Helping with the Comprehension of my Shamanic Pathway

I've had many people confused about what I am and what I do. I have to say that I am not a New Ager. I am very traditional having learned from indigenous medicine people and Shaman. I found an article that really explains what I am very well and all the differences. This is important so people do not waste their time with me when they should be somewhere else.

The article is: The Role of Fear in Traditional and Contemporary Shamanism
Copyright: Michael York. Bath Spa University College and the article can be found at http://www2.ull.es/congresos/conmirel/YORK.html

I will just put the last paragraph of his conclusion here and you can go to the article to read the rest. I promise you will know exactly where you stand and were I stand when you read the article. It is really very well done.

The contrast between New Age shamanism and pagan shamanism in a modern Western context revolves around the role of fear. In traditional shamanism, the shaman’s initiation is an ordeal involving pain, hardship and terror. In its classic version, the shaman experiences death, often dis-membership or skeletalisation, before undergoing reconstitution and rebirth. New Age, by contrast is a religious perspective that denies the ultimately reality of the negative, and this would devalue the role of fear as well. But in seeking to dismiss the fearsome, New Age also has the propensity to eliminate a central feature of religion qua religion, namely, the experience of awe. The encounter with the mysterium tremendum et fascinans engenders a mixed emotion of fear, reverence and wonder. If, however, all becomes `sweetness and light’ through a New Age agenda, there is no dread. But without the experience of fear, there can then be no real experience of the awesome. New Age shamanism would then seem to constitute an incomplete form of shamanism – one which does not include the central feature of shamanic initiation, and one which also does not include a central feature of religion.

Please, please, please, read the entire article so you can know exactly where the differences lie. This will help you decide if you want spiritual guidance from me, healing from me, or to even mentor with me. It is very important if someone wants to mentor with me because my worldview is very different from New Age and you may not feel comfortable with me.

Many blessings

Shaman Amy

http://www.navajosoap.com/