So very many are asking the same question these days: "What
is happening around us?" We see severe climate change, massive oil spills,
and species dying off. We see corruption in banking, politics, and religions
around the world. We see fear, anger, and hopelessness in our communities. Many
shamanic practitioners theorize that this is a shamanic dismemberment -- the
experience of being taken apart, devoured, or torn to pieces on a global scale,
allowing for a shift of awareness and transformation of collective
consciousness.
In a shamanic dismemberment, the individual dies the little
death, which is the surrender of the ego. At its deepest level, the
dismemberment experience dismantles our old identity. It is a powerful death-and-rebirth
process. The experience of being stripped layer by layer, down to bare bones
forces us to examine the bare essence of what we truly are.
In his book, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, Daniel
Pinchbeck developed the hypothesis that we are undergoing a transition to a new
realization of consciousness, which will be embodied by a new fundamental
paradigm that takes into account what Carl Jung called "the reality of the
psyche," which is to recognize that its contents have a living reality, along
with new social, political, and economic systems that mesh with this
realization. Pinchbeck sees the rapid evolution of technology as an expression
of this unfolding of consciousness. The acceleration of planetary crises can
either incite a planetary awakening and a shift into a regenerative planetary
culture based on sustainable principles, or a destruction of human civilization
in its current form, and perhaps extinction for our species.
The emerging viewpoint coming from the shamanic community suggests
the times we live in have an underworld theme of planetary and cosmological
initiation. Entrance into the Lower World is most often precipitated by
physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual events that force the
surrender of our ego. Who we believe ourselves to be is not who we really are.
No matter how many years one has been expanding and developing their
consciousness, no one is exempt from this shamanic death-and-rebirth. This is a
shamanic initiation on the grandest cosmological scale.
The caveat is to not swing into polar extremes of
grandiosity or deficiency. Many may view this as either an opportunity for
transformation or detached withdrawal. Others may react from fear and view this
as impending doom and gloom. Rather, view the melodramatic experience as a test
of spiritual maturity. This provides the opportunity for letting go and
surrendering our ego defensiveness. We are being given the opportunity to surrender to the great tide of change, so
that new dreams and visions can emerge. We can participate in the world's
rebirth by following our own deepest instincts, each contributing our sacred
part by following that which holds for us the greatest sense of truth and
meaning.
The positive side of global dismemberment is that it eventually
leads to a rebirth; to new ways of being. The darkness which had seemed endless
and impenetrable is at long last revealed to be simply a very difficult passage
-- the proverbial tunnel, at the end of which is a brilliant, welcoming light.
To learn more, look inside my guide to becoming a shamanic healer, Shamanic Drumming: Calling the Spirits.
