Matthew Krajewski's Blog: Magical Heritage Musings - Posts Tagged "shamanism"

When anyone is drawn to seek out spirituality, it can be scary. No way around it. Any spiritual pursuit is deeply personal, and we tend to not speak about it. Not to friends, or family, and least of all to co-workers. Everything about spirituality, no matter the modality, seems to conflict with our very rational world. A rational world that is highly scientific, a world of staggering technology, a world that tends to look down on spirituality. Any type of spirituality.

And yet, something in us drawn to seek it out. To make sense of ourselves, especially the energetic aspects, the soul parts, that we cannot see. But we can feel them. Something in us knows it is there. And we seek connection. To ourselves. And we not only want to understand ourselves, but understand the universe. Understand it in a personal way, a way that helps justifies the blessings, miracles, and magic that happen all the time. Again, seeking connection to a world, that in the deepest parts of ourselves, we hope is compassionate universe.

When we seek out spirituality, we are actively overcoming fear. Fear of what others might think. Fear of what how the world in general tends to view spirituality. In short, seeking spirituality is an empowering act because we are listening to the best parts of ourselves: our hearts and our souls. We are listening to what we truly need to sustain us in a world that seems to have already figured it all out. And yet, we keeping going. Keep searching. Keep hoping. Keep reaching.

For me, seeking a spiritual path led to embracing a magical spirituality. All those things that have been on the fringes of metaphysical thought for decades, I reached toward those things. But not just one, but all of it. I wanted to see how it was all connected. I was seeking connection to myself, and the world, but also took the unusual path of seeking a connection to a diverse rainbow of mystical pursuits. From meditation, yoga, shamanism, tarot cards, crystals, and herbalism, I found a way to connect not only to my energy, but a universal energy that exists in all creation.

What I found, and what I hope to share with others, is that spirituality should be reverent, but it can also be fun. It can be accessible. It can be user-friendly. Spirituality is not only for revered sages and holy people. It is all around us. We need only be open. Be honest about our fears. And seek connection with an open and loving heart. Because in the end, it doesn’t matter what the world thinks. What we think the world has already figured out. It doesn’t matter what anyone in our life thinks. What matters, is what we feel. And when we reach toward spirituality, we can magically feel better. More connected. More empowered. And more ourselves than we ever thought possible.

When you get out of your head, and let your heart do the thinking, every day gets easier.

December and January were hard months for me, and ones where I had to really explore the darkest recesses of my own energy, and clean house so to speak. One thing that helped immensely was just being open energetically to the world again, especially to my close friends. In particular, the last couple of days I have been spending more time with a dear friend, and fellow shaman, Dr. Jennifer Baker. Just being open to your friends, those that love you, can bring more healing into your life. Today, my friend Jen and I went to a local Buddhist sanctuary and walked the grounds together: Land of the Medicine Buddha. We found ourselves in what is referred to as an Enchanted Forest, and could feel the positive energy, the sacredness, of the grove acutely. We decided to journey shamanically. Not for ourselves, but for one another, to see what messages the Other Side may want to communicate. Sometimes we are too close to our own problems, our own energy, and it helps to bring in another magical person to help you navigate what is so close that you can’t see it.

She had questions about her work as a spiritual teacher and writer, and I had my own questions about a job opportunity on the horizon, combined with how my books would continue to grow and touch people. Our journeys for one another were not only positive but enlightening. The imagery we touched upon for one another brought us comfort and the affirmation we were both looking for at that moment. I don’t know if we would have found such powerful affirmations if we were not joined in the spirit of friendship, with the genuine heart-based need to help one another.

The spirit of friendship, especially among magical people, can be very healing. Too often we can sit and complain about our “problems” to our friends, digging ourselves deeper into a self-imposed rut. But magical friends are empowered in their own right, and that empowerment can help us, help our hearts open, our energies relax, and inspire more trust that all is as it should be. Because in nearly all cases, it is.