by Kayla Yoder
To be a shamanic being, one must undergo initiation. Consider identifying with these signs as a kind of initiation along your path to spiritual leadership.
We need shamanic beings now more than ever, and thankfully many initiates are hearing the call to step into this sacred role.
As a shamanic being you guide the awakening, the healing, and the evolution of consciousness.
The word “shaman” comes to us from the Siberian name for it’s spiritual leaders.
The root of the word means “to know.” The word “shaman” was introduced to Western language in 1698 and has become popular.
A shamanic practitioner in today’s world is one who knows the truth of their being – free from shame.
If you hear the call to spiritual leadership, to be free and shameless and fully expressed as the raw beautiful being that you are, if you are longing to lead us into this new paradigm, read on.
We need you to claim the truth of who you are.
Here are 10 signs that indicate that you are a shamanic being.
1. You feel the pull.
If there is a deep longing in your heart to stand in your power and create sacred space for the good of all beings, then there is a good chance you are a shamanic being.
Your soul whispers or even shouts to you “HEY! You have a calling!” You suspect you are here to take part in the creation of a new paradigm, a new culture for humanity.
Do you feel butterflies in your tummy every time you see the word shaman?
Does each class, article, and workshop on shamanism call to you? Did you get tingles and longingly, gleefully click on this article thinking, “am I?” or “could I be?”
Do you feel a shout in your heart when you have the opportunity to learn about spiritual practices? When you are in quiet moments of meditation, do you feel the pull of your purpose?
The pull of your shamanic purpose could be a vague interest or a quiet knowing. The pull of your shamanic purpose could be a beating in your chest and a magnetic attraction to all things spiritual.
The bottom line is, if you’re a shamanic being, you feel it.
You may not be quite ready to admit it to others or even to yourself, but there is a place within you where you know. You know you are here for a reason.
You know that reason is to guide the world to a higher spiritual plane. You want to be a catalyst for humanity’s spiritual growth and transformation more than anything.
2. You see life through symbols and metaphors and you love art.
“We all come from tribal societies…Our tribal selves still live inside us…Our multiple intelligences still know how to translate symbols and impulses from deep within the subconscious…Our ancestors still speak to us from within the voice of fire.” – Karla MacLaren*
Animals, numbers, colors, shapes, stones … these things take on a special significance to you. Water, fire, dirt…wood, trees, flowers… shoelaces, silverware, glass… you can find a deeper level of spiritual significance or metaphor of the human condition in just about every object.
In dreams, our spirits speak to us through symbols. Shamanic beings understand that waking life too is a dream.
Do you sometimes feel as though you’re living in a dream or a movie? Do you see deep, rich layers of meaning in mundane moments? Do you see the way in which your life is weaving a story?
Symbols and metaphors are essential in a good story.
It’s common for a shamanic being to be very interested in art of all kinds: stories, paintings, music, dance and more.
This is how culture speaks. A shaman is attuned to the voice of her culture. The role of the shaman is to be a divine witness to the evolution of consciousness.
You likely understand that we are playing a cosmic joke on ourselves — we are performing the story of separation — remembering and forgetting that it is just a story.
You enjoy symbols without being swept away in their significance. You can understand that in truth, it’s all made up anyway! We are the creators of our reality.
Shamanic beings seek symbolic meaning in things because this is a powerful way to unite human beings who have forgotten that we are all one.
Shamanic beings bring people together, and they do this by communicating the magic and wonder of life in a way that all can understand — with symbols.
3. You see the medicinal, healing magic of nature.
You have experienced and/or seen others experience profound healing from natural sources.
Shamanic beings are medicine people.
As body-mind-spirit connectors, they have an intuitive respect for the power of natural medicines such as herbs, plants, and crystals. Shamanic beings understand that even light and color can be healing.
As healers, shamanic beings understand both the healing power of consciousness and the healing power of the Earth.
Shamanic beings are powerful conduits for collaboration between the earthly plane and the spiritual plane. As a ic being you are likely very interested in the healing properties of natural substances.
Perhaps you’ve experienced profound healing with the help of natural herbs, like teas, flower essences, homeopathic medicine, or plant medicines such as ayahuasca or peyote.
Throughout history shamans have used these powerful natural substances with great respect.
Shamans throughout time have understood that plants have a spiritual nature and have learned to live in harmony with the earth.
As a shamanic being you likely have a strong desire to assist humanity in living with respect for mother earth.
4. “Time is non-linear” makes complete sense to you.
You understand the way in which past, present and future coincide. You have great respect for your ancestors and a sense of responsibility to future generations.
Have you ever participated in a new ritual or ceremony for the first time and felt as though you’d done it before? For example, a type of dance, or a sweat lodge ceremony.
Many of us shamanic beings have lived countless rebirths.
If you’ve ever had a past life regression or memory, or even just sensed that you have more wisdom that is appropriate for this lifetime, then you understand the non-linear nature of time.
Another way in which shamanic beings transcend the illusion of linear time is through a connection to the cosmos and to astrology.
Our ancestors watched the stars and the seasons and recorded the cycles they saw. Our ancestors measured the lengths of the days and nights and created the understanding that we now have of the cyclical nature of time.
As a shamanic being you likely have an intuitive understanding of astrology and the significance of phases such as seasons or phases of the moon.
You may not understand cognitively, but intuitively you get that time is non-linear.
You get that we can live our past in the present or live the future in the present, depending on our frame of mind and commitment to generating positive karma.
5. You regularly perceive signs and omens that direct and guide your actions.
Shamanic beings are messengers between the human world and the spirit world. Whatever form it takes, if you are a shamanic being you are becoming attuned to universal intelligence. You’re dancing in service to the will of Spirit.
Sometimes the omen is in a conversation you overhear, sometimes the omen is a word that catches your eye on a billboard.
Maybe you hear a message in your mind as though it were being spoken to you by a cosmic voice.
Sometimes the omen is a synchronicity of events that carry a clear message … for example, two people calling you at the same time tells you there is chemistry here and you are meant to connect those two people or their energies in some way.
You’re receiving messages and directions because you’re willing to fulfill on the mission of Great Spirit.
It’s important to learn how to discern if the message is coming from Great Spirit, or from a lower vibrational energy. You’ll know by how it feels. Trust your instincts.
6. You’re fascinated by ancient, indigenous cultures and all forms of spirituality.
When you have the opportunity to learn about the spiritual practices of another culture something in you majorly turns on. If you are a shaman in the making you deeply value all forms of truth.
“What do you believe in?”
“What’s your religion?”
You may be unsure of how to answer these questions. Your spiritual beliefs are constantly evolving as you learn more about yourself, about wise teachings of all kinds, and about the world.
Do you love learning other languages? It’s as if there’s a part of you that exists for the express purpose of learning about and integrating the wisdom of ancient teachings.
You have a deep respect for those who have come before you, as well as those you have come after.
Maybe you’ve formed unique spiritual practices for yourself, synthesizing all that you’ve learned.
Or, you may be drawn to one particular culture’s teachings. There may be one dharma that fascinates you for no obvious reason.
Trust the resonance. Know you’re guided by intuition that is not of this world.
7. You’ve formed unique spiritual practices for yourself.
Ceremony and ritual are important to you. It is easy for you to use these tools as you are intuitively guided to practices that serve your evolution.
Shamanic beings walk in two worlds — the spirit world and the material world. We work in and influence both dream consciousness and waking consciousness.
As a shamanic being, while your feet traverse the physical plane, your heart and soul are walking through the spiritual plane.
You know the truth of your being. You are a channel, a vessel, a messenger between the spirit world and the human world.
You are here to assist a great awakening on Mother Earth.
You can easily synthesize what you learn and know about sacred practice from many different cultures, forming a practice that is unique to you, yet rooted in ancient collective knowledge.
As a shamanic being you understand the power of ritual, ceremony and daily practices that honor the spirit world.
It’s likely easy for you to create ceremonies that are meaningful and transformative for yourself and others. If you haven’t done so yet but you resonate with this article, try it!
8. You are highly aware of the connection between the microcosm & macrocosm.
You understand that every little moment matters in the grand scheme. You care to create, to live, to be the new paradigm in each and every interaction you have.
You see that a new world is not only possible, but coming. You have a devotion to the future of humanity.
You are dedicated to the well being of humans’ relationships to each other, to the planet and to our fellow creatures.
A new paradigm is being birthed on planet earth, a paradigm in which we know ourselves as a single Earth Tribe. You know this.
The lines between different cultures are blurring. We are desperate for leaders who are free from constraints of tradition yet honor the ancient wisdom.
You can see the new paradigm in the way the woman at the grocery store smiles. You can see the new world coming in the way that nations are negotiating.
If you are aware of this shift at both the microcosmic and macrocosmic level, it is likely that you are a shaman in the making.
9. You sense and understand a higher purpose when technology “messes up.”
Integration of technology into our daily lives is a big transformation that we are all going through right now. As a shamanic being, preparing to lead us into a better future, you understand the spiritual significance of technological energy.
For example — the phone battery dies precisely when you finish an important conversation, as if it were being fed divine energy to keep the battery going as you needed it.
Or your phone call gets disconnected at the perfect time in order to interrupt an old pattern of communication.
The disconnect encourages you to proceed in a different way that allows for deeper connection and harmony with the person you’re speaking with.
Or your phone or computer randomly presents a certain picture or page that is exactly what you needed in that moment for healing or higher wisdom.
Because of their deep understanding of the nature of consciousness, shamans have a special ability to interpret “regular” life from a higher perspective.
If you’re able to look at the way that technology behaves as a reflection of a subtle spiritual energy then it is likely you are a shamanic being.
10. You are committed to becoming free of shame.
If you regularly hunt your psyche for toxic shame to cleanse and release, then you are likely a shamanic being.
You know that we live in a society with too much shame. You know that to be ashamed of our bodies, our instincts and our sexuality is toxic.
You are committed to living your life free from this shame.
“We non indigenous peoples live in a quandary: we value our freedom from tradition and tribalism, while at the same time we’re drawn inexorably toward them…
our ancestral DNA has hundreds of thousands of years of indigenous memory that competes with a mere handful of hundreds of years of modern life…
Our bodies still resonate to season, place, and rhythm…Our emotions still remember their sacred function as carriers of deep wisdom…
We moderns have moved out of our tribes for the most part, but tribal wisdom has not moved out of our psyches.” – Karla MacLaren, Language of Emotions*
You know your tribal nature and you’re not afraid of it. In fact, you embrace it.
As a shamanic being you are here to play, to transform, to be wild, free and shameless.
If you’ve resonated with even one of these qualities, then you are likely a shamanic being.
I encourage you to continue your spiritual path and to claim your rightful place as a spiritual leader.
We need you. The earth and the stars need you. Our whole entire planet is in a healing crisis.
Begin with your Self, but do not linger in your own healing for too long.
There will come a point when you can’t heal yourself any further until you begin to give away what you have.
There will come a point when in order to truly heal yourself you must actually cast your ego aside and heal others.
Don’t delay my friends. Claim your inner knowing and allow yourself to truly become the force for freedom that you are here to be.
IN CONCLUSION
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*Full quote from Language of Emotions by Karla MacLaren, chapter called “Unintentional Shamans”:
“We non indigenous peoples live in a quandary: we value our freedom from tradition and tribalism, while at the same time we’re drawn inexorably toward them. This should not be surprising since we all come from tribal societies in the first place. Each one of us can hearken back to African or Middle Eastern tribes, to Celtic or Viking tribes, to Asian or East Indian tribes, to Native American tribes, or to the island tribes of the South Pacific. Our tribal selves still live inside us, and our ancestral DNA has hundreds of thousands of years of indigenous memory that competes with a mere handful of hundreds of years of modern life. Our ancestors still speak to us from within the voice of fire. Our bodies still resonate to season, place, and rhythm. Our multiple intelligences still know how to translate symbols and impulses from deep within the subconscious. Our emotions still remember their sacred function as carriers of deep wisdom, just as our psyches still require ceremony, ritual, and initiation in order to live and grow properly. We moderns have moved out of our tribes for the most part, but tribal wisdom has not moved out of our psyches.”
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