Shamans can use consciousness to direct various energies, or to channel the energies of Nature and the Spirit world for purposes of healing, balance and harmony. But this is always done in recognition of true need and not for one’s own selfish ends. There is a great power in consciousness to effect and change things, and this knowledge is part of the magical arts of shamanism.
One can visualize energy changing or moving, seeing this happen as one intends it to be. This is a skill which can be developed, but one needs to be careful in this kind of energy manipulation, because if it is not done in harmony with the greater forces and directions of Spirit, such attempts may cause a kind of battle between the will of the shaman and the will of nature, and eventually the natural forces will win even if temporarily defeated. The true shaman asks permission from Great Spirit before attempting any changes in energies, or he aligns himself within the greater harmony of nature and then proceeds to help the energies flow where best for the greater harmony.
Later on, we will speak more on shamanistic knowledge and skill. For now we should simply abide by the principle of pure recognition and the allowing of nature to unfold as it will. This is the primary principle. The secondary principle is that we can creatively direct the energies of nature toward a beautiful vision. We can craft and landscape nature in various ways, but we should only do this in a way which does not create disharmony or disrespect, and we must first and always abide by the primary principle of recognizing the love and beauty which already is, and be grateful in this recognition. Then, we can see even deeper and recognize deeper potentials in life, which were previously hidden from view, and then nurture these potentials into beautiful manifestation. This applies to the nature of yourself, as well as the nature of the world. First recognize, be conscious, and accept yourself as you are. Be more conscious and loving of your own being, of who you are and what you have to give.
Then, recognize even further into your deeper potentials, and then allow these to come forth and direct them intelligently into manifestation. Remember that you are a great and wonderful seed of Spirit, or in fact you are many seeds, and the purpose of these seeds is to grow and become expressive. So feel free to keep growing, keep expanding and keep expressing. Bring out that which is within into the world. Expand. Enjoy. And feel your power. Your power of recognizing Your power of loving. And your power of expression. Know this power is good.
The best way to practice the expansion of presence, or the extension of your aura, is in a natural setting, and then you might practice this in a room of people or walking along a street. Or you can practice this with friends, as a way to increase intimacy and healing. But if you merely think about this, as an idea, it won’t amount to much. We need to remember that the Earth Wisdom and the Way of the Shaman is a way of working with actual energies and discovering reality by personal experience. Ideas thoughts, and beliefs cannot substitute direct experience. The Shaman’s Way is to actually try out various methods and practices, in order to acquire direct personal experience and increase one’s abilities to use and work with the energies of nature, mind and the body.
The practice given here is fundamentally important. It is called by many names, such as aura expansion, expansion of presence, or expanding the out-breath. Breath is important. You need to feel full of vital energy, attuned with love, and completely awake.
Conscious breathing helps all of this. The out breath is not a blowing or pushing energy out, but rather feels like a gentle release or gradual expansion. When we speak of the expansion of energy, love, or consciousness, this is not a pushing kind of force. There is no forcing out, and neither is there a forcing upon the surrounding space. It is not a matter of blowing people away with your energy or forcing your love on them. It is more like a gentle sharing of good energy, love and consciousness. It is like a pleasant perfume slowly permeating the space, rather than a whirlwind of forced energy.
Shamans will sometimes use their power to produce whirlwinds in a certain space, in order to confuse and defend against an enemy, but practicing this with malicious intent can only bring you harm in the end. Instead, bring gentle peace, love and clarity to your surrounding space. Fill space with your goodness and conscious clarity, expanding outward from the heart and mind. You are sharing the fullness of your being, and if you do not feel that your energy is all that good at the moment, then take some time to clear away the old and let in the new, and then practice giving out your highest goodness.
The expanding aura, or expansion of presence, is an energy substance of a certain vibration. The Shaman can consciously adjust this vibration if need be. Generally, the expansion will be of the highest vibration of love and consciousness which is possible at that time. As you consciously expand your presence, you might remember that you can increase that vibration if you chose, and this will increase the level of power. A higher vibration, of energy, love or consciousness, is a purer and more potent power.
Yet, often the skilled Shaman will keep the vibration at the same rate or rhythm as that of the surrounding space or that of the persons at hand. He gives forth a similar vibration, which gives a feeling of comfort and similar rapport and helps develop trust. Often, it is helpful to present a vibration just a bit higher than the space or people around, and then gradually raise the energy. Everyone has an emotional aura. But our spiritual work is to transform the emotional aura into a higher, more positive vibration, and consciously radiate the good rather than the not so good.
Many people are unconsciously sharing their energy and vibrations in the surrounding space. They are unconsciously sharing their emotional stress, their habitual anger, their fear, their self-embarrassment, and many other distresses of the emotional and mental life. They are not sharing their soul light, which needs to be consciously shared. Some of these unconscious auras are rather large and many are small. Of course, there are many people, as well, who unconsciously share uplifting and joyful emotions.
With real practice we can develop our personal power and expand our consciousness. It is best to do these practices in a sacred space in Nature or in your sacred garden space, though this could be done anywhere or even just in meditation.
Begin to consciously breathe in vital energy from the Earth below. Breathe this energy into your navel power center. Keep accumulating this vital energy and take all you need. The Earth has plenty to give so take all you need. Then, when you feel strong and very vital, and centered in this power, allow the energy to come up into the heart space, and from here breathe out love in all directions. Feel the energy of love expand outward from your center of being, and see this energy as a luminous light expanding into the world around you. You may see this light as a subtle pink or blue color, or whatever color it happens to be, or just pure light.
What is most important is the feeling of your love expanding, and eventually you feel as though your whole being is expanding into the world. As we practice this out-flowing expansion of love, our personal aura, which is the energy field around us, begins to expand and fill a greater space around us. Thus, our own presence of love expands and is shared more with others. We need to come into a trust and allowing of this power of love to expand around us. We expand our aura of love energy into the space around us, in the trust that we are good energy and good medicine to others and to Nature. We grow in a trust that our energy is good, and so we do not fear the expansion of our energy field or feel that we are imposing on the space of others.
You are not imposing. You are sharing. You are not forcing your energy on others. You are just allowing the expansion. And others will have their right to either close off from this or receive this shared energy of love. Remember that the energy of love, expanding from the heart space, is healing and never harmful. Unconditional love can never harm and can never be harmed. Only possessive love can be hurt or lose what it grasps onto.
Personal power can be understood as the expansiveness of our aura and the ability to be creative in the world. We must let go of the fear of this power and allow it to flow and expand. So, begin to trust and allow the expansion of your love aura, by being conscious of the love radiating out.
Besides expanding our love aura, we can expand and share our vitality and enthusiasm into the world. Practice this by breathing out vital, strengthening energy into the space around you. Shamans often do this in order to circulate the healing vital energy to those people or places where the energy field has been weakened. In this way we can help heal people, trees, places, etc., which need more vital energy circulated into them.
You need not fear that this sharing will deplete your own vital energy, for if you remain conscious of its constant flow into you from the Earth Mother or from the Air and continually circulate it into you with breath, then there is always an abundance to give out.
You can give to life in this way, if you so decide. You can practice expanding the vital and healing love energy outward to others and help serve the circulation of this energy around the planet. This also helps to heal you and strengthen your own power, because expression and sharing builds your personal power.
Expansion of consciousness is another aspect of personal power. You can expand your consciousness into the world. You can do this by being more aware of your surrounding space, the things and lives around you.
So often we close down our awareness or become lost in our own head space of thinking. Our awareness is contracted and turned too much within. The turning within is important at times, but if we do not turn our awareness out into the surrounding world, then we miss a lot of life’s interests and beauty, and we fail to recognize and be sensitive to other relations around us.
So, practice expanding your consciousness and extending your senses. When you enter a room or enter a space in nature, expand your consciousness into the space. Then the energy of your consciousness fills that space, and everything becomes more luminous. Then all which is within that space begins to awaken in this light of consciousness. This energy of consciousness is the light given to us from the Spirit Sun; and as it is projected into the surrounding space, it helps awaken everything in that space.
Shamans and Medicine People know that the spirits of people, trees, rocks and land, all come alive and awake, when they are recognized with consciousness. Your consciousness resonates their consciousness, and so they begin to awaken and resonate light back to you. The energy of consciousness and recognition is a great power.
So expand your consciousness and recognition. Be more conscious of the space around you, and recognize the lives and things in that space. This helps awaken the spirit in people and things. This also helps in the spiritual awakening of the world; for as consciousness becomes more alive everywhere, there will be a greater recognition of the spirit and beauty, and this awakening will create more respect and harmony in the world. So, expand your loving consciousness out into the surrounding circle of life, which will awaken life around you.
This expansion of consciousness is an active energy, but it is not trying to make things or people into something other than what they are. In other words, this consciousness is truly a recognition of what is, or a recognition of what was previously ignored. For instance, in healing others, one can use consciousness to recognize the potentials for healing and spiritual expression, which are already within that person, and through this recognition those potentials begin to come alive.