Waken Tanker is the Native American name for the Great Spirit in Manifestation. In Shamanic understanding, everything in creation has a spark of the Great Spirit within it, their forms vary widely, as do their earthly experiences and awareness of time.
Everything in creation, as it contains a fragment of the Great Spirit within it, has its own awareness of life and its own experiences of life. It is this Spirit fragment that is contained within all things, that links all things together, and through which we as Humans can connect with them. We therefore come to understand that all things are our Relatives, as we too have that spark of the Devine within us.
Shamanic wisdom speaks of the principle causation of dis-ease as separation. This can mean separation of oneself from ones own Spirit, from family, loved ones, society etc. It can also be a separation from the Great Spirit, Waken Tanka.
To address this separation, it is vital that we re-establish our relationship with all of our relatives. Being in Nature is the ideal way of doing this. Just the very act of walking in Nature with and open heart and mind, seeing the beauty all around you and really appreciating it and giving thanks to it opens us up to the possibilities of coming in to relationship with the Natural world.
If you walk in Nature in this way, you may start to hear the quiet voices of your relatives, who are desperate to have a relationship with Human Beings once more. There are many shamanic techniques that can facilitate your communication skills with your nature relatives and thus give you a deeper connection and understanding of both them and yourself.
In a very simple way I was given a beautiful teaching from my relatives. As I was walking in our local Nature Reserve one morning last month, I became acutely aware of the heat of the Sun. As it warmed the plants I could smell the different, volatile oils being released from them, such as Nettle, Borage, Heal-thy-Self etc. I was reminded of Bach Flower remedies and the process the flowers are put through in order to bring their healing powers forth (the plant is placed in water and left to sit in the intense rays of the sun) and of aromatherapy. I was grateful to the Sun and the plants for this beautiful healing experience as I walked through their beautiful aroma.
Then I noticed the apple blossom in the trees, and the birds flitting from branch to tree. I was reminded how, in NLP practice, there is a self help technique to raise the mood of a person feeling quite depressed. This entails the person looking up and moving the eyes from side to side (most people who are feeling depressed look down at the floor for the majority of the time they are walking). Again I thanked my relatives for this healing gift and message and revelled in the raising of my spirits.
Being in Nature and reconnecting with your relatives is essential for your Shamanic Practice and development, but it may also be essential to the Earth Herself during this time of destructive practices being inflicted upon Her and all of our relatives.
Shamanic Quest holds regular workshops and courses at The Clophill Centre, Bedfordshire. A full list of dates can be found here on my website or on my Facebook page.
