Moonshadow

Break the agreements and recap is the way to go. Stalk yourself to a different position and, if possible, remove them from your life... but we can't always kick our boss at work to the curb

Agreed, recap was the first time I saw that too.

Yeah energy, that thing that often defies logic, n'est pas? I do think time and physical space can be interconnected, but not necessarily you can experience time without space. Speaking to your specific example, I have also experienced how speed and gravity can affect your perception of how you move through space, a la Einstein. To me, it's as if everything slows down. Once I fell off the back of a truck but the way I fell, my body was spinning in the air before it hit the ground but it felt like I was moving very slowly. Another time I was in the center of a car flipping over, everything became very slow, almost stood still, even though the car was moving very fast. I think you felt the energy of time- in your body, in your energy, moving through space really fast on a train. Time is a real energy, but we've all agreed that it moves in a linear fashion, forward, and that makes sense if you want to measure the sunrise to sunset or being a baby to an old person. But I have also experienced how time is also outside of the physical world. Shamans have been playing with this for centuries, quantum physics is really only just catching up with what we have been saying: there is potential to move through time with your energy, sideways, backwards, or multiple possible future outcomes, and it doesn't have to be with your body.

Hi there. Visions usually are that, like watching a tv screen that's a good way to describe them. We all 'see' uniquely, for example sometimes the things I see (and I don't mean with my physical eyes) takes on a cartoonish quality. I've also found that the cusp between asleep and awake can be an opening to see and experience beyond the normal human range. Sometimes our own energy, and events in our lives, will prod us in the direction of seeing and experiencing things outside the box of normal human experience. You wrote that you're beginning to wake up: when a person starts this process things can energetically begin to become more fluid too. Mandy

I’d intent to discover what brings me fulfillment and joy. Try new things. Spend time in nature. Find Creative outlets like painting or language coding. Sewing clothes, wood work or making music... it just depends on the person. It’s good to find things it will make you feel less restless. Plus it will give you hands and mind something to do as your energy grows and changes. Mandy

Hi. People who are bent have a hard time forging friendships and connecting with the mainstream in the world. Sometimes those who are drawn to the shamanic often go through phases where they stop the world too, especially when they come to that nexus where they want to fundamentally change who they are and heal. It may be something your energy is doing consciously or unconsciously, to give yourself the space to see what you want to make in the world. One thing I've grown to realize it that there's a difference between being lonely and alone. I think once you've cleared your table top and healed a little more you'll begin to connect more with the world and the people in it, but on your terms, and like-minded people will come your way. I'm glad you're here, and someone is always down for a chit chat

Hi Babylace94, Your view of the world resonates with us all, its construct, your desire to live a different way and be at one with nature... we used to live that way, be more at one with the world and we worked to live not lived to work.... this is the age and time we are in, but there's nothing to say it has to stay this way. Just as you are awakening so are others, so take heart. What is crazy and what is normal anyway? You are you. What keeps me going is the very thing that touches you so deeply you say you've lost the will to live... life itself. I'm going to die one day anyway, so my work here is to live life to its fullest, and to work to make the reality I want to live in. Your nostalgia, what you seek, that great joy in being here and connected to the universe is beautiful, and real. It's why we are alive. Don't go back to sleep: the world needs more people like you.

Hi Anthony, You know, I can really relate to how you're feeling. There was a time in my life I felt my whole life was being lived for others, controlled by others, and all my time energy money and life choices I made weren't about me. I too was scared and frightened and although I didn't fully understand what had happened to me to get that way, I knew I didn't want to live like that anymore. I felt like if I continued on like that I was just going to die. I felt so drained. Recapitulation, I can tell you, literally saved my life. Bit by bit, I retrieved the energy I had lost along the way. I took it back from people, my past painful experiences, the ones who hurt and betrayed me or broke my heart, people who were mean to me, or the jobs that I was a slave to. The recap exercise really helped me understand myself and how I just gave my energy away, and how to take it back. Slowly, it was as if I was coming back to life, like I was shattered pieces of a lightbulb that were coming back together and my light getting stronger. We call the recapitulation an act of self-healing for a reason, because it is. Like Lorrie said, make your lists, reclaim your energy, and your world will change. It's like you begin to own your own power and live life on your own terms. I hope this makes sense Just try it, and do it for a few months, and you will see what I mean. Take the class coming up in January if you can. Even if you can't, you have the exercise, and know that we are all here for you if you want to talk and get some advice. Mandy

Hi Taloy. I'm not familiar with tobacco fasts or ayahuasca either, the type of shamanism we practice at Cave Shamans works purely with energy and not medicines. There are many shamanic traditions, ours originated in Europe, I'm curious to know more about it though. What we do here is practice a self-healing method called Recapitulation, which helps heal your energy. If you're curious about it you can find out more about it here: https://www.shamanscave.com/self-healing/recapitulation/ Good luck with getting rid of your blockage, and welcome to the cave.

Hi Voice29, A voice once told me, "how can you heal others, unless you first heal yourself?" Even though we here at the cave believe self-healing is an ongoing process, you need to get a good handle on it and do some groundwork there before you try to work on others because you might not be detached enough to see how to be able to truly help another. We teach an ancient self-healing practice here called recapitulation, one that is as old as shamanism itself and can be found in many respective traditions. It focuses on energy retrieval so you can take back your energy from the world and give back what is not yours, so that you may return to your true un-traumatized self and live the life you were meant to lead in the world, a life that belongs to you and you alone. Can I make a suggestion? Focus on healing yourself and not listening to anyone just now, be they voices you hear or people who whisper suggestions to you. In the process you will change and will become stronger, your light much brighter, without the help of anyone but yourself remembering how to stand in your own power. There's nothing quite like it. There are articles on the public forums just type "self healing" or "recapitulation" in the search bar it should take you to some good reads on the practice. We also offer online classes here that elaborate on self-healing through the recapitulation process, along with exercises. You don't necessarily have to be a shaman to do this but most traditions, if not all, begin with learning how to self-heal. I can tell you from personal experience that I am a changed woman because of it, among other things. I hope this helps. Eman

Good luck and thank you!

Hi YourHumbleServant, You should, if you are choosing to go to school and study, do what you feel calls out to you and makes the reality that you choose to study. The best way I can describe the path of the maker is that it doesn't have much to do with knowledge, school and science but everything to do with experience. What you are exposed to only enriches whatever journeys you undertake and quality of life. Good luck to you, and welcome to the cave Eman

{{Sphinxy}} The realm of ideas and readings are wonderful journeys, but they are finite spaces. In my experience on the shamanic path they don't compare with personal experiences that don't happen in the realm of readings and ideas but in realm of energy. All writings and ideas as such stem from an individual's personal experience. No matter how much they tantalize and excite the mind or your energy, I personally have discovered, it's really different to read about someone who could do X or Y than to be able experience it and do it yourself. To go through the rigor, the journey, and really become a thing, as apposed to reading about the possibility of such a thing. To read about Marjorie Kemp, Merlin, or Gandalf, or to become one like those we read about. Mandy

Hello again. Just thought to tell you what I'm seeing: maybe your feelings that "you're not doing everything you can and should be" is a way your energy is using to tell you that the totality of you wants to grow and be more than you are now. Don't see it as a judgmental thing you should feel guilty about, but as an opportunity. Sometimes we speak to ourselves and push ourselves in ways we don't understand at the time, but in hindsight we look back and see that the moments of pain are really moments of growth. Maybe this is an opportunity for growth, a new path your energy wants to walk. You should explore that and see where it takes you on your journey. Rocks are amazing. Did you know that each stone, in addition to being its own self, is also a small part of the greater intent of this whole big living rock we live on? Stones are pretty cool as natural elements, just as trees (wood) are. Mandy

Hi Ticklebits, I really like to use liquid valerian root as a matter of personal choice for my own physical well being and specific needs, but it's nothing to do with the maker tradition in the sense you are asking.There really aren't any specific herbs used in the maker tradition, although I know that a lot of medicinal shamanism incorporates herbs into their practices. I do think all plants have their specific properties and affect the human body. There's also a maker here who is an herbalist and incorporates the use of herbs in her healing practices to create homeopathic remedies based on her knowledge of their properties. But from where I'm standing in the tradition, she is aligning her own personal intent with the intent of herbs to help people with their physical and mental well being. I hope this makes sense. If you feel that you are picking apart and are up against a family curse, you can work to unravel your energetic connection to it and recap really is a great place to start because it helps to heal your energy and stand free in the world. One thing about feeling negative energy directed at you: try not to stand where it can find you. If you don't agree to the negativity you perceive, you don't agree to it being in your life. I think that's where recap really comes in and helps one detach. Mandy

Hi Sphinxy. Imagine this: you can be your own guide, working, adventuring, exploring, all by the virtue of your own self, your own energy and personal power. This is the way of the maker. Mandy

Hi MorgusHroud, Nothing can have power over you unless you agree to it. Chase it away with your own intent and banish it. You don't need white sage or a tool, but the power of your own invocation. I would tell it to get lost and push it out with my own will power, and then give it no attention Mandy

Hi Joey, It seems like you and the box are in agreement to part ways, so why not fully part? From the perspective of the Maker tradition, it is always better to retrieve your energy rather than to leave it entangled with an object. It is yours, and you can put it to use in your own life. I hope this helps. Mandy

Hi Sam, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. I have hypothyroidism and I can relate to some of the symptoms living with a thyroid issue might be causing you. You know, there's always a reflection of stuff that happens on an energetic level in the physical body, from emotional trauma, etc. Can I recommend a couple really simple things that will help you feel better almost instantly? Ground yourself. Find and hold onto a stone (not a crystal)- any stone / rock will do. Or walk barefoot on the grass or earth. Have some root vegetables, like a potato, or carrot soup. Grounding yourself helps rebalance your energy the earth is great like that for us because we are from it. Spend some time in nature if you can- go for a nice walk. I personally like to carry a stone in my pocket. With all due respect to all the shamans and prayer groups you mentioned, what I'm a little worried about is that all these involvements are leaving you drained rather than helping you feel recharged and to heal. The way we look at things here, yes shamans can help heal you in fact there are some great healers in the world, but to "restore lost pieces of your soul"... no one has the power to do that for you, Sam. The way we look at things from the Maker tradition we practice here, it's not that you lose pieces of your soul, but that you lose energy... and only YOU have the power to get that energy back, and you can do that without any third party intervention or anyone wanting anything in return. I'm glad you reached out to us, and with your permission I am going to do a couple things to help revitalize you, would that be ok with you? Please believe that even though life gets tough, you really do have the power to learn how to heal yourself and reclaim all that you have energetically lost. I am speaking from personal experience There is an energy retrieval practice that talks about how people how to retrieve their own energy and heal themselves, it's an old shamanic practice called recapitulation you can find on the shamans cave library-- here are some links: http://www.shamanscave.com/self-healing/recapitulation/ http://www.shamanscave.com/self-healing/what-is-grounding http://www.shamanscave.com/practices/grounding We also offer classes on self-healing, but to me it looks like you would benefit the most right now by slowing down and taking a deep breath. Oftentimes we can be our own best helpers I wish you well on your journey and am glad you reached out. Know that we Makers at the cave are here for you. Please write back and let us know how you're doing. Mandy

Hi Cammie, At the end of the day, energy is energy, an apple is an apple, no matter who is describing it or preaching it. I've read a lot of Don Miguel Ruiz's stuff, as well as Castanedas, there are some similarities. Isn't the word "Toltec" great? It means 'to be the artist of your own life' ... or a 'maker'....and I agree 'this knowledge' is coming out to humanity because humanity needs it, now. It was shared secretly in the past because shamans were being killed off: that's why in this tradition you'll notice there's little emphasis on tools / objects that could 'get you caught' and more emphasis on working with energy directly. The difference between reading about shamanism in a book and learning how to actively become one... that's what you get here at the cave: a step further from just knowing about it and actually experiencing what "intent" is and how actively "recapitulating" changes you. You are here because you have "intended" to energetically grow in this direction, through practice. Here's to human evolution... and pizza Mandy

Shelby, *exactly*. Sexual energy is your creative energy, and its incredibly powerful. What better way to control people by stifling their sexual energy and disassociating them from it? We Makers learn how to retrieve the sexual energy we've used up, repressed, or given away, as well as tap into the sheer force it-- not just our sexual energy but all our energy-- so we can do the impossible. Mandy

Hi Chunjihuli, Power animals are another matter entirely. In the maker tradition we don't really pursue the idea of power animals, the logic being that why would an animal want to give away its power to someone else? I personally wouldn't want to do that. All creatures have power we can study and learn from, but we can't really take their power. Mandy

Hi Jan, It really isn't visualization per se, although you do visualize when you 'recall' stuff (recall aka recapitulate), it is a matter of intending to retrieve your energy. I don't know what post you're referring to but start out like Karl said, at in the beginning this is a pretty intense process just look at your general day and pull the energy back from that. I personally really like the closet, something magical about being around all those clothes that reminds me of the book The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe.

HI Jan, To add to what Beth said, we also look at the energy of perception: something the mind directly shapes and influences through a gamut of each individual's personal lens, that works in tandem with awareness. In your words, if "you hear yourself think without being the thinker", what kind of thoughts are you hearing yourself think? I hope this helps too. Mandy

Hi KAF, Just pulled back to this thread to tell you, you know nightmares aren't necessarily a bad thing. They scare our minds, sure, but fear is a reaction our minds have to the unknown, in this case the dreaming landscape and dreaming energy. They are very very real, but threaten the mind because they are outside the realm of the mind's reason. Tell you a secret? Nightmares are usually a sign that that your energy is connecting dreaming energy with the energy of this world we are in. It can make the mind freak out and translate the experience as a nightmare, but shamans see this event as a very good thing Next time you have a nightmare, when you are awake, try to look behind the fear and scary narrative. Remember the feelings you had in the dream: sometimes they hold a very personal message for you too about something you need to see about your life, so you can examine it and understand its significance. Mandy