Being Human, Being Spiritual

Written by John Cali


We had some interesting comments on last week’s newsletter, Pay Attention To What You’re Paying Attention To. For those of you who didn’t see it, Joseph and I talked about a cooking “accident” I had. It was a kitchen fire which could have easily burned my house down.

Most ofrepparttar comments were, as usual, supportive and positive. Some were not. Which is fine. I’ve always encouraged your honest feedback, positive or negative.

I don’t do this often, but this week I want to talk aboutrepparttar 122261 negative feedback.

That feedback could be condensed into a single question:

How could you,repparttar 122262 channel for this wonderful spirit guide, Joseph, haverepparttar 122263 challenges other humans do? (That is, how could you, of all people, have almost burned your house down?)

Over many years now, in this newsletter and in my private correspondence with many of you, I have never made a secret of my human challenges. Or pretended I was superhuman. In fact, my challenges sometimes provide “fodder” for subjects Chief Joseph wants to talk about. As wasrepparttar 122264 case last week–and this week too.

Nevertheless, some of you have clearly put me up on a pedestal. Being on a pedestal is very uncomfortable. At least for me.

One woman even said she could barely imagine me inrepparttar 122265 kitchen cooking. Like ordinary mortals, I guess she meant.

Folks, I’m as human as allrepparttar 122266 rest of you. Still growing and remembering. And I’m as spiritual as allrepparttar 122267 rest of you. All-powerful and all-wise.

We’re all human and spiritual atrepparttar 122268 same time. Being human doesn’t make us any less spiritual. And being spiritual doesn’t make us any less human.

Chief Joseph

You’ll never get your life over and done with–there are no destinations, only endless journeys. You’re always growing, whether in human or spirit form.

And so, in that spirit of adventure, your souls have often decided to project themselves, if you will, into physical form. You’ve all done this many times overrepparttar 122269 eons, in far more physical lifetimes than you could ever recall from your current human perspective.

You and your soul–or higher self, or whatever term you prefer–are eternally one, eternally bonded. This human personality you now are, and this human body you have now, are simply an extension of that greater you–your soul, your higher self.

The Making of a Shaman

Written by Boyd Martin


At 50, I decided to revisitrepparttar Carlos Castaneda Don Juan adventure series. I had delved intorepparttar 122260 Yaqui way in my 20's, but now Don Juan seemed to call to me fromrepparttar 122261 bookshelves and I could sense that immersion was near. I checked out Another Reality fromrepparttar 122262 library, and a few days later, a friend dumpedrepparttar 122263 next four books ofrepparttar 122264 series in my lap from a garage sale...a pretty obvious confirmation.

After a several weeks of intimate study ofrepparttar 122265 material, I began to wonder if there was going to be an embodiment of a sorcerer/teacher showing up in my life. The crows were swirling and squawking, squirrels were coming up to my feet, andrepparttar 122266 wind had a funny twist to it. All signs seemed to portend an arrival of some sort, so I was onrepparttar 122267 lookout.

Then appeared Frank Coppieters. It was as a result of a conversation about Reiki with Shay, who had been a student of Frank's. It just so happened Frank was having a shamanic gathering at his studio, and so we went, partly because Shay wanted to renew her connection, and partly because she felt I needed to meet him. The kicker was he used drumming as part of his gatherings. I am a professional drummer myself. This was certainly getting interesting!

The experience was fabulous. Frank was socially highly gracious, but when we went into his "light shamanic trance," as he calls it, he was positively otherworldly. His primal vocalizations conjured images of mystical worlds and cosmic places. And withrepparttar 122268 hypnotic drumming accompaniment, punctuated with an array of bell and rattle sounds, I was whisked away on a magic carpet ride.

The two-and-a-half-hour session seemed like 15 minutes, andrepparttar 122269 time distortion continued as I found myself driving and arriving home in what seemed like moments.

I reconnected with Frank again for a personal shamanic session, and was so blown away, I asked if he would be open to some freelance journalistic coverage. He was all game, and I sat with him for 90 minutes, covering his background and how he came to do what he was doing.

Frank's approach to his particular brand of shamanism had its roots in experimental theater. During his tenureship atrepparttar 122270 University of Antwerp, he hadrepparttar 122271 good fortune of meeting up with Jerzy Grotowski, considered one ofrepparttar 122272 most influential forces in fringe theater. He also was a bit of a shaman, absorbed withrepparttar 122273 concept of "ritualistic theatre," whererepparttar 122274 audience becomes an active participant in improvisation byrepparttar 122275 actors. Later, one of Frank's students decided to do his master's thesis onrepparttar 122276 work of Carlos Castaneda, which gave Frankrepparttar 122277 opportunity to read all of Castaneda's works. The focus ended up leading to a meeting with a real-live shaman.

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