by Deborah King

An ancient gift worth reclaiming…


Thousands of years ago, we knew how to heal. We lived in tribes, close to our mother, the earth. We were intimately connected to one another and to our Source. We communicated telepathically, and could talk to our deceased ancestors. We could talk to the animals, too.

Every one of us had a special talent—an innate gift that was ours to develop and pursue, blessing our communities with the fruits of our labors. Some of us excelled at music or were adept with herbs. Some were leaders. Some of us had the special talent of levitating, walking through walls, or bilocating (being in two places at once). Or perhaps we could predict the future. But if our special gift was the ability to heal—to attract, transmit, and direct healing energy—we were given the title of shaman.

Over time, as our world became more analytical, we relied less on our special gifts and, sadly, began to lose them. Most human beings today possess only remnants of what once was. We may have, for example, gotten a glimpse from time to time of these talents in our own lives—a knowing about who’s on the phone before it rings, the sense that our child is hurt before we get the call, or that sinking feeling that our partner is cheating on us before he or she confesses. These are the last vestiges of the abilities we all enjoyed millennia ago. They provided us with valuable information and skills that allowed our communities to flourish and empowered us to thrive as individuals.

The good news is that the template for these gifts still resides within us—in the memory of our cells, as part of our DNA. With a little awareness, attention, and practice, those ancient gifts can be reclaimed and put back into use, including the healing power of the shaman.

So what does it mean to be a shaman today? Is it someone who wears a feathered headdress, shakes a rattle, and dances around a fire to the beating of drums as he communes with an invisible world of spirits? It could be. But did you know that the sweet little old church lady with blue hair and clothes from the 1950s could be a shaman, too?

I use the word shaman to mean “a healer”—someone who expands his or her consciousness and conducts healing energy to help others resolve whatever is ailing them on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes. Most of all, shamans are people from any background who have done the requisite work to heal themselves—clearing away blocked and stagnant energy, releasing past traumas, connecting with guides in the spiritual realms, and listening deep within so that they are aligned to fulfill their potential and pursue their highest life purpose.

Just like every other human, you can be your own shaman. The gift of healing ourselves is not limited to the select few who have the potential to treat others. Rather, every one of us is a natural-born self-healer—these abilities are there within us, even if they’ve been dormant. Our task, then, is to learn how to access and use them. To do that, we must familiarize ourselves with, and begin to explore, the hidden world of healing energy that resides within, and all around, us.