Do Shamans Charge Money for Their Services or Teachings?

 

In cultures where Shamanism is regularly practiced, it is unthinkable to ask a Shaman or a Shamanic Practitioner to do anything, including teach, without first (in advance) giving him or her something of real value like food, clothing, farm animals, blankets, or the measure of value we use today… yes, even money.  In those cultures the Shaman isn’t charging for services rendered – he or she never needs to charge because the custom is known by the local people and respected. Every person knows that the more important their request to the Shaman is, and the more they are able to afford, the more they should give.

 

Today, in our “modern civilized society” is the only era where people are willing to disrespect a Shaman or Spiritual Leader of any kind and demand (or expect) his or her services or teachings without giving or offering something in return. Many Shamans are very suspicious of those who want something for nothing and are not inclined to be sympathetic to them.

 

Private Session Suggested Donations:

 

BY APPOINTMENT:

Weekdays: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM: $60 per hour

( $150 package rate for 3 hours, donations to be paid in full at the first session.)

 

Weekends, Evenings and Holidays: $75 per hour

( $195 package rate for 3 hours, donations to be paid in full at the first session.)

 

Recommended Donations for Animal Shaman Services:

One-half hour consultation (for up to three animals) $30.00

One hour consultation (for more than three animals) $60.00

(Shamanic Healing Journey - may include Reiki.)

 

Group Sessions

Whether a group is large or small, the advantages are lower cost as well as pooled energy and insights. Because of time constraints and the nature of certain activities, however, methods used in groups are restricted to activities in which numbers of people can participate at the same time. Some common examples of such activities are ceremony, journeying, healings (physical, emotional, spiritual and mental) using group energy, verbal explanations and discussions.

 

Private Sessions

A typical private session may last between 1 to 2 hours. The actual healing is prefaced by a review of what shamanic healing is and is not, a discussion of the specific problem(s) the individual is experiencing and some work with shamanic ritual. As in group sessions, journeying and physical, emotional, spiritual and mental healings can be facilitated. In addition, the following more time-consuming and individualized procedures are often part of the session: masculine/feminine balancing, illuminations (a tune-up for the energy body), power animal retrievals, extractions (removal of negative energies and blockages), soul retrievals (re-incorporating parts of the self lost through trauma or sacrifice).

 

Soul Retrieval

Modern or Urban Shamans retrieve soul parts through trance journeying. Sometimes the practitioner journeys for the client and at other times the shaman guides the client in doing his or her own journeying. In group settings, participants may be paired, each taking a turn in journeying for the other. In many cases I will encourage the client to do the journeying if he or she has some previous successful journeying experiences. Whether it is I or the client who is journeying, the soul parts willing to return at that time may appear in literal or symbolic form. There have been times when the journeyer sees a factual scene from life replayed in the trance, for example a three-year-old child crying after she has been raped by her older brother. In such an instance, the journeyer would go into a void to look for the part lost in the rape and negotiate its return.

 

Indigenous shamans, on the other hand, view soul loss as having one's vitality stolen through sorcery. The symptoms are listlessness and depression and in the world view of the indigenous shaman, the patient is in danger of dying. Because indigenous cultures take this more seriously than do modern cultures and because time in these ancient societies is more available and free-flowing, the treatment is often an extended one. My mentor, a Peruvian medicine man, teaches that the shaman is to visit the sick person in his or her home in the company of the individual's family and friends. The patient is to lie with the crown of the head pointing toward the front door and then a red string is stretched from the crown out the door. Standing at the feet of the patient, the practitioner rattles and then calls out loudly for the soul to return. The string is then knotted around the patient's neck, where it is to remain for seven days while the patient ceases all regular activities and concentrates on convalescing. At the end of that time, the shaman severs the string with a magic knife and burns it. The ashes are painted in a cross formation on the patient's forehead and then rubbed onto the rest of the body, especially the feet.

 

( paraphrased from an article by Judy Winters in Aquarius, http://www.aquarius-atlanta.com/may03/shaman2.shtml )

 See the link to Judy's web site on the links page.

 

 

 

Page Designed by www.dr-roberts.com