Being a Bridge

Hello Dear Shaman College Community,

Every year, I record a new welcome message for our homepage.  This year, I am drawn to one of my favorite metaphors, that shamanism is a bridge.  And that shamans and practitioners today, no matter their experience level, are being a bridge as they steep in these practices.

The bridge I speak of is the connecting place, a place to walk between the seen and the unseen realms.  As we dive into shamanism we become that connection between what seems 'normal' and 'accepted' within our social cultural beliefs or viewpoints and what gets down-played as imaginative, make-believe or energy-only.

We take on and face some of the tough stuff of life - challenges, blocks, fears, lack of energy, ties, illness, and pain.   We travel to unseen spaces to remind ourselves and other individuals that there are ways to return what may feel lost.  There are ways to welcome back a wholeness that is experienced as fractured.  And there are ways to heal that have been practiced throughout our time as humans that include beauty and nature.

My heart sends blessings out to you as you walk the bridges of this beautiful place.

with gratitude,

Kimba