The Shaman Way: Seeing and Interpreting Alternative
Realities
by Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls
Sometimes what we see can be happening, or about to
happen, in other realities besides this one. There are
other realities that look very much like this one does
physically. Some People call them alternate realities.
Jim Carrey made a where everything about his life was
staged inside a bubble. Do you remember that movie?
When he tried to get in a boat and sail away, the boat
stopped at the edge of the bubble and he realized it
was not real. Some realities are that close to our own.
I was standing in my living room cleaning the rugs
when I looked up. It was nice outside so I had the door
open to allow some fresh air into the house. I looked
out the door and down the front walk and there were
horses and buggy carriages going by on the road outside.
There were houses across the street that weren't there
before, tall brownstone houses and a man walked by in
a top hat. There was a picket fence in front of my house
that was not there before. I looked back into my living
room and then back out the door and it was still there.
I just stood watching for a long time, maybe 15 minutes
while carriages and people walked by my house. I saw
a milk truck and some kids in knickers ran by playing
with a hoop. I would look at myself dressed in my jeans
and see my living room just fine and then look out the
door and this other time was still here. It did not
leave until I left the living room and came back.
A Sheet Away from Alternative Realities
We are just a sheet of paper away from other realities.
Sometimes we are more connected to alternative realities
than to this one. Some people prefer to live in alternative
realities and they are kept in insane asylums. It is
not that they are insane - it is that they are more
connected to other places and other times. If someone
would do the study and research, we might be able to
help these "insane" people. I have come very
close to choosing an alternative reality myself. I was
really tempted to stay in one reality, which was so
much more loving than this one. I struggled with myself
in order remain here, telling myself that I am here
for a purpose. Even now I get sad thinking about it.
Perhaps this is one place depression comes from.
I counsel people every day who are slipping in and
out of this reality. They don't completely slip out
but they feel the disconnect and cannot control it.
It is hard to tell people to remain grounded here when
some part of them knows that it is better over there.
How do I say that? I barely am here myself!
But we can't be slipping back and forth without control
either. One man was losing his job over it. A lady was
losing her kids over it. We all want the better world.
Somewhere inside we have seen it or felt it and we all
know about it. Although it might not be on a conscious
level, many are having a hard time finding a real reason
to stay here. The ones who can fair well in this reality
are the warriors, the healers, and the ones who like
to fight and make a difference, the champions of a cause.
I, myself, faced this choice; that is, either to be
the traditional Shamanic healer I was raised to be or
end up in an asylum. Do you remember the sainted nuns
who would cloister themselves in church steeples for
their whole lives? They would never see anyone and the
priest would bring them one meal a day and their lives
were spent in prayer for that church, the town, and
the country. Believe me, they were seldom in this reality.
I see that world is being populated more and more by
people who have chosen to be healers, warriors, hunters,
to do battle for the saving of this world, this reality.
We were definitely put here for a purpose - no matter
how stinky this reality might be. We chose to be here
and to make a difference. So I keep reminding myself
to remain grounded here in this reality.
But my point to you today is...
There are many realities and you may be picking up on
any one of them. How can you know if it is this place
or another? You can know through experience, practice,
keeping a log and evaluating the results. Learn about
other realities as well, so you can recognize them better
in the online course called Shaman Apprenticeship 101
found at http://www.shamanelder.com
. I saw a whole star system collapse when I was 24.
I had a series of visions of this incredible implosion
of the cosmos. It was very scary for me to witness this,
as I thought it was this universe. It did happen but
it happened a billion miles away, in another time.
I am not saying that what you are seeing is not for
here and now. I have no way to say that. I am not here
to judge what you see. You are the best judge of what
you see. I am suggesting that you learn to interpret
as well as see.
Copyright © 2005 Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls. All
rights reserved.
Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls is one of America's most loved
tradtional elder teachers of Shamanism for today's modern
society. She is the creator and instructor of the Shaman
Apprenticship 101 course. Learn more about Shaman
Maggie and this course now. Free counseling on any
subject.