LESS EGO / MORE SOUL

So I’ve returned to Amazonia and I’m loving jungle life. One thing that I am really curious about here is the shamanic paradigm of superstition that surfaces here in the context of shamanic work. Here, one must be careful in choosing who to work with as there are many stories of fake shamans and brujos (dark sorcerers) taking advantage of people with black magic.

This got me thinking a lot a about what white and black magic actually is…

In my mind, the difference between “white” and “black” magic is simple:

Black magic almost always asks one to prove themselves – to sacrifice something as an offering. To recognize the “great power” of external forces and kiss their feet. Often this requires precise, complicated rituals – and a lot of dogma.

In contrast, white magic asks one to prove nothing. It works on the assumption that we are all worthy of alchemy as we are all one. Of course there is still ritual, but it is born out of a desire to show respect and gratitude to the magic at work. Like the gift economy of the old world, one does not have to sacrifice anything to make an exchange. Rather, there is a sense of karmic knowing that there are no debts.

For example, if I give you something, you might not be able to give me something in return right away, but you might give X something (s)he needs tomorrow and a week later, I might need something from X. In this way, the exchange takes on a circulatory formation.

Recognizing this, I see self-doubt to be a form of black magic, that is conditioned throughout our modern society as an effort to keep us locked in our sub-human form. This program works on the premise that one needs to prove oneself to be successful.

From my personal knowledge, I know that it is totally possible to succeed without the experience deemed necessary to confirm talent or skill. We humans are amazing creatures, with an even greater untapped potential.

As I look around at my own reality, I can already see clues eluding to my full potential as a cosmic human being. I watch my thoughts noticeably influence my reality – almost instantaneously. However, I can also see this self-doubt program of unworthiness runs very deep in both my own, and the collective consciousness. This self doubt is a powerful spell that encourages me to second-guess myself, resulting in a sense of  unworthiness when invited to reclaim my full potential – often on a subconscious level.

It’s time to break free.

As David Wolfe notes, “many people think limited, negative thoughts because they think they have to.”

To reclaim one’s true self, in any moment two questions should be asked:

1) Who is my highest and best self?

2) Are my choices in this present moment a true reflection of this image?

By contemplating this, I give myself permission to myself to authentically express the full essence of my being.

As my friend Ray Nedziak, once wrote in a poem:

“We have wings to spread and the urgent terrain of fear to cross.”