Shamanic healing is a method of spiritual medicine that predates psychology and modern religions.

In the Shaman’s worldview; depression, chronic illness or terrible luck might be due to lost power. Dissociation, PTSD, immune problems and addictions might be due to soul loss from a traumatic event. Or there might be spiritual blockages causing illness which need to be extracted and removed.

I hesitated to write this blog post because I am very aware of the optics. What business does a little American girl like me have in writing about shamanism? I have not gone on any vision quests, I haven’t traveled into the Brazilian rainforest for an ayahuasca ceremony, and I have not been initiated into realms of ancient secrets by any wise old healers.

I have been through trauma that changed the fabric of my reality. In Bowl of Light, the Hawaiian elder Makua says there are 3 ways to achieve transcendence. Sex with someone you love, meditation, and pain and suffering. For some reason, I chose pain and suffering.