I’m often asked to share what medicine people actually do. I think the expected answer might be that they perform magical acts, heal spiritual illness on contact, see spirits and talk to them, detect auras and lift curses. Maybe these things happen, I’m not saying that they can’t or don’t. But what comes to mind is that a good healer cleans, clears and cleanses. The Three C’s are repeated to my SouLodge communities and the students of SouLodge Earth Medicine School (who probably get tired of hearing and instructed on).
Healers do their best work in a humble state. There’s not a lot of bravado involved, and if there is, beware. It is physical and energetic housekeeping – dirty work – which makes a healer a proficient healer. There is rolling up of sleeves and hands which become soiled. And so she has to clean herself, as well. Having a rapport with the tools which guide through the Three C’s is important because without them, we are not supported in the work. We can also dedicate ourselves to listening and interpreting the messages and medicine which come to us. Rattles, feathers and other special tools help us do this work.
I think the way to begin is to take a journey into the deeper realms of self, to endure the trials and feel the knowing that one is not alone. It is a default mechanism of being human to *always feel alone*, and this is a great tragedy. There are many ways we can cultivate our own abilities to see, hear and feel so that we can be assured that we are not alone, that we are guided on our journey through life: through our heroic acts, our difficult decisions and our greatest challenges.
I believe that our negative thoughts, particularly those we have about ourselves, leave perforations in our spirit’s matrix, as does fear. It’s been my observation and experience that this is how spiritual illness takes root. If you’ve ever felt anything like “dark energy” or “bad medicine” or had the sensation that something may have “attached” itself to you or someone else, consider that it finds a way into the person when the system is weak or fragile. Not unlike the immune system when suppressed, these holes in the system create harmful inroads for virus and infection. The same holds true for our energetic systems, which become worn down by abuse, self-inflicted wounds, addiction, broken thinking and trauma. Like viruses, it’s hard to trace back an attachment, what works best is to take charge of the situation and remember how to heal oneself. Blaming/pointing fingers or staying away from humankind is not usually the answer.
When we clear off old energies, it’s important to compost them in the Earth for transmutation so that they are not set out in the donation pile to affect an innocent passerby. Do this with meditation and envision the old thinking/being/abuse effects being welcomed into the Earth to be broken down and rebirthed into something positive and useful. You can make creative ritual around this and support your releasings even more.
Address this condition by activating your inner Healer, doing your soulwork, and releasing what is haunting you and still hurting. Strengthen the system. Forgive past mistakes. The best protection is deep self-care and thinking well of yourself and others.
I’ve heard some folks say that intention is everything. That what you bring to a situation is what will come of it. I believe it to be true. When I feel conscious and intentional about the conversation I’m having, who I want to be in it, and what I want to come of it, it seldom fails to fulfill my expectations. But it doesn’t always work out this way, does it?