Shamanism: ancient healing for a modern world

by Anthony Rios

Shamanism is ancient and completely at home in our modern world. One of my teachers used to say that the spirits are always there, always ready, we just need to ask for their help. My experience has confirmed those wise words. We just need to ask.

Shamanism is the world’s most ancient spiritual practice with time tested methods as vital today as they were in the time of our ancestors. Anthropologists estimate shamanism going back 30,000 to 70,000 years. Shamanism was well known by the Slavic peoples of eastern Europe and was part of life for indigenous peoples of the Americas as well as Africa and Asia. Evidence of Shamanic practices can be found worldwide.

Shamanism is a Spiritual Practice that connects people with nature and spirit. Shamanism is a Healing practice for physical, emotional and mental illness. In the shamanic worldview, everything is alive and has spirit. This makes the experience and practice of shamanism totally connected to all living things. Traditional and indigenous shamanic practices believe that illness is an imbalance of spirit and energies. The person has lost something spiritual that needs to be reconnected. Some traditions believe a person is bewitched and has something inside of them - bad energy or bad spirit - that needs to be removed.

How does a person become a shaman? The more traditional way is for a person to apprentice with another shaman and learn through years of study. Others gained their healing ability as a result of serious illness or near death experience. Others were called to shamanism through visions and dreams. At age six I remember going with my grandmother and her sisters to see traditional Mexican healers in Houston. They had a strong Catholic faith but also believed in the traditional folk remedies the healers used with their herbs, ceremonies, and prayers. The healers left a strong impression on me about the power of prayer, self-healing, and community healing. There was something spiritual I could feel when I saw these old weathered healers at work.

In 1999, I attended the Way of the Shaman workshop in Houston. This workshop revived long dormant healing abilities and the desire to learn and study more about this amazing practice. I studied with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and with indigenous healers in Mexico and Belize and today offer healing services remotely and in person.

A shamanic healing practice offers many types of healing services such as divination, spiritual and energetic cleansing, shamanic extraction among others.

In my shamanic practice most people ask about shamanic extraction, soul retrieval and energetic cleansing. Each of these healing methods is noninvasive, safe and effective.

A person usually sits in a chair or lies down so he is comfortable and relaxed. All of my shamanic healing practice takes place with consultation of the spirit teachers I communicate with in an altered state of consciousness. It is these spirit teachers who do the healing work and use me as a conduit to heal and help alleviate suffering of the client.

Clients have called on me to cleanse their homes, to remove unwanted energies and balance their physical bodies. Clients have been helped with physical ailments like arthritis, migraines, having bad dreams among other problems. Healing of physical and spiritual problems is part of any effective shamanic healing practice.

Shamanism is what I like to call a traditional healing art. It is a relationship with nature and with spirit committed to relieving suffering for all beings. The beauty of shamanism is that healing work can be done in person or at a distance. I’ve had clients in person, in other cities and in other countries. This is possible because shamanism is dealing with the world of spirits, outside of space and time.

Shamanism is ancient and completely at home in our modern world. One of my teachers used to say that the spirits are always there, always ready, we just need to ask for their help. My experience has confirmed those wise words. We just need to ask.

You can ask your questions and give feedback at anthony@shamanspirits.net

**Information provided for educational use only and is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure any illness or disease. For health issues consult the medical professional of your choice.**

Shaman Spirits Galveston, TX 409-762-6027 ShamanSpirits.net

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