[[Note to readers; this is a continuation of Ceremony, Ritual, Fear, Loss, Peace, Power, Confidence, Compassion, Balance, Being, Existence and Selling at the Holistic Health Expo – Part 1 which focused on Ceremony and Ritual. This post, Part 2, deals with perceptions of fear and loss. Enjoy!]]
More so than the people walking the vendors’ floor, I was curious about the vendors. As mentioned in Part 1, it would have been nice to meet someone who does something similar to what I do and from whom I could learn.
There were many individuals claiming some aspect of shamanism. The most I can offer is a phrase my teachers used to describe others who claimed to be in the practice; They studied differently than I did.
Anyone with an interest – regardless of level of training yet with a sincere interest – could sense my teachers even when they were in a crowd. Susan has said that I have a “bow wake” when I walk and she can tell when I’m near. Dan mentioned during one of our GiveAway webinars “Joseph radiates an energy…”. This isn’t to say I’m like my teachers, I’m only offering examples.
People with even a little training could sense my teachers because they could sense the spirits and energies around them. The first time I met Grandmother Parvati, as she walked into the room and before I knew who she was, I focused behind her. “Do you know there’s a grizzly bear walking right behind you?” I asked.
“You can see that?” she said.
“Oh yeah, uh-huh and hmm-mmm.”
And because I saw her totem so clearly, she accepted me as a student.
Such was how many of my teachers accepted me as a student. One fellow was about 5’6″ (not imposing) however there was a warrior guide/guardian that was always with him. As he came down the stairs towards me, I smiled at him then at the warrior around him. The fellow watched me to be sure of what I was responding to and asked what I saw. When I explained, the warrior “collapsed” into the fellow himself and he explained that the warrior was his guide and guardian. Because I could see that spirit, both he and his warrior ally knew I meant no harm hence could be accepted as a student.
I wasn’t sensing or aware of any such things at this expo. They may have existed and I simply wasn’t sensitive enough to be aware of them, and I’m quite willing to accept that possibility.
I did sense quite different spirits than those of my teachers and brothers and sisters in the practice, however. One fellow carried an energy of fear and loss so intense that I felt it before I rounded the corner to his booth. I was surprised at what he was offering when he carried such energy so strongly. As I continued walking along I realized that he was not unique and that most of the people offering divinations, teachings, trainings, ‘mancies, intuitions and the like were all quite similar in their energies. Physicists would call them sinks, not sources, in the sense that they pulled more energy into themselves than they gave to others. Many of the people offering services had a strong need to be accepted and to have what they do recognized and acknowledged.
What better place to get such recognition and acknowledgement than at this kind of expo? So congrats to them, they found a place where they can be open about what they do! Hurrah for them!
It’s not what I was taught, however. If we need others to validate us then whatever we do will be shaped by that need for validation. If I want someone to say I’m a great chef and I know they love sweet foods, I’m going to make lots of sweet foods for them. But that doesn’t make me a great chef. Worse, I’ll never explore anything other than sweet foods and especially not if it means that person may not call me a great chef anymore.
If we need others to validate what we do, we’ll only do what they can validate and that means we’re limited by what they’re willing to accept, meaning we’re letting others define us.
Not good when the Universe is calling you to warn people of things they don’t want to know about or fear or won’t acknowledge. NextStage Principles 23, 30, 34, 35, 39, 41, 42, 48, 52 and 54 all deal with different aspects of this.
