The Seven Shaman Principles
by Serge Kahill King
The World is What You Think It Is
Positive thoughts attract positive people and events, and negative
thoughts attract negative people and events.
Corollary: Everything is a dream
Dreams are real and reality is a dream. The only test we use for a
reality check is whether or not someone else experiences it.
Hallucination means "your dream doesn't match my dream." "Reality"
to a shaman is a mass hallucination, or a shared dream. If this life
is a dream and if we can wake up fully within it, then we can change
the dream by changing our dreaming.
Corollary: All systems are arbitrary
All meanings are made up and the Absolute Truth is whatever you
decide it is. What matters is how well the system works for you, not
how true it is (which is an arbitrary concept).
There are No Limits
We experience two kinds of limitations: creative and filtered.
Creative limitation assumes the purposeful establishment of limits
within an infinite universe in order to create particular
experiences, made by God or our own Higher Selves. These enable us
to experience life as humans on Earth (to play by that particular
set of rules - breaking the rules changes to another game).
Filtered limitations are imposed by ideas and beliefs that inhibit
creativity rather than enhance it, like beliefs that engender
hopelessness, helplessness, revenge and cruelty. They generate focus
without the potential for positive action.
Corollary: Everything is connected
The usual metaphor is a web of interdependence.
Corollary: Anything is possible
All you have to do is believe. However, because you are not alone in
the Universe, the degree to which something can be shared depends on
the beliefs of others around you.
Corollary: Separation is a useful illusion
Pure empathy makes you as helpless as the one suffering. Fear make
you lose sight of your role as dreamweaver.
Energy Flows Where Attention Goes
Meditation and hypnosis are simply different techniques for doing
the same thing - refocusing your attention toward more positive
beliefs and expectations. As states, both are identical conditions
of sustained focused attention.
Those aspects of your present experience which seem enduring are the
effect of habitual sustained focused attention carried on by your
subconscious.
Corollary: Attention goes where energy flows
Attention is attracted to all kinds of high energy intensity.
Corollary: Everything is energy
Thought is energy and one kind of energy can be converted into
another kind of energy.
Now is the Moment of Power
Karma exists and operates only in the present moment. It is your
beliefs, decisions, and actions today about yourself and the world
around you that give you what you have and make you what you are.
Thanks to memory we may carry over habits of body and mind from day
to day, but each day is a new creation and any habit can be changed
at any present moment - even if it isn't easy.
You select out of the immense resources of your gene pool those
characteristics that best reflect your present beliefs and
intentions. Your parents/social background have nothing to do with
your present, but what you believe about them now and how you react
to those beliefs does.
Corollary: Everything is relative
You define "now" based on your focus (second, hour, year, lifetime).
Corollary: Power increases with sensory attention
Many people living today aren't even here - most of their attention
is focused on the past or the future. To the degree they diminish
their awareness of the present moment, their power and effectiveness
in the present also decreases.
To Love is to Be Happy With
Love exists to the degree that you are happy with the object of your
love. The unhappy part comes from fear, anger and doubt. To be
deeply in love means to be deeply connected, and the depth and
clarity of the connection increases as fear, anger and doubt are
removed.
Corollary: Love increases as judgment decreases
Criticism kills relationships; praise builds and rebuilds them. When
you give praise you reinforce the good and it grows. When you
criticize you reinforce the bad and it grows.
Corollary: Everything is alive, aware and responsive
You subconscious takes any praise or criticisms it hears to heart,
even if it's directed elsewhere, even if you're saying it. Each
criticism separates you from and decreases your awareness of what
you criticize, until you end up responding to a secondary creation
of your own that may no longer resemble the original. When someone
criticizes you, praise yourself to counteract it.
All Power Comes From Within
For every event that you experience you creatively attract it
through your beliefs, desires, fears and expectations, and then
react to it habitually or respond to it consciously. This does not
mean that you are to blame for your abuse or injury, because you
were probably not conscious of your negative beliefs, attitudes and
expectations. It also does not mean the other person is innocent.
Corollary: Everything has power
You do not have ALL the power in the world - everyone has the same
power. The good news - you can work with these powers.
Corollary: Power comes from authority
Confident authority is the key to conscious creation.
Effectiveness is the Measure of Truth
The means determine the end, not the ends justify the means. What is
really important is what works.
Corollary: There is always another way to do anything
Every problem has more than one solution. If the goal is important,
you should never give up, just change your approach.
Basic Format for a Ritual
Preparation
Get all your props and clothing together, arrange furnishings, set
up music, plan the steps, and designate the special area.
Opening
A dramatic gesture, words of prayer or greeting, a musical attention
getter, or a get-acquainted process.
Content
Doing whatever is involved with the purpose of the ritual.
Generally, the shorter the content, the more formal it is (wedding
vs. Olympic Games).
Closing
This is where you get everyone's attention back and make a definite
end to the ritual. Often overlooked.
What Determines Effective Ritual
It must have a strong beginning and ending. Start by doing something
to get everyone's attention. At the end, get everyone's attention
again and clearly end the ritual.
It must have strong sensory input. The more senses the better --
vision, hearing, scent are common - try adding taste and touch.
It must have a familiar or predictable form. Include familiar
sensory elements and patterns in every ritual, even though every
ritual on every occasion might be different.
The meaning of every part of the ritual must be understood. To
whatever degree a part of the ritual is not understood, its
effectiveness is lost. Explain before or during the ritual.
It must be special. Make ritual times into occasions of positive
reinforcement of your groups shared values.
What Makes a Ritual Special
A special area
An area can be made special in several ways. One is consecration -
doing a ritual blessing. The easiest way to make a place special for
ritual is by encircling it with people, especially by having them
hold hands.
Special objects
Clothing, jewelry, decor, tools, food.
Special movements
Gestures, postures, dances.
Special sounds
Intonation, chanting, singing, music, percussion, prayers and
blessings, special words.
