Picture Credits - Public Domain Pictures
Hyena - Petr Lehnert
Elephant - Piotr Wojtkowski
Many people who know me know that I practice a form of
Shamanism. My spiritual instincts have led me to a place in my life where I
believe that I am able to learn and grow spiritually through this practice.
Even though consciously, I question the state of the multiverse and whether or
not a creator, or creators, actually exist I have been taught from a young age
that one does. Because of this my subconscious will always rationalize my experiences
so that they fall in line, in some way, with what I was taught as a child. As I
have grown spiritually over the years, however, I have left organized religion
behind. I certainly do not oppose it; I think most people in this world today
still need it. I would never intentionally mock it even though I feel that it has
caused many troubles in the world today. I have also seen it do much good. That
said, my path takes me on a different journey than most.
Shamanism is a form of spiritual practice which involves
working with animal spirits. There are many layers, planes of existence, within
the spiritual world. A Shaman will mentally and spiritually travel to the plane
where the animal spirits exist. Once arrived on this plane, a mutual agreement
is made and through this lessons, or wisdoms, are taught to the Shaman
via the animal spirit guides. I make it a habit to frequent this realm and each
week I perform a ritual to strengthen the bond with my animal guides. It is
through this song and dance that Hyena and Elephant have shown me a lesson that
I feel needs to be shared with the world. That is the reason I am sharing what
normally would be a very private matter, with you today.
Animal spirits can be associated with the elements; fire,
earth, water, and air, depending on the lesson the animal spirit chooses to
relate. However, there are loose guidelines which can categorize the spirit
guide. Each element represents a “type” of, or characteristic of, the animal.
Fire represents the hunter, strong animals that prey on others such as, Tiger,
Alligator, and Hyena. Earth represents the more docile animals such as Deer, Monkey,
and Elephant. The water element contains animals of the water, Dolphin, Orca, and
Otter. Lastly, the element of air holds within it spirit guides such as, Eagle,
Owl, and Crow. During the dance ritual the Shaman embodies an animal spirit
from each element. During this embodiment the Shaman talks to the spirit and
learns from them, in return the animal spirit can experience the material plane
for a short time. Usually, it is mutually satisfying but during one of my
recent dances it was not and it was through this dissatisfaction that this
lesson was learned.
My physical self suffers with an autoimmune arthritis called
Ankylosing Spondylitis. The condition makes it difficult to move normally. This
has never been an issue for me while embodying the Fire Spirits, but on this
occasion that changed. Hyena presented itself to me and as I took on the
embodiment Hyena rejected me saying it did not want a broken body. When I asked
why, Hyena said it would not be able to enjoy the kill of its prey fully in a
broken body. It wanted to feel the pleasure of tearing its prey apart. I was
disturbed by this and gave Hyena its leave. At first I think I may have been a
bit offended, but the more troubling issue was knowing that Hyena liked to
kill. Hyena wasn’t killing its prey to survive as most of the prey animals do,
it was killing for the fun of it. To me, that felt evil and I was upset.
I turned to Earth and Elephant came forward. Here was an
animal so different from Hyena. Elephant was a loving mother who would stay
with her dying calf, abandoning the safety of the herd, to ensure that the baby
died peacefully. Elephant would defend her calf to its last breath and all the
while, touching it with her trunk to comfort it. I asked Elephant how can it be
that you and Hyena are so very different? Why does Hyena want to kill? Elephant’s
reply was simple, “There will always be those who get their pleasure from
killing and destruction. It is true throughout the natural world. Humans are a
part of the natural order and as such there will always be those who thrive on
the pain and destruction of others. While some people may find and except love
not all can be saved. This is the truth of the world.”
And so it is. Hyena and Elephant reminded me that not every
person can be taught to love. It is a sad fact that some people enjoy being
evil. These people, as hard as it is to swallow, will never change. They are
Hyena. The rest of us must remain on guard to our last breath with or without
our herd. We must look after those whom we love, and share our love with those
who will accept it. We must go on teaching our young that family is important
and through our love of one another we will find protection and rest from the
evils in this world. That is what I needed to share. My thanks to Elephant, and
also to Hyena, for reminding me of this valuable lesson.
