Hummingbird Medicine

Hummingbirds always capture my attention when they fly into my life. I am dazzled by their humming wings and iridescent light. I am awakened to the beauty of the present moment. There's something about the hummingbird that makes me think of healing beauty, that something that beautiful can't possibly exist in flesh, and yet it does. When I see this magical bird, the boundaries of flesh cease to exist, for a moment, for a second I am in non-verbal space, and am one with the Hummingbird, with the flower, with the water and air, with all of nature, in a great glorious symphony of joy and celebration.

Hummingbird's exist only in the western hemisphere, but their magic is available to everyone in the world. They are extremely adaptable because they can hover, fly up, down, backwards and forwards with great speed. Generally speaking, Hummingbird brings joy, happiness, good luck and light to the world. It speaks to the heart in all of us and tells us that a closed heart shuts away life's radiant energy and color. Without an open and loving heart, we can never taste the nectar and pure bliss of life. Hummingbird disdains ugliness or harshness, and quickly flies away from discord or disharmony. Hummingbird’s message is: "Do not judge, assume, make conjecture about others, rather, laugh, sing and celebrate differences. In doing so you will elevate the world."

Mayan legends explain that the reason Hummingbird is so tiny is because it was created out of the scraps of feathers left over when other flying creatures were made. This tiny iridescent bird is a dynamo of energy, darting tirelessly from flower to flower in search of nectar. Hummingbirds can teach us how to use flowers for healing and to win hearts in love. Hummingbird is also a retriever of lost souls because it can fly quickly into small spaces and bring back the soul undetected. The playful Hummingbird sings a vibration of pure joy and shows us how to find happiness in all things. Invoke Hummingbird to help you find joy and sweetness in any situation. To learn more, look inside Bird Medicine: The Sacred Power of Bird Shamanism.

Native American Vows to Decolonize Native Burials

Robert Gill of Buffalo, Minnesota is a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe and among only a few Native American morticians in the country. A hero to many tribal members, Gill has made it his life's mission to restore Native burial customs and to "decolonize," as he calls it, the process of honoring and burying those who die on Indian reservations. Since the arrival of the pandemic, death has become an all-encompassing specter of Gill's daily life, consuming his days and even his nights. He travels hundreds of miles each week to remote tribal communities as far west as the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana and as far north as the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation near the Canadian border. 

 

Before the pandemic, Gill arranged three to four burials a month for Native families. Now he is receiving that many funeral requests every week. Even with a punishing work schedule, he sometimes struggles with guilt over his inability to meet the surging demand for traditional burial services. He knows that many tribal families are being left with no choice but to turn to white-owned funeral homes with morticians who do not understand their language and customs. Without ceremonies rooted in their culture, Gill argues, tribal members are disconnected from their history and unable to mourn properly.
 

The dearth of funeral options, some tribal leaders argue, is a legacy of America's dark history of racial subjugation of American Indians and their religious practices. Until 1978, when Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, spiritual ceremonies like the sweat lodge and drum dances were still technically illegal. The prohibitions enabled Christian churches to establish deep footholds on reservations and further restrict Indigenous customs--including their ceremonies for honoring the deceased.
 

Determined to bring more dignity to the burial process, Gill enrolled in the Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago, where he graduated in 2012. He is believed to be the only licensed mortician of Dakota heritage in the country. Today Gill is virtually alone in the funeral business for his willingness to make long-distance house visits--sometimes driving entire days, through sleet and snow, to meet with tribal families in their homes. Each visit carries the risk that he will contract the virus still raging through Indian Country. Gill is the only one of five morticians who work at Chilson Funeral Chapel in central Minnesota who has not been sickened by COVID-19.
 

"You've got to have nerves of steel to do this work in a pandemic," Gill said.

 

A version of this article first appeared in the "Minneapolis Star Tribune."

Soul Slavery

We live in a time of accelerated change and transformation. Mother Earth and her inhabitants are undergoing a fundamental, evolutionary change -- a change that many of us will experience first-hand in this lifetime. Some call it the Kali Yuga, the age of maximum darkness and ignorance; a time when the dark forces of the unconscious are at their strongest. Others refer to this unfolding event as the Turning of the Age or a Great Shift in consciousness that was foretold long, long ago.

Earth changes are intensifying now. Great shifts in energy are taking place at this time. The veil between the spiritual and physical worlds is growing thinner and it is starting to get very dangerous. There is a major battle going on in the spirit world between the light and the dark, and it is spilling over into the material world. It is not hard to see that, even though we live on a planet that surrounds us with beauty, there is a lot of darkness manifesting within humanity. The dark is making a bid for power. The light is countering every move made by the dark; the light will ultimately prevail.

In this epic battle between the light and the dark, human beings are being used as commodities by the dark. The dark feeds on human energy, or life force, just like a parasite feeds on its host. The darkness needs the light of our souls, for it has no inner light to sustain it. This is why human souls have been held in slavery or servitude on Earth for centuries. Millions of people are now under the power of darkness. The dark uses mind control to enslave its victims. They are manipulated into believing they cannot be free, but human beings have free will. Freedom of choice is our human birthright and gift from the Creator.

When the Creator created the world, he gave humans the option to choose between good and evil. At any moment, each of us is confronted with choices between good and evil forces. The dark forces were created so humans could realize their inner powers and develop the soul. The darkness consistently tries to make people choose between the good and bad and tries to tempt them to choose the bad. Its goal is to force us to behave in opposition to our true soul, to be bad. When we choose good over evil, we grow spiritually and bring more light into the world.

Many earthbound souls are also enslaved against their will by the dark. An earthbound soul is one who chooses not to "cross over" to the other side when their physical existence ends. When we die, there is usually a graceful transition into the afterlife. But when someone suffers a traumatic death such as murder, accident, war or suicide, they may not have an awareness of where and who they are. Other souls are held back by grieving relatives who cannot let them go. The purpose of funeral rites is to open the mourners to grief to unleash this powerful emotional energy and channel it in such a way that it will convey the newly deceased soul to the afterlife. If not channeled properly, grief is useless to the dead and dangerous to the living. Unfortunately, many of the psychopomp myths and rituals that once helped people prepare for this final rite of passage have become lost or forgotten.

We need to pray for these souls and make that a new intention in our rituals and invocations. We need to pray for the liberation of all who are under the power of darkness. Pray for the best possible outcome for all souls, living and dead. The Creator is helping all enslaved souls to choose for themselves. In the struggle between good and evil, we are all being called upon to choose which side we are on -- the light or the dark. This is not judgment day. It has nothing to do with religion or ideology. This is about human existence, free will, and each of us claiming our sovereignty. Sovereignty is the supreme power to self govern -- to be the exclusive controller of one's own body and life. If we claim our sovereignty, we can shape a truly New World. To learn more look inside The Great Shift.

The Ethics of Shamanic Healing

In shamanic work, there is one essential ethical requirement; permission. According to Susan Mokelke, who leads the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, "Permission means the express, informed consent of the client for a specific individual or group to perform shamanic healing or divination—including the consent to disclose any information about the client." Healing without permission is not only unethical, but deviates into the realm of sorcery and black magic. It is unethical because it is every person's right and responsibility to decide what to do in matters relating to his or her own soul.

If the healee is in a coma, permission should be obtained from the person's closest living relative or guardian before doing shamanic work of any sort. Even then, you should still journey to ask that person's soul what healing, if any, they wish to have done. Before doing psychopomp work or other mediation involving the soul of a deceased person, you still need to get permission from his or her next of kin. When you journey to help a deceased person, you should ask their soul what assistance, if any they want. When in doubt, don't perform the work.

Even in cases of natural disasters and crises, it is essential to get permission from the spirits of the land or people involved before trying to help. When doing distance shamanic healing in drumming circles, it is important to do only the work that was requested and to work closely with your helping spirits.

The Call of the Psychopomp

Many people in today's world are being called by spirit to become psychopomps. The psychopomp is a guide who leads the soul on its journey to the afterlife. The term derives from the Greek word psuchopompos, literally meaning the "guide of souls." The psychopomp is a universal, cross-cultural archetype. In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the conscious and unconscious. It is symbolically personified in dreams as a wise man or woman, or often as an animal guide. Stories of psychopomps are widespread throughout the myths, legends, and religious texts of cultures around the world. Psychopomps have been associated at different times and in different cultures with angels, horses, whip-poor-wills, ravens, dogs, crows, and owls. In many cultures, the shaman also fulfills the role of the psychopomp. Their role is not to judge the deceased, but simply to provide safe passage.

Unfortunately, many of the psychopomp myths and rituals that once helped prepare people for this final rite of passage have become lost or forgotten. When people are unprepared to face death, they often need additional assistance. Souls that die in a state of fear or confusion may also need assistance crossing over. Other souls are held back by grieving relatives who cannot let them go. If not channeled properly, grief is useless to the dead and dangerous to the living. For example, in funeral rites among the Dagara people of West Africa, drumming and singing are used to open the mourners to grief. Grief is then channeled in such a way that it will convey the newly deceased soul to the afterlife. Without the help of the drummers, musicians, and singers, the powerful emotional energy cannot be unleashed.

There are many techniques and ways to perform psychopomp work. I work primarily with the drum and the power of a clear intention to help earthbound souls move beyond their worldly attachments and progress towards the Light. When you play a drum, the sound can be heard by the spirits throughout all realms of the spirit world. The sound waves create a bridge between the physical and spiritual planes. In the sound world, a tunnel opens through which souls can pass, or our helping spirits come to us. When you stop playing the drum, the bridge disappears. 

The drum also serves as a concentration device for stilling the mind and focusing our attention. Shamans have understood for centuries that sustained focused attention on a specific intention, while in a state of inner silence, channels our creative energy into manifesting the physical equivalent of the focus. It is consciousness that creates the material universe, not the other way around. The creative power of our intent is limited only by what we believe is possible. 

I begin by creating a purified sacred space where well-being and health can flourish. I visualize a beacon of luminous white light emanating from the center of my sacred space and out into the net of light around our planet. I then call in the spiritual energies of the seven directions--East, South, West, North, Above, Below, and Within. I also call upon the Archangel Michael, the spirit horses of the four directions, and all of my helping spirits. Next I state my intention to help earthbound souls cross over into the afterlife. I then begin drumming a steady, metronome-like rhythm pulsed at around three to four beats per second. As I drum, I silently recite my intention like a mantra. The key is to focus your energy to that point on the drumhead's surface that you are striking, not beyond it. Transfer your energy and intention into the drum, stroking it firmly, yet gently, until it sings and hums. With practice, you learn just how much energy to send out to achieve a desired result and how much to retain so that you don't tire. When you have finished your psychopomp work, sacred space must be closed. To learn more, look inside my book Shamanic Drumming.

We are currently in a time of great transition where a growing number of people are being called to fulfill the sacred role of the psychopomp. Some choose to offer their assistance in conjunction with their function as a hospice worker, or as a midwife to the dying. Others, like me, prefer to focus more on helping those who may be trapped in the spirit realms. If you are being called to become a psychopomp, then look inside the book Delayed Departure: A Beginner's Guide to Soul Rescue by author and regression therapist Ann Merivale. This book contains valuable information for anyone interested in embarking on the important work of soul rescue, with illustrations taken from the author's own practice.