Want to have a naming ceremony for your new born child? Here is how I do ceremony.
When I do a naming ceremony I usually examine the family and the social customs regarding their heritage, what they are accustomed to and try to cater to that. Not every family is interested in a Native American naming ceremony. But assuming that this family is…
I prepare a large medicine circle on the ground outdoors perhaps made of sticks or pinecones or even things representing the baby or family. You could have each member present bring a symbol and lay it on the appropriate place of the medicine wheel during the beginning of the ceremony (refer to lesson three for more tips). Anyway, I make this medicine circle large enough to walk in. Approach the Circle leading the group and using a prayer such as this,
Facing east;
“Spirit of the east where light comes from and the element of air, enlighten this holy child.”
Facing south;
“Spirit of the south where the sun is the strongest, and element of fire, let this child seek.”
Facing west;
“Spirit of the west where the sun sets and element of water, give this child strength.”
Facing north;
“Spirit of the north where the sun rests and element of earth, give this child knowledge.”
Have the parents and god parents stand in the medicine circle while the others circle around the outside.
I choose a Native American prayer and explain a little about what a name signifies. I bestow the name on the baby and bless it with water poured on its forehead three times. I present the baby with a pair of little white moccasins with a hole cut in the bottom of one of them. The significance is that evil spirits will not harm the child in any way because the baby’s moccasins are looking old and worn with a hole in them so they don’t want to take these moccasins for themselves. They like new moccasins. I also present a white feather as the first feather of its life and wish the baby a long headdress of feathers signifying bravery and wisdom and leadership in its life. Many accomplishments. I give this feather to the parents and god-parents and remind them of their responsibility to help the child attain this long chieftain headdress in its life. I have the spectators respond with Aho! Maybe drum a song. Then walk everyone around the medicine circle saluting again the four directions and thanking Spirit for help.
That is my loose ceremony. I often let Spirit guide me where to exactly go with this as Spirit always makes it perfect. That is why I am not sharing a specific point by point description. But you have the ingredients here. The naming ceremonies I have done were all perfect. One time the mother laid her baby right down in the center of the medicine circle and each spectator came and laid a gift or symbol down around the baby such as feathers or leaves or shoes, gifts that represented some quality they wished for the baby. All kinds of cool variations can happen.
Hope this helps. What is the name of the baby and when is the ceremony. I will be there to add my blessings. Wrtie me at shaman@shamanelder.com if you would like me to come and do ceremony for you.
Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls has been a practicing Shaman for over 50 years. She now offers an online course at http://www.shamanelder.com. Learn over 20 traditional shamanic tools to heal yourself and others.
Have a one-on-one ongoing dialogue with a traditional indigenous Shaman.
Study in the comfort of your own home and practice within your own daily routines for life changing results. Please visit her website at www.shamanelder.com or write her an email for a free consultation at shaman@shamanelder.com
Copyright 2008 Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls. All Rights Reserved.
A Shamanic Practice
Simplicity
Simplicity is defined as the quality or condition of being simple or un-combined. It often denotes beauty, purity and clarity. Simple things are usually easier to explain and understand that complicated things. Simplicity to the Shaman means freedom from hardship, effort and confusion. It is also part of a Shaman’s simple living lifestyle.
According to Thomas Aquinas, one of the Catholic church’s leading philosophers in the 18th century, God is infinitely simple. Another sage tells us “Everything that Creator creates is simple. It is man who makes things difficult.” Even in the scientific community there is a formula called Occam’s Razor which says, all other things being equal, the simplest theory is the most likely to be true. So simplicity has been propounded and recognized as an optimal state by many different cultures such as Buddhist life, religions such as the Quakers, Mormons, and Friends, and tribal groups around the world.
For the Shaman, simplicity is freedom. Complexity is bondage. Simplicity brings joy and balance. Complexity brings anxiety and fear. Simplicity is an inward reality that manifests outwardly in how we live. Simplicity brings the Shaman inner unity and balance and this liberates us outwardly. We speak truthfully and directly. We no longer crave status and position and fame and money. We achieve the inner center we are no longer distracted by the psychotic and fragmented world we live in. Without this unity, this simplicity within our hearts and minds, things get too complex. It is hard to listen, to connect to Creator. We set up a confusing patch of thorn bushes around us that make it impossible to think clearly, to see clearly, to connect to Creator clearly. For those that live within these thorn bushes, what they call ambition becomes covetousness, what they call prudence is only hoarding, what they call industry is only greed.
Simplicity does not mean suffering without things. It instead puts things in proper perspective because it reorients one’s life so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without creating a thorn bush patch around oneself.
The simplicity the Shaman lives in is about freedom. It’s about owning your own life. It allows us to be content in our work or to change work when it no longer benefits us. It permits us to spend less time acquiring things and more time acquiring experiences, gaining new perceptions, insights, and relationships.
One of the traits that is most visible in the true Shaman is simplicity. You can see it in the Shamans manner and lifestyle. It is obvious. And that brings the Shaman under attack by many because it goes against the vested interests of modern society that feeds on insecurity and acquiring more and more consumer goods.
To see if you practice simplicity, make a list of the ten activities you enjoy most. Then make another list of the ten activities that occupy most of your time. Compare the two lists and see how much time to give to those things you value most. This little self test maybe all you need to convince you to practice simplicity.
For the Shaman, to be without desires is to be content. “If you do not wish something, you are content with what you have. And to be without desire is to be simple. If life is simple, then life is not complicated.” Lao Tzu
“in dwelling, live close to the ground.
in thinking, keep to the simple.
in conflict, be fair and generous.
in governing, don¹t try to control.
in work, do what you enjoy.
in family life, be completely present.”- Tao Te Ching
Simplicity as the Shaman practices it is a positive approach to gaining and keeping control of your life, your time, your commitments, your expectations.
We are always conscious that in every situation there are choices. Some of them may be more difficult than others, but there are always choices. So the Shaman is not content to be buffeted by events or circumstances. Shamans live their lives; they aren’t lived by them. Shamans can control their response to circumstances. So can you.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” — Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
“Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.” — William Hazlitt
“The true Simplicity is one of the elements of the “God training”. It is not for those who are far from Him.”
Most people experience themselves as anything but simple. But if Creator is simple then it is no wonder that people have trouble relating to Creator. People often find themselves dispersed and fragmented. At times, people feel that they are made up of parts that are not just out of sync but warring against each other. So that experience of human life is anything but simple. But that is not our essential condition, say the mystics. We are created as the imago Dei, the image of God, and that includes Creator’s simplicity. Our soul is by nature, simple and therefore capable of relating to the simple Creator, Source, God.
If you really take a look you will find that all the complexity you seem to have in your life came from the perceptions that were given to you by your authority figures, by society at large, by your community, your government, your culture. Creator creates beautiful simple creations. Man comes along and complicates those creations. Fragments those creations, puts those creations out of sync with each other in our belief systems.
The Shaman only has to look at a forest or a meadow and see the beautiful simplicity in Creators creations to know that this same simplicity is the way we were meant to live in this human experience. So the Shaman practices simplicity in his thoughts, words and actions. Whenever life seems to be getting complicated , the Shaman knows it is the human side of things, not what Creator has created. So with tolerance for other people’s complications, the Shaman practices simplicity in his or her own life.
We have seen above that one condition necessary to practice simplicity is to not desire. The Buddhists teach no preference. Society teaches through commercials and advertising and even teaches us in school that we should desire more and more and more. The ego even thrives on gaining more and more. But how much do we really need?
Master Jesus spoke to his disciples about worry and anxiety and tried to teach them about simplicity as he practiced it himself. “ Consider the ravens; For they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought (worrying) can add to stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that little thing , then why worry about the rest? “
“If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, oh ye of little faith?. Seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Luke 12:22
Those of us who do give up the cares of this commercial world and seek the kingdom of God in our lives, have found that indeed all kinds of blessings and nourishment and material goods are indeed given to us without asking for them. Most spiritually attuned people can tell you stories of how they were given just the right material things at the perfect time, sometimes in abundance without ever feeling they needed something. The reason for this is again the universal Law of like attracts like.
People of simplicity are happy to see other people get what they feel they need. We are happy to see a poor man find shelter, a child find food. We pray for this for them. We are happy to see that guy next door come up his driveway in a new Mercedes or the wife come home with a new fur coat, or the neighbors be able to take a Caribbean cruise or the coworker get the promotion to the big office upstairs. We share in their delight and celebrate with them without any frustration or feeling we need those things too. And when we do this we are actually attracting more into our lives as well. This is why true spiritually centered people are not poor by any means! They, like myself, have enough to eat and a place to live and the bills get paid because they do not overspend and desire more than they need. They give thanks for other peoples good fortune with all their hearts and attract all that they need to them as well. So lack of desire for material things does not mean living an impoverished life. It means you know what is really of value and what is not. It means you are no longer complicating your life with material possessions that you felt you wanted but didn’t need.
It is good to make a list of the things you really need and another list of the things you like or want but do not need. See which list is bigger and which list is the one that complicates your life most. Practice simplicity if you want to walk the path of the Shaman.
Another requirement to practicing simplicity is honesty. If you cannot be honest with yourself you will never be able to practice simplicity. You will constantly fool yourself or let others fool you into wanting things you don’t need. This includes not only material things but also mental things and emotional things that you don’t need.
If you want to be really honest with yourself, the truth is, only you can make yourself happy. No person, place, situation, possession is going to make you happy. Nothing else can make you happy but you. Happiness is not in the next relationship, the next job, the next house, the next vacation, the next car, the next boyfriend, or the next pat on the back. Happiness is an inside job. And it takes honesty with yourself to find this happiness. And it takes the practice of simplicity to find this happiness. Strip away all the outside stuff and you come down to you.
The Shaman has done the work to strip away all the outside stuff. He or she has come head to head with one’s own truth and found his or her own happiness in the simple things. Then and only then can that Shaman have the close relationship with Creator to find the simple answers to life, love, healing, wholeness, joy. All those things you are now looking for while surrounding yourself in the thorny bushes of a briar patch created for you by outside sources.
“And that is just the reason why I have so often taught you that the kingdom of heaven can best be realized by acquiring the spiritual attitude of a sincere child. It is not the mental immaturity of the child that I commend to you but rather the spiritual simplicity of such an easy-believing and fully-trusting little one. It is not so important that you should know about the fact of God as that you should increasingly grow in the ability to feel the presence of God.” – Jesus, Urantia pp1732-33
The practice of simplicity leads to feeling the presence of Creator directly in your life. And is that not what you are seeking really?
“Unless ye become as little children ye shall not enter the kingdom of God” Children practice simplicity. Shamans practice simplicity too. Do you practice simplicity?
Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls has been a practicing Shaman for over 50 years. She recently received a dispensation to reach out to those who have a desire to learn about a Shaman’s path and now offers an online course at http://www.shamanelder.com. Many people on this earth have been Shamans in other lives and only need to reconnect with their lost knowledge and skills to bring shamanic healing back to Mother Earth and its peoples. This is Shaman Elder’s goal. Please visit her website at www.shamanelder.com or write her an email for a free consultation at shaman@shamanelder.com
Copyright 2008 Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls. All Rights Reserved.
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