to become a shaman
one must remove themselves (ego) and be mediator between spiritual and physical realms
they allow the forces that be to use them for a desired purpose
my purpose now is learning
i have given up, or are attempting to relinquish my desires
ive been stuck on not letting go of the girl ive loved for the last 2 plus years, the only one, im just a kid
and now ive broken my habit with pot
ive slipped up with both this week
and am realigning myself in the proper direction with abstinence from both want of the girl and smoking of the herb

i plan to read a few books on shamanism and some books out of the bible
get in the right headspace
see if i can stay there for a few days
then eat this particular brigdesii thats been calling me
or order some ayahuasca and do a solo brew

another plan for aya i had was to drink caapi tea daily
for about 2 weeks
each weekend have an experience
if its all good, keep the diet and keep my drinking of the holy brew

when the mushrooms rear thier symmetrical heads
i will make use of all three strains and see what can accomplished with them

my morals must be as stone
my intent must stay unbending
and my path is for the most part unknown

does anyone have any suggestions for me undertaking the path of the modern shaman?

Different types of shamans have different traditions and rituals to becoming a shaman because of the cultural context in which they live. If you are seeking healing do it in whatever manner is comfortable to you. Don't get wrapped up in other cultures rituals if they do not apply to you or what you want. Thats my advice anyway.

Why are you so stuck on the damn bible?

Read the Tao Teh Ching! Your heavly influced by western philosophy, both indigenous and mainstream, yet you lack the no bullshit attitude which philosophical learning for the East imparts. I personally probably need to read more into western philosophy... point is... both are very important.



I'm not sure about this.. what are your thoughts guys? Give suicybe some advice on that plan... not saying its a bad idea... but has anybody ever done something like that before? Taking caapi for 2 weeks, daily?



We both know that nobody would get anywhere if that was their attitude... nothing is set in stone... Remember... even the flux is in flux!



My suggestion would be keep on keeping on... this is hard road, but your a strong, inteligent person. I know once your heart had set on the path... that even if your mind strayed your heart would stay true. You are a shaman, and a pretty damn good one at that.

Also I think one of your goals should be to produce other shamans who in turn will tell more people about shamanism and the entheogenic experience... if somebody shows a great deal of interest provide them with knowledge and access to the cactus and attempt to get them to speard the knowledge futher!

Don't forget to eat the lizards after you catch them! and don't rub the paste on your forehead!

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaueiiiiiiiiiii" (Shamanic power yell) *Throws rock*

Part of becoming a shaman in some cultures is to drink ayahuasca everyday for many days. I think I have heard somewhere of shamans drinking for ten days in a row. Just watch your diet.

Then I guess it's safe.

Yes its safe in that you probably won't die. But if things get to be too strong or your body sends your warning signals stop. This is often done in cultures where this trainging takes place under supervision of other experiences shamans. Doing it alone could be quite intense scary or dangerous. Be careful.

Read carlos castanada if you have not already. While he may have made up the stories they are incredible and the logic and philosophy of don juan is incredible. It is relevant to shamanism and everyday life.
Good luck. I would try and talk with real shamans if I were you, they have thousands of years of knowledge on the subject.

That's what I was talking about.

A relationship may be based on desire, love, or both. To let go of desire may be an enlightening way, though difficult and not nessecary since desire could be used as well in transformation. True love is something that is enlightening in itself. Those who seek to release themself of 'love for earthly things' to surrender themselves to something 'higher' are making a mistake. Love is the highest power and this would apply to love for all living beings,love for live itself as much as for love for one person. True love is something that enables us to rise above ourselves. Maybe it's even a better tool for this than anything else. If you try to release yourself from your connectedness with this highest force in order to reach a state of enlightenment, you are fooling yourself. Nevertheless, the suffering this will most likely result in at the end could be a tool to reach that same blissfull state as well, since the best way to reach the state of full surrender, is to struggle first.

I think sometimes it's hard to make the distiction between true love and desire.

I think letting go of desire and worldly possession is a very good thing.

Get your Doctorate in shamanism in just 2WEEKS!!

I wouldn't say that the social role of a shaman should be born in a practice of that culture, but should a shaman be created into the victimized society, it is then where the shaman would flourish. Your surroundings are the most important, and whence needed, the only 'cure' you need is yourself. No shaman, no bibles or textbooks can heal you; must heal yourself.

I grew more commitment to lady aya after being victimized and ridiculed of life's occurences by means of loss and addiction. Getting tired of the desires open self-awareness to so much more. Your individual presence is most important to the practice. This opens your interests to true desires, where there is no downfall if you're willing to journey forward.

Would not recommend visiting the tea.. every day... for two weeks.... She would get tired of schoolin' you all the time! When I was in Hawaii we were guided around oahu for a week. The group would participate with three nights of prepared ayahuasca (chacruna&vine) under a Santo Daime influence. So if you were going to go forward with this experience, I would definitely recommend grabbing a friend and take a hike around a forest preserve or something like it. However, its not necessary as you will be tripping balls in a secluded setting in the condo/home/etc receiving the necessary nurture of her spirit..

thank you all for your comments ill keep you all up to date on my learning as i come by it
i have ordered an oz of leaves and a gram of 20x from potent salvia and 500 hawaiiain baby woodrose from ebay
i have 15 peeled brigdesiis and soon ill purchase some good ol caapi.

to understand true love what is one to do
i cannot tell if ive been following my desires or my true love
she is a super christian and i am a sorcerer, there is much drama to say the least

the vine has schooled me and i dont believe my dear mama aya will take harshly to my attendence
i dont know of anyone who paralells me, so i believe this is a solo adventure

as for healing, thats where im focussed, i wish i could bring energetic healing to our broken culture, bring awareness to the plant teachers, and help transform this sesspool of viagra and smaller ipods into a spiritually based environment.

thank you coatl for your flattery, but i doubt myself in your eyes, i am not an accomplished shaman, please explain what you mean

i have been raised of western philosophy but ive lost most of it and gained alot of eastern through psychedelia
as for my morals being of stone
i believe that my constitution must be a rock to further learn the secrets currently evading me

i have read carlos castenadas book, i actually recommended it to coatl

all my life ive been a weirdo, solo
a nature freak, i am most at home lost in the woods
my mother is a great healer, gettin her doctors in physical therapy is just the icing on her cake
ive always felt magic was real regardless physics, ive pretended as a child to be a sorcerer of sorts, i was always mystified by druids
and now
now i can be one
it seems like all the pieces of the puzzle are being built in front of me

and the dreams i have
of fear
that i defeated
led me to a medicine women who instructed me to use the sunopener and other entheogens
ill link the poetic version of this dream if anyone asks or just repost it here, its not long

all of the stimulus my perception delivers to me leads me to believe that i am to be a student of the plant teachers
what im stuck upon is this girl, and i may fool myself to believe that i dont care for her, but an experience with aya and mushrooms told me i do, and now i must erase her from me to erase my ego from my carbon vessel, i am so worried for and about her it may be toxic to my spiritual growth,
she feels the same for her christianity claiming when i was with her she idolized me and it was wrong, ect
so we have the same intent, pursuit of knowlegde and the same idea to remove our cares (each other)
though she goes to church,
i listen to plants.


and i always will listen to plants
even in church


thanks for catching up on the makings of me the modern shaman.

i will post after another revalation and meditation


peace and light

You have the heart of the shaman... as I said... while your mind may stray, I believe your heart will stay true to the path. I do not believe you could leave this path if you wanted... We can never return to the happy ignorant unknowing.



Sure did. It's a good book.



What you have been steeped in is Western Shamanic philosophy as well as the classical models of western thought... I know rarely of times when you have learned about Eastern philosophy... I'm just saying it jives with alot of your ideas and I think you should check it out.. It'd give you a new prespective. Try reading Zig-Zag Zen...

But, is wanting to be a shaman a desire within itself? The desire to learn, and grasp the knowledge thats held within the vine and the spirit world?

I only make this contradiction for your thoughts suicybe. I wish the best for you, and hope you achieve much. I respect shamanism with everything in me, and hope it does as much for you as it does for me, and just about everyone else here.

As for love, never be detatched from a girl just because of her focuses, and her intent. There truely is enlightenment within love. But as for desire within that love, could be something to alter to detach the ego. Sex drive is probably the biggest issue, and working on eliminating such a thing from your body.

As I've said before... I wish you the best of luck with your "travels". There is no turning back... ignorance is bliss.

if you watch the "jungle trip" on google or something..a dude goes to shamans in the jungle..and at the end of it..he is supposed to take Aya everyday for a month..so..check that out

As far as ingesting an MAOI for a long period of time, I doubt you should have any problems. Keep in mind people are prescribed to anxiety and depression medications, which are MAOI's as well. They probably take them everyday. But how they differ from harmine, harmaline, and THH I have no clue, but its just an assumption.

I would just say, watch your diet.

A shaman is born with a gift and depending on the culture it is either encouraged or squashed but the gift is born in not learned. The gift can be honed by learning but cannot be created no matter how long you study. It is like becoming Buddha, unless one is born Buddha one can only become buddah-like.
Shamanism however is a fairly common genetic trait and as I have said to some of my collegues in south america
" Shaman are born everyday, even in the declining west"
It sounds more like you want to use plant teachers in a more spiritual way and learn from them another way of being much more than be a Shaman. A shaman takes on the spiritual well being of their tribe therefore must not need help in that save on rare and serious cases. Again not a learned but inherited trait. IMO just realizing and living the fact we are spirits incarnate is a huge leap which can be learned.
WR

i feel its a choice..and less an inherent gift..

Umm... have you ever read anything about Buddhism? Your totally wrong. The Buddha himself says that every being has a "Buddha-nature"? Where the hell did you get that? Tell me what a Bodhisattva is?

I also believe that while a shaman may be born with certain gifts, many shamans are trained and learn to become shamans.