human cells as well. If our tissues

and organs perceive a need for protection, they will compromise their growth behavior. Chronic

protection leads to a disruption of the tissue and its function” Bruce Lipton

Our cells are our microcosm, what’s going on, on a cellular level, is going on at every level. So, the

message in regard to protection is get out of harms way or change your attitude to what you

perceive as danger. If we understand everything as part of a process then perceived danger may well

be the next piece in the puzzle or the next experience to encounter.

Observe what is going on around you when you are working with someone, what animals or birds

appear and their medicine or messages, interruptions, other occurrences, your feelings, repeated

phrases etc, and build these into your understanding of what’s going on, you will begin to see the

process in play for the person and yourself reflected in everything else.

2) To return the power to the person.

This may well be the most significant healing act you participate in. When someone knows that

their healing is up to them and all the different aspects of them that will influence it, there is a return

of power to the person. There are no short cuts for sustained healing and wellbeing. The individual

must walk the path, with intention, with humility, embracing the changes required for their healing.


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3) To midwife healing rather than conduct it

Creating and ‘holding the space’ for the healing to happen, asking questions that enable the person’s

own wisdom to arise, and understanding that healing happens from within.

Creating the Space (external and internal)

It is important to have gathered all your power to you before commencing healing work on others as

you will be exposed to their energy field in whatever state it is in and they to yours. If you

strengthen your energy field you will enable the other person to benefit from this too, as your

energy fields will naturally entrain with each other.

Ways to do this, before you commence your session, include:

Calling the Goddess be with you, perhaps a particular Goddess

Call your power animal/s, guides, teachers and allies

Meditation

Grounding

Aligning with the energies of the place

Singing your power song

Drumming, rattling

Invoke a power shield around you

Smudge

Holding the Space

To ‘hold space’ is to be a conduit (a connection between the realms or the wisdom available), a

‘hollow bone’, a vessel, and also no-thing. Holding space requires patience, quiet, respect, trust and

faith. Holding space may be keeping the literal space quiet, contained, safe, allowing for long

periods of silence, knowing that a lot may be going on inside the person. It might also include

helping decipher the messages they are receiving and helping them not be distracted and drawn off

the path. It may involve receiving wisdom on their behalf as well, but it is always about the person

coming to the answer, not you giving it to them. You may offer an insight, but let it be spoken of as

what you are feeling or what is arising for you rather than something like “I think you need this or

need to do this…”

Holding space is defined clearly by the practice of a midwife during a birth. She helps the woman

with her basic needs; she guides when necessary with suggestions and questions and mostly is out

of the woman’s way. A big piece in one’s effectiveness in holding space comes from the space you

are holding within yourself at the time. If you are nervous, upset, angry etc then these feelings will

all be transmitted to the people and environment around you. You need to be aware of what arises

for you and act upon it so as not to dominate the field around you and subsequently the experiences

for those in your space.


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If you feel overwhelmed by emotions that arise in you through the healing session or birth etc then

you need to somehow discharge them or choose to examine them at another time. Working with

others in their emotional space, uncovering wounds and feeling in to them deeply often brings rise

to one’s own pain and unresolved issues. This is both the gift of the healing for you and something

you need to manage in a way that doesn’t take away from the process at hand or your own process.

Starting the healing session with clear intentions and seeing yourself in the role of priestess will

help you in this as well as maintaining “witness perspective” at all times. Witness perspective

enables you to watch what’s going on in the session from a viewpoint that isn’t where your pain is.

This doesn’t rob you of your personal experience, rather it enables you to serve the process and

observe with a ‘big picture’ perspective – seeing what’s going on, for the person and for you. This

is an art and requires as much self awareness as possible to do.

A common question which arises often when working with others is “Is this my stuff or yours?”

If you are in a healing service relationship, in the witness perspective, fully conscious and aware of

your own processes, then you will be able to hold your own space and know that whatever arises for

the person are their own opportunities or ‘stuff’.

People can often be heard to say “You make me feel…” however this of course is completely

impossible. No-one makes anyone feel anything; it is completely one’s choice what they feel. A

feeling may arise again from a lifetime of habitual reactions to certain situations, but it is always the

feeler’s choice to feel or not. It is always a good practice at the beginning of a session to speak this

truth. Whatever arises for one is always their own stuff, you included. If an issue is on the table so

to speak and there is no ‘charge’ for you in relation to it, then nothing is arising and you have no

current issue with the subject. If you feel charge or emotion around something, then it is your

‘stuff’.

Other common ways of behaving that confuse our interactions when working with others include

projections, transference and blame. These behaviors can also be spoken of at the start of a session

as other relatively common ways a person will try to avoid taking responsibility for themself and

their healing.

“When I have a big reaction to another person - whether is positive or negative, and realize that

there is a projection going on and that I am really seeing a part of myself reflected in them, I can

begin to heal by owning a part of me that I may have been ignoring or unwilling to recognize. With

this raising of consciousness, there is more wholeness; there is the possibility of resolving my own

issue rather than allowing others to carry the disgruntlement. Once I have integrated the projection

as a part of myself, there will be less charge about others' behaviors and more acceptance of who I

am.

When a situation in life or a relationship with another evokes an emotional reaction that is out of

proportion to the incidence, we are reacting with transference. We frequently transfer our past onto

the present.


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Rather than responding to the situation from the present, we react with unresolved emotions from

the past. When I have a big emotional reaction there is a likelihood that I am reacting the same way

I may have reacted to my mother, sisters or father when I was a child. So, transference is a

projected experience. This reaction can happen physically, emotionally or mentally.”16

4) To know the true value in practicing this way

Practicing in this way is truly empowering, growth promoting and keeps the energy flowing in a life

enhancing way.

The Role of Debriefing

Debriefing is an exercise in reflection and contemplation that serves the process. Assimilation and

digestion can occur once the true meaning of a situation is unearthed and embraced. To begin ask

“How does this serve?”

Debriefing provides the continued opportunity to heal from one’s previous woundings or sacred

wound. It engages witness perspective and enables the individual to read into what happened, what

they learned from the situation, about themselves, about the other person, what they recognize as a

repeating pattern for them, what they feel was new, what was old, etc.

Debriefing after significant experiences with someone that wasn’t involved can enable a person to

run riot over the truth of a situation and not take the other into consideration. Yet if midwifed, this

situation may well serve the purpose of the speaker actually hearing what they are saying and

recognizing their projections, transferences and blame. With this expressed and recognized, the

person will be more able to take responsibility for their role etc.

The outcome of every circumstance will include all manner of opportunities for everyone involved

as they claim what was truly their story in the experience and what that brought up for them.

Debriefing can take the form of a summarisation of what just occurred, for example in a healing

session or reflections at a later date eg. after a birth. Much will be learned and available for the next

time a similar experience arises.

Debriefing after a birth or other significant rite of passage will give the experience shape and

definition within the individual’s life story. In the case of a birth that may have involved an

unexpected outcome, debriefing enables the mother to see, with her compassionate and wise heart,

how this story plays in to her life story, how it reflects her beliefs, attitudes and fears and enables

her to see what changes she may wish to make within herself.

16 http://marthaderbyshire.com/articles/projection-transference.php


http://marthaderbyshire.com/articles/projection-transference.php

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Every experience we ever have is informed by all that went before, some of these things we have

control over, such as our thoughts, beliefs and fears, and others we have no control over, such as

other people’s actions. Debriefing can help people see what control they have over their lives, what

they can if they choose, let go of and what they need to accept and flow with.

4) To give thanks for the teacher that comes to you

Remembering that each person you work with is teaching you can also offer a more balanced

perspective when working with others. Each opportunity you get to practice this is a gift and a

privilege. The client is midwifing the healer and vice versa.

It may be that in some cases, for whatever reason, you would be better off not working with a

particular person. You may pick this up from a feeling you have. Trust this feeling and feel more

deeply into it to determine whether in fact it’s because your own agendas and wounds have been

activated. If so, then you will need to be very clear with the person about what is arising for you,

this will probably be to the benefit of you both.

5) To look to Nature always as a teacher

Nature, the way of the Earth, is a teacher for us in the practice of healing work with others. She

moves with what is, ‘using’ what is there, what presents itself as the food or energy that will sustain

the next steps toward growth. What is let go of will be as if the compost that will supply the

nutrients for the next stage of growth.

Like bamboo we can be flexible and bend with the winds, and like water we can choose the path of

least resistance as the way through a situation. We can know that just like the hard outer shells that

protect precious seeds holding potential for new growth, we too may have hard outer shells.

Nothing that arises during a healing session is inconsequential or irrelevant. If seemingly

insignificant things arise, they may simply indicate a lack of focus and that is significant. Focused

attention, alongside intention is the basis of healing work at its most powerful. Just giving someone

your complete attention, may very well shift any unhealthy negatively self-focused patterned

behaviour that is holding them in their wounding. One way or another, some day when the time is

right, no matter how many times it has happened before, a situation will change.

“Whenever an energy (emotion, pain, fear) confronts you from either outside or inside, you must

meet it. If you ignore it, the energy will intensify. If you threaten it, the energy will intensify. If you

meet it fully, the energy will have no choice but to change. This is the way of Nature.”

Sandra Ingerman

Everyone is on a healing journey to wholeness, there are no right ways, no right times, it is an

individual and unique journey for each of us. The journey has no beginning and no end and

everyone is perfectly placed just where they are on their journey. The best way to support someone


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on their healing journey to wholeness is to hold them in a heart space of acceptance, love and

compassion, remembering that every step they take in their own journey is a step closer to their own

wholeness, no judgement, just trust and faith and compassion.

Trust in the perfection of everything and every moment, everything is as it needs to be.


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