ABOUT WHY I AM ON A JOURNEY IN HELPING TO TEACH AND GUIDE
~by Indigenous Shamanic Winds ©2009
Here are a few questions you could ask someone who you are considering having as a teacher.
How long have you been on this path? I have been
on a Self-taught Path now for the past 12 years of my life. I have
thoroughly enjoyed the journey I have been on and actually know that
Witchcraft and Shamanism has been running through my blood since before I was even
brought into this world. During this time that I have been on my own
individual Path, I have acknowledged that all our Ancient Ancestors
have left me with Their abilities and skills as teachers, seers,
witches, healers, etc. on the Journey I have committed myself to and
have traveled on so far -- and have learned that one on this Path, the
one I have chosen and taken upon for myself as a Witch/Seeker, is
never-ending, always learning.
It has been brought to my attention that there are others
who are willing in learning along with me -- and though I do not
consider myself as a teacher yet, I do teach what I know and have
experienced over the years of my practice -- therefore I am giving my
time and energies and sharing with those who would like sharing the
Journey with me along the Path I have taken so far. Therefore, I shall
take on the role as an honest and truthful 'Guide'
in not only learning through love of myself and my own Journey, but
also in helping Guide others in perfect love and perfect trust.
For I am a 'Teacher' of what I do know, and a 'Guide' for those willing
to learn in developing their own practices and experiences along with
me on OUR JOURNEY together until the time comes in stemming off on one's own Path.
What is the name of your Tradition? I do not have
a Tradition of my own, though I do learn from various cultural
Traditions that I find interesting and that work for me on my own Path
-- and though I have never been officially 'Initiated' into a specific
Tradition, I use what stems from other Traditions into my own Journey
towards learning Witchcraft and other Earth-based spiritualities.
I am a Self-taught Eclectic Solitary Practicing Native Celtic Shaman Witch in practice. As being an 'Eclectic Solitary Witch', I believe that Traditions of the Craft are and can be used as 'Tools'
for the beginning practitioner curious on which they endeavor when
first learning -- 'Tools' in the sense of avidly researching about the
histories, mythologies and journeys of former Witches/Seekers and such.
I do not believe that as an Eclectic Solitary Practitioner that one
needs to be Initiated into a certain Tradition unless down the lines of
their researches and learnings of the Craft do they choose to do so.
Therefore, in finding which Path or Tradition is right for the
individual practitioner in Witchcraft, let alone any other Earth-based spirituality, a new student must at least be
dedicated in learning on their own first about the 'Basics', what it means to call oneself a Witch/Seeker, and researching and
gathering as much data as one can during the time period which is often
called in the Craft "One Year-and-A-Day" -- or by all means however
long it takes one in reaching a decision in what is accomplished during
the time needed in making one's own choice for how she or he goes about
living her or his life thereafter.
Who have your Teachers been? When speaking of 'Teachers' in the Craft, I believe that there are three important Teachers in respect of Teaching "In and Of Itself". These three things include:
1. OURSELVES -- One thing I have learned in Witchcraft and in general my own life itself is solely the fact that 'we are our own teachers'
-- and in order in fulfilling this concept of being our own teachers
for ourselves, we are taught and learn in respect of loving and putting
ourselves first. Though not in meaning out of selfishness we love and
worship ourselves and develop an ego trip from this aspect. Let me
explain.
By loving ourselves for who we truly are, through all our faults and
healthy humilities, we are teaching ourselves what it is like to just
be who we are as both unique individual human beings and giving
ourselves the chance in opening up our 'true Selves' to the Divine when
called upon in the magickal realm. For those who do not love themselves
and see that it is okay to be who we are and have all these special
gifts and talents, how can we open ourselves up to others?
Therefore, putting forth the effort in taking the time in learning
about ourselves and who we really are is an important factor in
learning about our Inner Selves -- including the strength and ability
in loving ourselves through good times and bad -- and reconnecting with
our Selves by facing and getting through the changes and roadblocks it
takes in facing the many consequences of this challenge in our lives.
In learning by plowing through and being open with ourselves in finding
out who we are by following our own intuitions and doing the best we
can in making the right decisions for ourselves in life, we then can
have a deeper meaning on who we are through all of our faulty mistakes
and great humilities -- and are able to remove these blocks from our
lives and move on with taking care of 'Others', our next teacher.
2. OTHERS -- After we realize that taking care of
ourselves by loving us for who we are, we can then move on to Others
who teach us. When we are able in loving ourselves and trusting
ourselves as our own Teachers, it enables us then in accepting what
Others can teach us. As we get comfortable with our intuitions and
decision makings of our own, we then are more able in hearing what
Others offer to us.
Through trusting Others and what criticisms or compliments they may
give us along the way, we also take in tact that through our own love
and trust in ourselves, we can make our own decisions on which Others
lend their love and trust through their own humilities upon us. What
the Others may teach may or may not work for us; therefore, the love
and trust we have in ourselves guide us into making our own decisions
in which we work with what is best for us, and either pass along what
was learned from Others to others who may have use for it, or we embark
upon their guidance and make our own Pathway with what we learned from
them teaching us.
We learn everyday from Others. I find learning from total strangers is
the best form for me. In saying this and what I mean by this statement
is, when we see Others in action doing something we think or know is
wrong, and we do not follow in their footsteps in making the same
mistakes. And when we confide into Others about ourselves, we are
opening the gateways towards learning what they may share with us on
our Path. That gives us the chance to learn a different perspective on
an approach in our studies.
It does not matter if what we learn from Others is good or bad; for the
love and trust in ourselves is what helps us in making the right
decisions or changes in our lives in becoming better practitioners --
and when we go through the endless processes of changing ourselves
through the help of Others, we can move onto the last concept that I
believe is the most important Teacher of all: NATURE.
3. NATURE -- Believe it or not, Nature teaches us
EVERYTHING. At least the way I look at it, if we open all our senses up
the next time we go outside and become calm and still, we are amazed at
how Nature talks through and with us -- if we just listen.
Take the Element of Air. We hear it whipping through the tree branches,
around us, through our hair...what is it telling us by this helpful
structure? Have you ever heard the cliche "Listen to the Wind"? Air can
also guide us in its teachings of destructions. Like when the clouds in
the sky get dark and it sets forth a gust of hot or cold wind, it's
teaching us that a storm or tornado may soon be on its way.
The same things for the Elements of Fire, Water, and Earth. They can
lend and guide us about their ways of teaching through our senses in
listening for their helpful and destructive manners.
So when we open up our minds and let the Spirits guide and protect us,
we are then learning through our senses and thoughts on what Nature is
then teaching us.
What books you read? I have many facets of books
that over the years I have referred to in my Self-studies. I have
studied and am still studying the works of the following authors (many
of them I have either read or skimmed through at one point or another):
Starhawk: on Witchcraft, the Goddess; the book The Spiral Dance in its entireity.
Budapest, Z.: Dianic Witchcraft, the Goddess Diana; the book The Women's Holy Book of Mysteries, Vol. 1.
De Grandis, Francesca: her approach of teaching from the school she
developed The Third Road, dealing with the Fae, Shamanism, Celtic,
Goddesses, Self-cleansing, Clearing of blocks; Be a Goddess!; my personal study guide in learning the Craft in its many aspects, and later continuing on to her book Goddess Intuition.
Margot Adler: paganism, classic, about; Drawing Down the Moon.
Monaghan, Patricia: the Goddess, rituals, hymns, daily guidance; her books The Goddess Path and The Goddess Companion.
Phyllis Curott: magick, crafting of the Witch, quantum physics, story
of own life coming into Witchcraft, Shamanism, exercises,
'experiencing' the Craft, Witchcraft guide; Book of Shadows and Witch Crafting and The Love Story.
McCoy, Edain: Celtic lore and mythology, rituals, basic steps, spells, journeys; Celtic Myth & Magick.
Dugan, Ellen: charms, simplistic and natural magick, gardens, altars; The Natural Witch amongst others of her books.
And many, many more guide books on the Craft by Amber K., D.J. Conway,
Janet and Stewart Farrar, Carol Christ, Merlin Stone, Eliade Mircea,
Doreen Valiente, Kisma K. Stepanich, and others I will list as I go
along/read more.
I also read as much as I can on the various websites, including that of
Sacred-Texts for mythologies and histories (since I only own a few
books of my own on those subjects), and am learning more about readings
on Druidry, the Fae, and Native American spirituality. Included also in my studies are that from Kiva Rose's and Susun Weed's sites -- Herbs is one of my major studies on my ever-learning Path at the moment.
Books are an excellent source for learning, as long as they are all
"read with a grain of salt" -- along with the fact that whether a book
is good or bad, you learn from it by taking what works best for
yourself and disregarding the rest.
What paths have you followed? I follow the many
Paths that my Patron Celtic Goddess, Brigid, has placed me on my
Journey for -- and being Eclectic, one can learn and use from any
source available and worthy of learning from. I started off with
learning the basics of modern day Wicca and found the true meaning of
Witchcraft through its exercises and practices that I have done -- so I
lean more towards the practices and learnings of The Old Ways of the
Ancient Shining Ones in Witchcraft. I have and am still studying and
researching the Goddess and the Gods, Celtic Lore and Mythologies and
Spirituality, the Fae, Druidism, touched upon a few other Pantheons of
their histories and Gods, Shamanism in both Modern Day and Native
American, Native American spirituality and their cultures; I have
written spells and rituals, kept journals, worked with my Tarot Deck
(The Shapeshifter deck and book) for Divination, Simple Rune
Divinations, Candle Magick, healings, self-cleansings/clearings; I am
in the process of learning about Herbs and Essential Oils, so a little
in Herbology and Aromatherapy as healing devices, bath salts, and am
shaping myself in working spiritually with becoming a Witchy Business
Woman of a New Age store that is in process of developing in its
beginning stages...amongst other things that I've run across in my time.
I do not know everything, obviously we never will know everything about
the Paths we Journey on -- for the Craft is an ever-lasting process of
learning and developing the skills in being the Witch that you just ARE. But these are the Pathways of Guidance that I am on at this moment in time.
What brought you to Craft? In simple terms what
brought me to the Craft was the decision I made when I found
patriarchal religions putting women down. The restrictions I had as a
Catholic were just not cutting it in regards to my spiritual
preferences about all should be treated equal and not as if we are
women (and men) living under the guilty consciousness of 'being and
living in Sin'. I do not particualarily like getting into this subject
manner of politics, so I will just say that I was born with the Craft
flowing through my veins red with all of its aspects inside me -- and
that is who I am and why I call myself a Witch/Seeker today.
And a special thanks to the lady who is unknown to me that wrote the
article in the Self Magazine on the Love Spell adapted from both
Starhawk's and Budapest's works when I first was brought to Witchcraft.
Blessed Be to my Silent Guide.
Will there be homework? It is requested, but not
required. Requested in the means of, do you really want to learn all
you can about your new embarkment along your Journey? If the answer is
'yes', then the homework you aquire is that of learning and researching
as much as you can within the limits of taking things day-by-day and at
your own pace. By required, yes, it would be nice to share your
thoughts and feelings and what you learn and experience along the way
-- but that is totally up to the individual. If you don't want things
read by others, keep it secret, in your own Journal or Book of Shadows
or log it as 'Just Me' in a Blog.
This is my way of looking at homework as: If you are here
to learn from a Teacher or a Guide or Others on the Journey you have
been invited on, yes, by all means, do any homework or lessons or
exercises that you receive. If they do not interest you, adapt them to
your needs, and then you have not only your own work, but have
accomplished something you may not want to have done! If Others are
sharing with you, isn't it out of deep respect to give back a little
that's not asking too much?
And any other question which you personally feel meets your personal need.
"If this isn't your journey, than what is? That is for each individual to answer on their own." ~Indigenous Shamanic Winds
Written and Composed by: Indigenous Shamanic Winds
Updated on: Saturday, 15 May 2010
Waxing Crescent Moon Phase
