The Beginning

One thing I find amazing about Spiritual Healing is that the ceremony begins the instant we set a date. Somehow, a solid commitment frees and moves energy. I tell clients, “Don’t be surprised if your issue is exacerbated.” When something is about to change, it can hold on with a mighty grip.

What to Bring

Nothing is necessary. Anything you’d like to place on the altar is appropriate.

Who to Bring

Shamanism, an aspect of my Spiritual Healing practice, is about community. In the old days if we had a problem, the shaman most likely attended to us with friends, family, and neighbors witnessing. I imagine that children came and went. Healing was not a secret.

This isn’t so in modern times. Healing has become a private affair. No one witnesses, and we rarely share our experience with anyone.

Why is there such a need for privacy? I wonder if it’s based on shame. Clients have said, “I don’t want people to know these things about me.” Many of us embrace our wounds and emotional pain in solitude. What are we so afraid of?

Privacy can cultivate separation.

The shamanic way is unifying. I love when a client brings a loved one, or two, or three—someone once brought seven!—community members to witness and support their healing.

Spiritual Healing is not your everyday event, and inviting others creates countless opportunities. We have support that easily transfers to our daily lives, as well as a shared experience. I often do a lot of teaching so everyone can freely participate instead of wondering what’s going to happen next. Loved ones are our healing partners, and much to their surprise, also receive the energies.

Ceremony

Ceremony is a foundation of my healing practice. At the very beginning, I center, ground, and purify. I call to the spirits of my mesa—a medicine bundle of the Q’ero tradition, “Humpue, humpue,” (Come, come in Quechua.) I call to the rest, “Spirits, Masters, Healers, Teachers, Shamans of the Light. Come.”

I pray for miracles.    

Once the ceremony is open, which only takes a few minutes, we are enveloped within an energetic bubble of power. You can feel it. We’ve consciously asked for help, and the spirits responded.

Intention

Intention is key to healing. I listen to your concerns, needs, and desires, and out of this exchange, help you name a state of being you aspire to. If you’re depressed and say, “My intention is to not be depressed.” I’ll say, “No. There’s not enough power in that. What is the opposite of depression? How do you want to feel?” With this perspective shift, you might say, “I am a joyous person.”

Do you notice the difference?

There’s a human side to Spiritual Healing, as well as mystical. Awakening is part of healing. And while creating a core intention opens the layers of the soul where the wound is rooted, the mind is necessary to consciously align with this intention.

What’s Next?

You lie upon my healing table with one task—receive. I place my hands on your feet and channel Light. This begins what I call “the purification of the soul phase.” While remaining in a conscious connection with my Teacher, my hands rest on each energy center, as well as your head, and shoulders, and I infuse you with the Light of Love.

During the healing…

I might: speak with you (Inner Dialog), blow into you (Soul Retrieval), drum, ask you to feed my mesa with heavy energy, rattle, ring the bells…

You might: sleep intermittently, feel “random” pain, become emotional, need to talk, have a mystical experience, become caught within your mind, feel nothing…

When your healing is complete, I leave the room for a while to give you space, and then when you’re ready, we talk. I share everything and offer post-healing suggestions. When you feel complete, we close with prayers of gratitude.

How Long Does a Healing Ceremony Last?

I don’t have a set time-frame. It all depends upon what happens, how you receive it, and your needs. Two-and-one-half hours is common, although there are no clocks in the healing room.

Post-Healing

You arrive in one state of being and leave in another. I encourage everyone to expect three days of initial post-healing integration. During this time, the newly refined energies are harmonizing within the soul, which can feel wondrous and/or disconcerting. Claiming your intention daily and following through with post-healing suggestions assists and accelerates the changes that have occurred.

Painting by Angel L. Callanaupa Alvarez