Raising Modern Shaman Children

by Veronica Tioicha

Why teach children to speak to plants and rocks and animals? The truth is, they already do it. If you tell a 5 year old she can communicate with animals, not only will she believe you, she probably already knows how to. Children have this incredible natural connection to the spirit life around us. Our job is to nurture that. Do you see how all of us are born caretakers of the Earth? This is a gift not to be taken lightly and not to be discarded, as it so often seems it is.

So why encourage children to listen to the Earth and the Moon and the Stars? Because it has the ability to change our world. I refer to this as raising modern Shaman children but really it is just raising children to be conscious.

We need more children who grow up and still think like children. We need more grownups who still commune with nature and recognize its deep knowledge.

The Earth has the ability to heal us. Children know this. You can see it in the way they run around outside with their chests out and their heads lifted up to the sky. What we need is more adults who breathe in the outdoors in this way. We need more adults who understand just how powerful a healer Mother Nature can be. As a whole, we as adults have forgotten this and it is frighteningly evident in the current state of our planet.

For this reason, we need to begin to nurture children. Not only do we need to nurture them mentally and emotionally, we need to nurture their Spirits. We need to nurture their natural Shaman natures. We need to nurture the fact that they know they are intimately connected to our Earth, our Universe and All That Is.

If you have a child in your life, any child, take them outside. Sit with them. Ask them what the trees have to say. Ask them what the stones and the rivers and the wind have to say. Listen to their replies. What they have to say is vital.