Introduction to SIMPATICO

Introduction

Speaking engagement at the Consciousness Awareness Network meeting;

January 15, 2020

My discourse today is an abbreviated version of my 20-plus year journey, especially over the last several years as a spiritual teacher. “You teach best what you most need to learn,” is a quote from Richard Bach, the author famous for writing Jonathan Livingston Seagull. So, the Universe put me on a steep learning curve. It is a core shamanic concept that you cannot teach what you have not learned, you cannot counsel on what you have not endured, and you cannot heal what you have not experienced...that whole wounded healer thing.

The path of a shaman or shamanic practitioner is one of constantly learning, experiencing, finding simpatico, assimilating, and integrating acquired knowledge, not only for individual growth but for the healing and spiritual development of others. It is an ever-expanding, progressive walk in this reality on all levels of being. It is also about healing and/or reversing the effects of our fragmentation or “disintegration”, the divisive thought patterns, paradigms, and split ego that come from our process of indoctrination.

I have never claimed to be a Shaman, but I am called, sought out, and known as, shaman. I have resisted this path for most of my adult life; but I finally yielded to the Universe, my soul calling, and probably Wolf Medicine, to assume this function and role. The fact that I have been named Shaman by seekers, at least to me, evinces that the strict definition of shaman and shamanism is changing. I have been called a Neo-Shaman by the purists because I choose to teach and practice outside of the approved long-standing methodology of traditional shamanism. But I’ve always been an outlaw of sorts, so no surprise there.

I was somewhat surprised, however, that this label of Neo-Shaman was a criticism; at least that was the intent. It was not the effect, however. I embrace that title or label as a new shaman, a contemporary practitioner that rejects the obsolete ways, antiquated precepts, and archaic protocol that no longer applies to modern souls, spiritual truth, and is simply not necessary or practical in application or purpose. It’s kind of ironic that the primitive rituals and ceremonies of such an ancient practice speak to the younger souls and neophytes before they initiate into the higher understanding.

To paraphrase a Note from the Universe by Mike Dooley, “Young souls look to ritual, ceremony, and teachers. Mature souls look to math, science, and ancient wisdom. Old souls look...within.” This describes the 5-year journey of discovery that we (me and those I have taught) have experienced from 2016 through 2020, and is the subject matter of this composition.

That said, my beliefs and teachings are firmly based on ancient knowledge, they are not just limited to the confines of fundamental shamanic methodology. I credit shamanism to be my basis and foundation, but not my end-all-be-all belief system. Shamanism is considered to be the planet’s oldest known spiritual practice, tens of thousands of years old; and it does hold many valid concepts and precepts. However, these concepts must be reevaluated and updated, brought into a modern context to be malleable, to be extracted and expanded to their higher potential meanings and interpretations.

In short, shamanism, or any spiritual practice for that matter, must evolve. Evolution and expansion are keys to growth, and that is our purpose here. Our divine tendency is to move and grow, to evolve on multiple levels, to seek out truth and expansion. The teaching of Thoth and Jesus both instruct us to never stop seeking, for the truth is ever-expanding.

From the “lost” Book of Thomas: “Yaheshua said to them, ‘The seeker should not stop seeking until he finds. When he finds he will become disturbed. After having been disturbed, he will be astonished. Then he will reign over all; and after having reigned, he will rest.’” Emerald Tablets: Thoth wrote, “Seek thou for wisdom always...Know ye that wisdom is lasting...Only the one that is seeking may ever hope to be free.”

I intend to bring ancient knowledge to the forefront, to integrate the various sources of this wisdom into one system, apply it in new expanded ways, and increase the capacity to understand and use these ancient instructions handed down by master teachers and other texts. Shamanism is a “way” but there are unlimited “ways” or methods, lifestyles, and practices; but there is no one way, despite what organized dogmatic practice might try to dictate.

I prescribe to a more eclectic and inclusive approach to shamanism as a spiritual practice, derived from a diverse range of sources which are all in agreement and aligned with one another, including Kabbalah and the teachings of Jesus Christ that were based in ancient knowledge drawn from the Torah, Kabbalah, and the Essene teachings. I draw from the Bible and the “lost” books such as Thomas; the teachings of Thoth in the Hermetic Principles and the Emerald Tablets; to the more contemporary Keys of Enoch (Hurtak, 1977) and The Four Agreements (Ruiz, 1997), as well as Relativistic Theory and Quantum Physics.

I have studied with shamans, various practitioners and healers, psychics, mediums, and spiritualists. I read Tarot, Nordic Runes, and the Egyptian Cartouche. I have studied World Religions at the UCA Honors College and learned Native/Lakota ways so that I have been involved with everything from the inipi and pipe ceremony to observing spiritual rites in various churches, temples, and synagogues.

What I found, and “kept,” was the commonalities that were entrenched in each experience, which constituted or was infused as a major component in any particular belief system. This might be likened to the Core Shamanism of the late Michael Harner (Foundation for Shamanic Studies); however, I did not restrict my explorations to just shamanic systems. I also integrated the “best” elements that I determined by using a rule of three.

If three or more systems or sources expressed the same or very similar view, belief, or doctrine, I would presume that it was at least close to the truth I was seeking. My ultimate discernment came from my Guidance and intuition along the way. Spirit gave me the word “Simpatico”, and this is a concept that I always use in my teachings and applications of ancient knowledge. All these various sources are simpatico, they are on the same wavelength, they agree, and are compatible with one another despite the appearance of being completely in opposition to or conflicting with. Once the simpatico is established, the respective teachings can then be easily integrated into one system.

What I teach is what I believe and/or know to be true, and some of what I teach is often mistakenly viewed as “religious” because it is associated with religion. This is not the case, however. I teach only spiritual concepts, and religion has absorbed or is based on many of these spiritual concepts, but has wrapped them up in their unique trappings. That said, referring back to shamanism being the oldest known spiritual practice, I found beliefs, conceptions, and structures in almost every system, religious and otherwise, that mirrored shamanic tradition in some form, on some level.

Shamanic beliefs permeate many of the major systems, making its integration into almost any other system a logical step. Often, it is not a matter of integrating at all, but simply revealing. After all, truth is truth no matter where it is found. Shamanic practice is very adaptable to almost any belief or faith and is known as a global, cross-cultural phenomenon. It was the other systems, such as Kabbalah, that helped me unravel the highly concentrated truth in the basic precepts of traditional Shamanic practice.

What I have noticed is that this ancient knowledge is much like the ancient languages and the messages we receive from Spirit in the shamanic journey, or even in dreams, readings, insights, etc. That is, that you cannot simply take them at face value; they are concentrated information. They expand in meaning as our consciousness and spiritual capacity increase. The analogy might be like a zip file on your computer, and you must extract information, many more detailed files that are compressed into one file. A great amount of data is condensed into this seemingly simple file and unfolds as we begin to explore it. Each file is simpatico, supportive, and relative to the whole providing you with an all-inclusive framework of understanding along your path.

That said, perhaps it is not entirely accurate to say that Shamanism or any other practice must expand, but that the practitioner must evolve and develop the capacity to understand the deeper truths and higher teachings that already exist in these basic precepts. It is not that the ancient practices are finite in their scope, but that the practitioners are not seeing its full potential of teaching and expanding views.

Examples of this are the expanded view that I have discovered is the ancient Labyrinth as a spiritual tool, connected to the symbolism of the spiral representing our path and the fact that we always tend to come full circle to that which we thought we understood only to discover and explore deeper truths and higher learning. The labyrinth then becomes the very symbol of our path unfolding, spiraling inward for deeper seeking, and of the expansion of both ancient wisdom and our capacity to understand its many layers of meaning.

A big reveal to me was also the expanded view of the shamanic practice of soul retrieval and all the various causes and versions of soul loss that are mirrored in science, medicine, and psychology. These are examples of what an open system can provide, especially when introduced to a closed system, basically adding water and nutrients to seeds already planted but lacking the motivation and required nourishment to flourish. A closed system, much like us and our very souls, are fragmented, segregated, divided, and integration is the key to healing and reversing all that, to stop all our divisive thinking and programming, to thrive and evolve.

I mentioned our “purpose” here. As spiritual-vibrational beings having a human experience, as Source energy expressing itself in a biological form in this space-time dimension containing denser energy vibrating at the frequency of matter, we are here to learn, grow, and evolve spiritually. That speaks to acquiring spiritual knowledge, gaining the capacity to understand and retain this knowledge; and then implementing all the above; what I call increased spiritual IQ.

As our soul experiences and learns, our consciousness expands its capacity to understand more and higher learning. We are more able to retain this higher education and more capable of having even more “advanced” experiences that offer us the greatest expansion toward the evolution of our soul.

We are to find that simpatico, assimilate all this knowledge, and integrate it into our being, building each new experience on the previous ones. It is a divine tendency to evolve and expand, always reaching for more and better, causing effects that launch us forward to more causes and improved effects.

We are in spiritual school, just as we were children facing first grade knowing that we then faced middle school, high school, college, and post-graduate work. None of that resonated with us because our capacity for understanding and learning was limited as we matriculated through our academic process. Our souls are those allegorical children. This physical landscape is our educational center and training ground. Each experience or lesson builds on the other. At some point we graduate or rise to the next level of learning with new subject matter and courses of study; with each graduation, we may experience what many call a “vibrational shift.”

Part of this process also involves discarding the old and obsolete, making room for the new and better we have coming in. Consciousness can only receive what it can hold or accommodate, so we have to clear space to store, contain, retain, and remember. We release what no longer serves or benefits. Only matching vibrations can share the same space, so we have to reach that level of a new vibration to experience it, to share space with it.

This book will get into releasing, limiting beliefs, shifts, etc. as these are components of our process; but my point is that we evolve through this process one way or the other, sometimes kicking and screaming. In school, we require new texts, supplies, teachers, more advanced techniques and methods, higher learning capacity, and even a change in location to progress. We must change and adapt to new environments and conditions. A static belief system or spiritual practice does not offer that expansion our souls require. We are seekers of an ever-expanding truth; our journey is always in process. There is never really a destination, only resting points along the way.

Our (belief) system must be an open system receptive to other sources and perspectives, even if they serve only as contrasts. By definition, this open system is one of the external interactions (information, energy, or matter transfers) into and out of the system. Organized religion or dogmatic attitudes that restrict or impede our thinking outside the box of an ordained methodology is a closed system, an example of our fragmentation or disintegration that by definition does not allow certain “transfers” in or out of that system. It cannot evolve. It remains static. Spiritual closed systems can result in our spiritual stagnation. Holding to tradition merely for the sake of tradition is just no longer feasible or practical.

Systems must become expansive to offer us the growth our soul requires for its evolution, which then impacts our subjective reality. Our consciousness contributes to the Collective Consciousness that shapes our world views and global reality. When you hear of people speaking about “Heaven on Earth” and “be the change you want to see” you begin to realize that World change does begin with the individual consciousness, relationships, acquired knowledge, increased spiritual IQ capacity, assimilation, and the integration, reversal, or healing of our fragmented selves on multiple levels of being.

It is about realizing each individual’s “authentic self” and personal truth and power and then expanding that outward into the world as a result of personal expansion and growth. The more we approach this state of being, the more the Universe mirrors back to us (aka Law of Attraction), and the more we can then advance and evolve.

This concept of integration/assimilation and fragmentation will be covered in later chapters. I will explain the shamanic style chakra healing and soul retrieval (Shamanic Consciousness Integration 2020) which are significant methods to heal this fragmentation and works in conjunction with walking the labyrinth, among other methods, treatments, rituals, and strategies.

The division between spirituality and science is an important talking point. At one time these two doctrines were one of the same disciplines; and when we study science, especially natural physics, quantum physics, and relativistic theory, we can see that a reconciliation is in process. Ancient shamans and mystics observed Nature to gain an understanding of the spiritual-energetic world.

When we study the advanced contemporary sciences, we are doing the same thing, studying the study of natural physics and the way the Universe behaves. Even astrology can blend into this category. After all, nature in all these forms is simply spirit manifesting in different ways, and the underlying behavior can help us understand some of the deeper concepts, even the Law of Attraction. Ironically, the scientific view can also be our launching board to seeing the true Magic of the Universe. Our science describes the physical observations and aspects that are reflections of the invisible energetic realms and the magic of the Source.

It is my hope and intent to blur the lines that have been drawn for too long, to repurpose the ancient wisdom with a fresh look and presentation, to break tradition but honor the laws, delete old patterns and paradigms for the sake of integrating a new consciousness based on individual power and spiritual truth, to bridge the gaps but set new boundaries and standards, to end the segregation, division, divisive compartmentalization, and bring unity, simpatico, assimilation, and integration, to bring the world back to the original divine language it once spoke. This will involve a lot of de-structuring of the old paradigms.

In closing, I believe that the key to finding your authentic self and true path, the key to spirituality, is not to remove yourself from this world, but to engage it, to experience this life to the fullest, to enjoy it even when it is not so enjoyable, to find the positive in everything no matter what, to realize that life is not happening to you but that you are causing life, that you should believe in the ancient knowledge, the modern science, and the magic that both contain.