Wednesday: Metaphor

Shamanism has always fascinated me. The concept of an animal totem being a spirit guide is truly interesting and can become empowering. The issue is that most people who are not shamanic in their training mistake what it means to have a totem or using that totem as in shape shifting.

Working with animal spirit guides is a true explanation of metaphor which is the underlying explanation of were-animals in shamanism.

When the Yaqui Deer Dancer dawns his regalia he does not dance like he is a deer he becomes the deer. When any spirit comes into the physical body of a earth-centered religious practitioner, the energy of human and animal (or other spirit medium) become one.

Essentially the religious experience empowers the person to be God. That is the real difference between more sophisticated, language based religions and religions of ritual and that are earth based such as Voodoo, Taoism, Wiccan, Native American and so forth. God is not separate and man is never separate from God. Divine spirit manifests man and man manifests divine spirit. They are integrally one.

When I say my totem is the wolf, I say that the energy of the wolf is one with my spirit.

When in Voodoo I say I am ridden by the loa Brigid, I am saying that Brigid and I are one.

When I am one with the Tao, it means that the Tao and I are one and there is no other than what is now manifest in my reality.

Many modern fantasy paintings are but a desire to get back to the true meaning of metaphor. The isolationism of many popular religions today creates loneliness in the soul and we need to reconnect with our own true divinity.

This concept was really explored in the movie by George Lucas and when Luke Skywalked became one with the force he made no errors. We we are in the Tao we follow natural energy patterns and we make no errors.

To not be one with the divine is when we sin or make errors. When we are once again with the divine we are existing in divine grace and thus without sin.

We are all divine, perfect and enough. We just have to recognize and embrace that reality.






Love all God’s creation, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of light. Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing. If you love each thing you will perceive the mystery of God in all.
Feodor Dostoevsky



Myriam Maytorena, M.Ed.
http://myriamsmuse.blogspot.com/
http://manifestreality.com/
http://asknow.com/
You are the Miracle.
“It is one of the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive.” - C.W. Leadbeater