Behavior Unappropiate for a Shaman

so well put arun, ditto for me bro, this issue is the great divider, using icaros and power to seduce people that are under the influence of medicine is a nasty result of working with spirit without proper humility and willpower, many people trip over this obstacle in the medicine way unfortunatley. it is considered very bad and an absolute no no. invasive behaviour is so unthoughtful. people who do that usually say they are doing healing on a deeper level when they get confronted with it by others. thats not supported very well by the stories from people that have been invaded on this level. it has a lot to do with charismatic energy built up around the shaperson, they are centric to the ceremony therefor channeling a lot of energy, power. power as we all know corrupts completely unless one maintains humility and some awe at the beauty of creation and ultimatley respect for the sanctity of life. follow your heart in this, making ones opinion known helps support the consensus that this is wrong, thanks for posting the topic

Hi Dasha. Thank you for posting this. The man in the video said everything I already knew but, had no right to say since I haven't actually been there. The only enlightenment I ever got from a drug is that it doesn't bring enlightenment. No drug has ever made my life more meaningful or given me a direction to take. Mushrooms made me feel connected to the earth but, I could have gotten that feeling from long distance running. It seems the curanderos live a life of service as doctors to their people. Service is pretty much all I talk about that gives life meaning but, my words seem to fall on deaf ears too often. It seems that people don't want to change themselves but want to find a drug to change them. The curanderos see the intentions of each person but, have no reason to turn most people away. For the one in a thousand people who are seeking the herbal drugs for the right reasons, I apologize. As I've said before, most of you are wasting your time and money. Go out and love someone. Help someone. Give from the heart. Every day of life is a treasure that so many fortunate people waste with meaningless tasks and thoughts. Intelligence isn't a virtue. That is one of the lessons that herbal drugs can give because the experience can be humbling if you are lucky. If you knew you were going to die in a few weeks but, didn't know how what would you do differently? That's how you should live all the time except you still have to go to work and sell refrigerators. Aloha, kahuna Lamaku.

Thanks Howard. I'm surprised that it took this long for someone to mention that possibility. No matter what you do or how good you are, someone will always choose not to like you and amongst those are going to be a percentage of sociopaths who believe their own lies. It was true for my teacher as well and he was a saint. Aloha, kahuna Lamaku.

The Amazon: where rumors are more common then mosquitoes, and the truth is less common than snow.

There are many important and well stated ideas in this thread. But there is one element that is conspicuously missing; ELDERS. In America, we gravitate to "shamanism" and other forms of "spirituality" because they allow a level of creativity, experience and expression - like "sacred plant teachers" - or dance or physical touch that have been painfully repressed in the Judeo-Christian traditions. In our enthusiasm, we tend to leap before we look and, 9 times out of ten, take the "shamanistic" tradition out of context. It's all confusion and resentment from there.

Across Africa, Asia and Latin America, the so-called shaman comes from what we might call an earth-family tradition. Within those cultures, in spite of their astonishing range of diversity, you will find a common thread of ELDERSHIP. So, if you are a shaman, there are ELDER shamans who guide you according to the folkways, mores, values and laws of your society. More times than not, your family provides the first ring of such elders, followed by your neighbors and the members of your shamanic society, no matter how loosely defined it may be. The concept is hard for Americans... Lamuku hit the nail on the head many times: You have to be ready. And the best way to get ready is to have someone - an ELDER - guide and protect you from your own misunderstanding. This is equally true if you are a shaman-to-be or a plumber.

Likewise, if you are just a simple seeker, the exact same is true. When you are seeking a shamanistic teacher or mentor, you are seeking a father or a mother figure. So, in the same way that you would not go get drunk and pass out with your father or your mother's coworkers, you would not even THINK about putting yourself in that position with someone you intend to learn the discipline from. If he offered you a whiskey, the proper response is "no, thank you sir." Even if some "medicine plant teacher" is part of the path, you ain't taking that until you've been under this person for years. YEARS. How old were you when your parents first saw you drunk, if ever??? Think about that. The shaman is your ELDER. Treat him with respect and he will reciprocate. This probably flies in the face of conventional thought on who or what a shaman is, but it's the bona fide truth. I encourage you to test it.

Too many times, the American seeker shows up at the village or wherever the ELDER may be found, with this shoppers' mentality. You think you're the first, second or even the tenth American to show up unprepared, impatient, impetuous but loaded with cash??? This microwave spiritual transformation is a joke. There are no magic bullets. You have to be willing to change the way you think, speak, act, eat, drink, sleep, dress... In order to become the you that's atuned to the vibration of the living universe. It's not the shoes, folks. So, although I do not condone abuse, I know for certain, that more than half of the time, the aspirant can prevent any such happening by screwing his or her head on right BEFORE trekking off to the Amazon!

Awo Femi