It always surprises me that there is no mention of fear in the Amidah. From a shamanic point of view, it's essential to check in with your fear everyday and be aware of it at all times. In Judaism, fear of God is the first step towards wisdom and is important for a number of reasons. I discussed one aspect of it in a prior post.
Tonight, while I was davening, I got to the prayer for healing and the fear overwhelmed me. I paused, felt it thoroughly, and then sent it love. Then I continued onward with the prayer. I am a healer, and I periodically go through fears related to healing (which is happening now), so it made perfect sense to feel the fear at the point.
Each of the 18 blessings links to a different things. The first three are praise, the next 12 are requests, and the last three are thanks. Perhaps we can use the middle blessings as reminders of where to check for our fear. Or to use them as reminders to check for how we are feeling on the different aspects of ourselves. It's worth studying in more depth.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Energy centers
Over the past few years, I've gradually become aware of three major energy centers in the body: my forehead, my heart, and my lower abdomen (hara). Interestingly, each of these is considered the center in different traditions. In Jewish mysticism, the forehead is very important as one's inner light shines from there. There is a long tradition of reading letters and words on a person's forehead. As a persons spirit becomes stronger and more pure, the letters become clearer. The heart is a center of power for the shamanic tradition I've studied, and is the source for bringing love and healing into the world. The lower abdomen is called the Hara is Chinese medicine and is the center of power in the martial arts world.
Each is a different way of connected to my patients. When a patient first comes in and I begin to connect with them, I try to be aware of how I'm connecting to them. I'm always surprised that how I'm connecting is not what I expect. I expect an intellectual person will connect through the forehead, but then I find a heart connection with them. Even now, I feel the urge to define each connection and what it is used for, but the truth is that they are just three ways of doing the same things.
I see the primary roles of the shaman as threefold: gaining sight or knowledge, creating the space for healing, and action. All of these are directed towards healing and unifying with God. And all three energy centers can do all three tasks. Sometimes the heart connection is what's needed to move through a blockage, sometimes the forehead.
Jewish study and prayer often concentrate energy in my forehead, which makes me think too much. It takes an act of will while praying to bring the energy down. I often wonder if Jewish spiritual techniques make us tend towards overthinking, or if our value on education led to the most intellectual people developing the spiritual techniques, but either way, we are definitely encouraged and trained to think.
My general tendency, by nature or by being raised in an academic intellectual household, is to overthink. I've found that I often need to draw in the energy at my forehead. It feels like putting a metal plate over my forehead to keep the energy in. At that point, my heart radiates and gets stronger. I think much of my power lies in my heart, but the overthinking saps it and drains the power off. When I close my forehead, the energy can accumulate in my heart.
All shaman are different and it's important to know where your power lies. I'm curious what other people perceive as their energy centers and how they use that in healing. Let me know what you think.
Each is a different way of connected to my patients. When a patient first comes in and I begin to connect with them, I try to be aware of how I'm connecting to them. I'm always surprised that how I'm connecting is not what I expect. I expect an intellectual person will connect through the forehead, but then I find a heart connection with them. Even now, I feel the urge to define each connection and what it is used for, but the truth is that they are just three ways of doing the same things.
I see the primary roles of the shaman as threefold: gaining sight or knowledge, creating the space for healing, and action. All of these are directed towards healing and unifying with God. And all three energy centers can do all three tasks. Sometimes the heart connection is what's needed to move through a blockage, sometimes the forehead.
Jewish study and prayer often concentrate energy in my forehead, which makes me think too much. It takes an act of will while praying to bring the energy down. I often wonder if Jewish spiritual techniques make us tend towards overthinking, or if our value on education led to the most intellectual people developing the spiritual techniques, but either way, we are definitely encouraged and trained to think.
My general tendency, by nature or by being raised in an academic intellectual household, is to overthink. I've found that I often need to draw in the energy at my forehead. It feels like putting a metal plate over my forehead to keep the energy in. At that point, my heart radiates and gets stronger. I think much of my power lies in my heart, but the overthinking saps it and drains the power off. When I close my forehead, the energy can accumulate in my heart.
All shaman are different and it's important to know where your power lies. I'm curious what other people perceive as their energy centers and how they use that in healing. Let me know what you think.
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