12/14/11—Becoming a Healer

Today's Draw: The Ace of Stones (Cups) from the Shaman Tarot. Do you consider yourself a healer? Do you act in accordance with that belief? And do you think it's possible to set off a ripple effect of healing that travels the world without even getting your arse up off the sofa?

A shaman is an intermediary between the spirit world and this world. And their role is as a healer...a spiritual, emotional or physical healer. Back in cave times, this would be the most honored person in the clan—the one who could heal maladies with herbs, become privy to divine information and facilitate rituals to appease spirits. Even today shamans are used to travel into the otherworlds to retrieve parts of a person's soul that may have been shattered or lost.

One of the tools a shaman might use in their healing is crystals. Crystals can play a number of roles in healing. They can be used to amplify the energetic healing of the shaman. They can be used to absorb ills. They can be uses to bring certain energies into a healing session or to balance energies. And they can also be used for their energy in aiding the journeying work a shaman does.

So the Ace of Stones is a card of healing. The sparse little white book that comes with the deck says three things: "The secret of healing. Profound understanding of one's own being. Love." 

Writer that I am, I might edit those three sentences into one that reads, "The secret of healing is a profound understanding of one's own being, coupled with love."

We are all capable of healing ourselves and others. The more we understand ourselves, the more we see how much we're all alike. All of us have within us the capability to love or hate, kill or nurture, stumble or glide. The better we know ourselves—and the more we fill our hearts with the divine love of our spirit selves—the better we're able to see how thin the line is between us and someone who is reviled or judged crazy or unsavory. If I didn't take crappy photos of cards, you'd be able to see how divine light washes over the crystal, driving ghosts and demons out. This is what we can do for others with even the simplest of human kindnesses.

When we see others as profoundly different from us, we're seeing through eyes of fear. When we see others as we see ourselves, we see through eyes of love. It's that simple. I can feel some of you resisting that statement right now. But it is an essential truth to unleashing the potential of our healing nature. 

Usually by Wednesday every week a little mini-theme emerges in these entries. So fear is this week's theme. We've seen how it can hold us back and how it screws with our priorities. And now we're seeing how it cripples mankind's ability to love and heal. Fear is repellent. It drives us apart as a society, not brings us together.

I'll let you in on a little secret even though it reveals something I'm maybe not 100% proud of.  I write these blogs every day, partly to hone my inspirational writing chops, but mostly to help heal myself and others. I feel my mission in life is to heal people with my words and thoughts. But I couldn't have written this blog three years ago or ten years ago, because I would have quickly gotten bitter, thinking no one appreciated me...*fearing* no one appreciated me. I would have been writing it for the feedback, rather than for the inner journey.

Now, that said, I receive positive reinforcement every day on my Facebook page and there are great discussions there about my posts—so many wise people. But if I were in this to become popular or admired or whatever, I wouldn't still be doing it after a year and a half.

The reason I can devote so much time and energy to it without it draining me now, is because I like me more than I did back then. And while I like that you like me, it's not a condition of what I do here. My fuel for this comes from within and regenerates from within. And the reason I like me more is because I understand myself more...and not just understand myself more, but understand myself in the context of humanity more. And I'm honest with me more, without allowing that to cause wounds that hold me back. That right there is what has opened up the channel for me to start to heal myself and others in a meaningful way. And it's new, so I know I still have so much to learn.

We are ALL capable of this. We're taught to believe that one person living a humble little existence can't make much of an impact on the world. But we can. We just need to love and understand ourselves enough to love and understand humanity. And animals. And nature. And the universe. 

If you're reading these words right now, you're on the course. You're reading and thinking about these entries to know and understand yourself and humanity better. So understand that just that alone makes you a healer, too. Because there's always someone along your path that could use some of your insight. And knowing that you're a healer, with all the responsibilities that comes with that, will help you reach out for the right reasons. Which will help you make a bigger impact. Which will cause a ripple effect. And your one act of healing and kindness will have traveled the world.