silenceseeker

I think the posting images thing is fixed now! Thanks! Lorrie

Maybe try it now? I went in to the Recap 3 forum and made a test post and it seems okay. There were 0 posts there so I'm not sure if that was the issue or not.

HI DB, I've sent you a private message, if you want to discuss what's on your mind. Welcome, Lorrie

I should clarify, I don't mean only writing with a pen and paper works, typing with a keyboard on a document works too, there's probably still a difference between how the information gets processed but I think they are both useful for retaining insights and knowledge. Lorrie

This is not meant to be sarcastic or anything but have you tried writing down what you learn or experience, like keep a diary? I found that physically writing, the act of putting a pen to paper seems to really help with cementing thoughts in my memory. Maybe you could keep a diary for these kinds of thoughts? On a related note, one of the reasons I feel posting experiences to the forums is important is related to this phenomenon. When I was taking classes, I made myself post every week about my experience with the current exercise. If I didn't, I found that it sort of slipped back in memory. I think our minds are always trying to discount the types of experiences we focus on in shamanism. When you sit down and make yourself articulate your experiences, it not only makes them more integrated in your energy and memory but I also found that things that I had forgotten about or didn't notice about what I was writing about would pop up and so it usually became a much deeper experience for me. I'm not sure exactly why other than you are making yourself review and analyze things that are very fleeting and hard to put into words, making the attempt to describe things beyond the reach of words somehow makes it at least more clear and even more solid. Lorrie

Good observation, it's sometimes helpful to think of the exercises like a koan where it delivers you to a space or non-place that will teach you something and expand your energy. And to reinforce what Eman wrote, the class exercises are both intended to give you a taste/sample of what can be done and you would be wise to continue practicing and expanding on your own (each exercise can really become it's own thing if you work with them enough) but they are also given in a way to overwhelm you slightly because that gets you out of your comfort zone and then your energy has the space to move. We generally recommend that students take two classes at a time as it does stretch the students comfort level without being too overwhelming. Many students though, take one class at a time and do well, I think because they do devote a lot of energy to working with the movements and exploring them. All the movements sort of weave back together at some point, Lorrie

Hi there, When I tried to look up your account on the site, there was no account for ArcaneHuman, I think you may have only created an account on the forums? There are actually two places you need to create an account, you can use the same password for ease of remembering but the are two different accounts. I created an account for you, I'll pm the password to you. Let me know if this did not fix the problem. Lorrie

I've given you access to the Spirals 1 student forum so that you can ask questions there, that is the best place to ask as it keeps everything from getting scattered all over the forums and you've taken the class and are clearly interested in using the practices and learning more: https://www.shamanscave.com/forum/forum/6-spirals/ Basically, the intents can be stored in different areas of your energy body, so good work in being able to recognize where they are. When you take Recap., you will learn how to target those areas in your body to get access to the memories behind those intents you formed and recover it as well as the intent itself. The Recap and Spirals practices go hand in hand in helping to recover energy that you have trapped in different parts of your physical and energetic body over your lifetime. So you are doing things correctly. What the Recap will do for you in this process is to help you not only recover the energy from these experiences but it will also help you to understand and recognize the patterns in your life that got created over time either from these experiences or were reinforced as a result of the patterns once in place.

Hi Arcane, As far as the start date of the next Recap class, it's currently set for December 11th with a cut off sign up date of December 18th because we allow people to sign up after the class starts for a week, maybe two at which point they can still get caught up but after that, there really is a cut off date. That being said, the start date could get pushed back to December 18th if we have low signups and want to give it another week, so it's not set in stone. The class will definitely go a lot deeper into recap than just the basic exercise you see on the site, each week will focus on a new area of recap. so that you can learn different ways to get at recovering energy that's tied up within your energy body. There really isn't a class to fill in that time place, we are working on self-study classes but even if we had them, they would run 7 weeks like a normal class. But you bring up an interesting idea, maybe we should look at some mini-classes on topics that could be covered in a shorter period of time. Regarding the spirals exercise, seeing a void of nothingness behind everything is getting close. There definitely is a state of Potential there (we break time down into the Three P's Potential, Possibility and Probability energies but that is a subject taught over a few classes) I think you're close though, you're looking for the pulse that animates all life and everything in the universe and it is in Everything. It's the intent of the universe, it's the intent to live and take that next breath and the intent to know oneself and be who you are. It should feel vast but not so much a void, it is very full of intent.

We usually recommend taking Recap I and Spirals I to start out, it starts the self-healing process that will recover personal energy which will help you to do well in the other classes. Quicksilver is a class that would be okay to take starting out but it will touch on some things taught in Spirals, like intent but you've taken Spirals 1 (you must have taken the free version? I can't find the permissions for the spirals forum in your profile so I was wondering, it's still the same class material) so you have some of the needed training that will help you with this class. Shamanic Voice is an end of Tier 1 class so you would definitely need to take several prerequisites before attempting that one, it really relies a lot on material gone over in other classes. I would say the best options are Recap 1, to recover personal energy and heal your past and/or Quicksilver, which you will learn about using the energy of Awareness and Perception, which are the cornerstone practices of the Maker tradition (and really any shamanic tradition) . Lorrie

Excellent work, I think you are gaining traction and you are also recovering energy, if you are intending to release what is not yours and return to you what is yours, then you will get stronger and stronger - recover more and more energy over time and this will help as well. One other thing you can try when fear hits if you find white magick is not working so much is to try and flip your emotion to anger. Emotions are different poles in our energy and anger is the opposite pole of fear and you can cancel out your fear by switching to feeling angry (just imagine something that always makes you really angry) and that action will neutralize the fear because it's pulling it back from the fear pole to a more centered location in your energy. This will never wear off too, this will always work because emotions are part of our makeup. Nice work though, Im glad it's brought you some relief.

I think you can try working on it in a limited way u til you feel you are okay with delving into it. We call it 'working the edges' of traumatic events. I'm not sure where it's a bout of psychosis rather than an actual event in the past (although there may be a past connected event), where exactly to start. You could try recapping the days and hours leading up to it but stop short of recapping the actual psychosis. You could recap your life prior to the onset of this psychosis and stop just before. If this is not something you've had your entire life. The idea is to work on the peripherals and not dive full on into the worst of it emotionally. You could also work on recapping any other events in your life when you felt condemned but it wasn't part of a psychosis. Do you get where I am going with this? Don't re traumatize yourself through the recapitulate, take it in manageable pieces and as you work through them, you can gradually work your way in to the deeper stuff.

Yes, I never tire of hearing Shamanic Dream. I think whatever type of music helps you to move is okay. I tend to like music without words as it's less emotionally engaging and it doesn't distract me. I personally don't use any flute music but that's just me. However, I know a lot of people use this flute music, it's New Age, not Tibetan, I believe it uses Native American flutes but not sure: Coyote Oldman Tear Of The Moon https://youtu.be/HxLRkYrqU7I

Hi Amy, You actually can learn to journey without using drums or rattles. But starting out, it helps to have something to work with. Here are a couple of songs that you might find useful: An oldie but goodie

Yes. That was a major turning point in the tradition. Up until the persecution, the Makers were similar to other traditions at that time; they had ceremonies and tools and weren't hidden. But in order to survive persecution, they realized they needed to drastically alter how the tradition was practiced, they recognized that they needed to find a way to operate without drawing attention to themselves. So, they collaborated and worked to find a new way of working. They eliminated anything that could identify them as shamans and to do that, they learned how to work with energy at its most basic level, before it became something. So they looked at what energy was working in the tools they used, the ceremonies they performed and found where the energy behind it all was and learned how to connect with it without using any tools or having to utter certain words or perform certain movements out of necessity. In addition, they also decided to only pass the knowledge down through family lines for added security. Through these alterations to their practices, they lived lives as farmers, teachers, priests, etc. -really anything - and yet continued to work as shamans. They worked through using Voice, through moving energy directly and through tapping into their connection to the elements among many other things. They worked through all the usual energies but it was couched as teaching or preaching or maybe being an herbal healer, whatever it was safe to be existing in society. And it's been that way until Gary decided it was time to come out of the background and be Makers in the world again.

I checked with Gary (Niteshad), creator of this site and the direct connection through familial lines to the maker tradition. The tradition, until Gary created this site, has been kept under the radar and passed down only through family members. He said that he doesn't think there is a connection to Norse Heathenism but he never really looked that deeply into the origins of the tradition. He said it never really mattered to him, we live now and not in the past. However, I do understand the interest, context can be revealing and helpful at times. It may have been part of the beginning of the tradition but what the tradition evolved into is mostly a result of the pressure of inquisitions and pressure to eliminate the old ways by the church. No offense taken. There is no dogma or holy books for Makers either. It's a formerly oral tradition and the history is written in the energy of the words. As you learn the tradition, more and more unfolds for you, it's really quite an ingenious way to preserve knowledge, in my opinion - no books needed and more information than could ever be contained on pages is there to be tapped into if you know how to look for it. I might go looking for a Norse connection and see what there is but I don't think origins mattered much to the old makers either. And... the makers are shamans, if you look at how we work, it's not a religion with gods. They have never called themselves shamans, only "Makers," but if you look at what is taught and what we do, it fits with shamanism best. I have gotten to just calling us Makers as there are so many preconceptions about what a shaman is.

Some people want to be immortal. At one time, I thought that would have been cool to be able to exist beyond time but am not so sure now, it seems quite lonely. As far as themes in past lives, as far as the cosmology goes, there would always be a somewhat fresh start. Not all of your past lives were village healers and not all of your energy now is a village healer. But maybe one of those past village healers had a very strong intent to persevere into the future or maybe your particular makeup now has a strong village healer intent that seeks to connect with knowledge from the past. That being said, there does seem to be an amalgam effect happening over thousands of years of like attracting like in people's predilections. Over time, people's individual lives - as they pass through death and new configurations are created in a new individual (that has never existed before exactly), you can see that many people feel drawn to be something, an artist, farmer or healer that doesn't match their current lives family background. They often feel like they are a mismatch. It would be an interesting journey to take to try and take in that process of life and re-birth happening over millennia to see if/what human energy is evolving into.

Technically, it was the region of Gaul, which I think overlaps parts for France and Germany? It's definitely possible there was some influence at some point as it is an old tradition. The 'modern' form of it happened around 600 years ago, roughly. I'm not sure about Ginnungagap being the energy pool, from the description I read, it sounds more like what we would call the abyss. The energy pool is basically the human mold, each species has a mold and an energy pool where individuals return to. And yes, DNA does create a thread through all of it as parents DNA/energy gets transferred to children but other energy comes in as well.

The Maker cosmology does include reincarnation but it's different than what most people think of. Basically, when you die, your energy will return to the human energy pool but you won't maintain your complete self; your energy will come unbound and dissipate into 'threads.' These threads that were once you will meld with all the other threads of people in the human energy pool This pool is where new life comes from. There is no 'design' or lessons that need to be learned, etc. similar to other reincarnation cosmologies. Think of a big ladle, dipping into the pool of threads, all mixing together and pulling out the energy of a human that is being born. It's a bit of a crap shoot for what threads you get although you can often get larger chunks of former people's energy. If you find yourself drawn to a particular era in history or culture for now rational reason, it could be that you have threads from someone from that time mixed in your total energy. Now, some shamans have found ways to keep their energy fully intact when they enter the pool and will be born again, maintaining their energetic makeup but that's rare and not easy to accomplish. I would say that is true for Makers as well, although we might call it getting beyond ego and mind. What is the Norse Heathen view on reincarnation?

Hailsa, Rodulf! Welcome to our public forum! Shamanscave.com and the public and private forums are dedicated to the teaching of the Maker tradition. Everyone is welcome to post here no matter what path you are on. And I personally love to learn about traditions and knowledge that I don't know much about. I think all the pagan/heathen and shamanic traditions walk similar paths and so it's always interesting to me when people share knowledge about their particular paths. The makers are western shamans that have their origins in Europe. Shamanscave was created from an American lineage that came over from Europe a few hundred years ago. But we have makers that live and practice in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Congratulations on your retirement, I hope you find what you are looking for in your preparing to transition to the Other World (Hopefully a long time from now. ) Lorrie

I really don't know much about specific types of stones and their qualities. Makers tend to look for generic rocks from the place they live or where they are working. When I am looking for a rock to work with, I search for one that I connect with first and then after I've decided to work with it, then I try to find out what kind it is. That being said, we makers do appreciate the different qualities of different types of rocks, I just don't know a lot about different stones personally. I love working with granite and basalt because they have been common where I live and I've had good experiences working with them.

Thank you for elaborating more on Emma, it's helped me get a better picture of your relationship with her. I find the Discord call you had with Emma really interesting. It's pretty unusual that I hear of people moving and connecting with spirits through technology. I know it happens but for some reason, I personally haven't run across it very often, so it's interesting. It's definitely something I would like to explore more. Regarding the scrying I mentioned. I actually didn't have any thoughts behind my suggestion, it just popped into my head while reading your post so I decided to mention it which is why I found it really interesting that what happened with Emma on Discord, well that fits the definition of scrying in my book, you're just using a non-traditional tool for it. The makers use mirrors and water to scrye typically. If you ever feel like giving it a try, there is a practice posted on the public site about setting it up: https://www.shamanscave.com/practices/mirror-scrying My thoughts on Emma's intent on connecting to you through Discord went two directions: a) she simply wanted to connect and found a way b) she wants to tell you something, possibly something important. I bet that you could probably go back through the conversation you had with her and feel for her intent coming across. As you said, communication across the barrier does get blurred but Intent is something that can cross the barrier just fine. So even though you may not have been able to make out the exact words she said ( and I think that was probably your mind/reason trying to put an image and logic on to your energetic communication ), I think you can probably get her intent, the gist of what she was trying to say to you. I also think she will show up again but maybe through a different application. I'm also thinking the conversation may get clarified in dreaming with your stone and chain rune tool. So I have one more question for now on Emma, I'm wondering if you have a goal for this connection with her; what do you see or want it to develop into? Is there now plan, just simply wait and see or do you want to be able to communicate more directly with her in the future? Or do you want her to have more of a physically presence in this world? Thanks for sharing your journey.

Hi Varg, Welcome back from your vacation. I enjoy reading your progress notes on this download journey you are on. I realize that you may just be posting here as a way to share something with others that you know understand where you are coming from and not looking for answers or insights, so please just ignore my questions if you aren't interested in answering them. But I do have some questions if you are open to answering. I'm wondering why this entity has chosen to live with you in the first place. I imagine that it wants to connect with humans and it's found a connection with you. And maybe there is something similar you share with it that drew it to you. I'm wondering why she chooses horror flicks to communicate things like its once physical appearance? Like, why not choose a musical or historical era drama that was close to her era or whatever? Is is the simple visceral nature of horror films? Or do you think she is trying to convey an experience that happened to her? Have you ever tried mirror scrying or any other kind of scrying to open up lines of communication with her and possibly see her appearance, etc.? Thanks, Lorrie

Hi Kanon, Welcome, I don't think we have email notifications activated for forum posts, you can follow a thread but it won't send a message once it's been replied to. The only thing that sends email messages out is when you send a personal message, I think. The makers are shamans by definition of what we do, which is work with energy beyond the 'normal world' for knowledge and to affect this world. We also work with energy in the everyday world as it is all connected, there really is only an imagined separation. The makers are different from other shamanic traditions in that we don't rely on rituals, power objects or consulting guides as are main way of working. Makers call themselves contemporary shamans because the tradition seeks to evolve alongside the culture its immersed in. So, even though this tradition is very old, the practices fit well into modern life. Makers are similar to all shamanic traditions though in that the first step in becoming a shaman is to self-heal. I think peastacey mentioned the recap. or Recapitulation practice, it's usually the starting point for self-healing for makers. The recapitulation is not just for shamans though, it can be used by anyone to recover energy that's tied up in your past. We start people off by focusing on the 'bad' things in their past, the practice basically recovers the negative emotional energy tied up in memories and leaves you with 'just' a memory and no triggers or reliving of emotional trauma whenever you remember a traumatic or unhappy event. There are other practices as well for self -healing. As I said, self-healing practices can be used by people, even if they have no intentions of ever becoming a shaman. They can deliver you to a place where you are reconnected with who you were when you came into this world and set you back on a path to creating the life you want to live.

Hi Maria! I remember you, it has been a long time! I'm sorry you are going through this situation. Please let me take a little time to look at it and assess it. As you may remember, Makers are very clear that no one has a right to your energy but you. Let's see what we can do to help return you to that place. Lorrie