Embark on a Shamanic Journey
Unleash the Power Animal within You
An Interview with Sandra Diamond
by Karen M. Rider
With her long braids leaping in the air as she ran, the native woman looked back over her shoulder and called to me to follow her. “Faster. Keep watch!” She spoke in a language I did not know, yet, I could understand her. My spear in hand, I double my pace, jumping through spiny brush, ignoring the ache in my legs. She leads me deeper into the jungle; I wonder what we were running from. Or, are we running toward something? Why the rush? I trample through beds of exotic flora and trip over vines as long and thick as anacondas. I lose my footing and fall ass-first into thick, mossy green muck. Looking for a way out, I scan the brush and the reason we were running glares at me from the edge of the tall grass: a black panther skulks toward me, head hung low but never letting me go from its gaze.
I hear the native woman call to me. Frozen in fear, I dare not turn away from the dark beast as it circles its prey—me. Will the native woman abandon me or will she throw her spear at the big cat? My own spear is out of reach, stuck, like me, and pointing toward the heavens, where, I pray I will be my next, and final, destination.
I hear a voice. I assume it is the native woman, but it sounds not unlike my own voice, “You cannot destroy the dark panther but you need not become her prey. Embrace her.”
Embrace the creature that wants to devour me?!
Believe it or not, I escaped unharmed from this ordeal in the jungle. But, I must confess that this is an excerpt from a shamanic journey that modern-day shaman, Sandra Diamond guided me through back in 1999 – a testament to the powerful imagery that a shamanic journey can evoke in the sojourner. Sandy, as her clients and colleagues fondly call her, and I reconnected last July, giving me the opportunity to refresh my understanding of shamanism and learn more about this Toltec Teacher and Shaman’s fantastic gifts and recent world travels.
K: Sandy, help our readers understand what Shamanism is all about.
S: Shamanism has been in existence for at least 10,000 years. It has been noted in indigenous cultures all around the world. In their respective tribes, shamans are intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds. Shamans are capable of entering “non-ordinary reality” — an altered state of consciousness in which the shaman can access guidance from the spirit world. Usually, guidance is sought in the interest of the welfare of the tribe, for example, preparing for the harvest, herding and hunting. Sometimes known as medicine men (or women), shamans also heal sickness, cast out evil spirits, perform divinations, foretell the future, and engage trance techniques for vision quests and rituals for members of the tribe. Contemporary images of shamans frequently emphasize their ability to invoke and commune with the spirits of nature and all its forces: animal, earth, sea, air, and fire.
