{"id":5781,"date":"2019-06-01T01:10:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T06:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=21339"},"modified":"2019-05-22T16:08:35","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T21:08:35","slug":"excerpt-from-the-shamans-guide-by-lori-morrison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2019\/06\/01\/excerpt-from-the-shamans-guide-by-lori-morrison\/","title":{"rendered":"Excerpt from The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals by Lori Morrison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals<\/strong>
by Lori Morrison<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/em>Excerpted from The Shaman\u2019s Guide to Power Animals. Published by Four Jaguars Press. Copyright \u00a9 by Lori Morrison. https:\/\/lorimorrison.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIt\nwas a rainy day in the Pacific Northwest. I lifted my five-year-old\nbody into my father\u2019s delivery van. Our cargo was buttermilk\npancake mix, maple syrup, bacon, potatoes, carrots, and canned goods.\nWe were heading to my family\u2019s logging camp on the Olympic\nPeninsula in Washington State in the early 1960s. The road narrowed\nafter we got to the Quinault Indian Reservation. Because over one\nhundred inches of rain fall there each year, the fir trees towered\nabove us like a cathedral as we drove between them. Moss hung like\nlace from their branches. My father slowed the vehicle to allow a\nfamily of Elk to cross the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\ntrip is my first memory of being out in the woods far away from the\nbustle of civilization. Although dedicated to logging, my father\u2019s\nheart was so grateful for the forests that he was always proud of his\nefforts to ensure they were replenished after clearing the land. Many\nof the trees he planted on the Olympic Peninsula are mature and\nthriving fifty years later. His heart walked a tightrope between\nhuman development and preservation, a complicated balancing act in\nthose early years of logging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nContinuing\ndown the logging road with its rain-cut crevices, we soon arrived at\nthe camp. Young and old loggers smiled as we pulled up to the\nmakeshift kitchen ready to provide them the ingredients for their\nnext meals. My father jumped out the driver\u2019s side and called for\nsome help to unload the van. After greeting us, the cooks checked\nitems off the list of things they had ordered by radio a couple days\nbefore. Invited to sit down to a lumberjack breakfast, seven\nplate-size pancakes appeared on the table in front of me. I did my\nbest to dig into them, but my stomach was swiftly overwhelmed. For\nhis part, my father chowed down heartily. We\u2019d been driving for\nseveral hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAfter\nbreakfast my father took me by the hand and we walked along the banks\nof the Quinault River, me more successfully than him, as my weight\nwas perfect to prevent me from sinking deeply into the clay and mud\nof the shoreline. Arriving at the edge, I was awestruck. Thousands of\nbright coral Salmon were in the water flip-flopping and struggling to\nmake their way upstream to their spawning grounds. My father pointed\nupstream to a community of Bear engaged in a feeding frenzy. They had\nno interest in us as their focus was on the mass migration of Fish\nthat was taking place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\nwas the first moment in which I realized that something greater and\nwiser than me existed beyond the walls of my colorful nursery full of\nstuffed animals. There was a natural power ready to be discovered out\nin the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOn\nthe way back home, we bounced down the same dirt road and this time\nwe saw a Duckling that was alone on the side of the road. I remember\nmy mind wondering if this fluffy creature was a sign from nature\nintended for us. My father stopped the van and got out and, after\nmuch searching for Duck\u2019s mother, realized it had been abandoned.\nHe picked up the tiny Duck, put it in an empty carton and handed it\nto me. I felt so blessed by this gift from the forest as I held the\nbox with the Duckling on my lap all the way home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nDuring\nmy childhood I often spent time in nature alone. In those days, a\nyoung girl could venture about the bustling logging town of Aberdeen,\nWashington, on Grays Harbor in safety. Our neighbor had a large Koi\npond where I would sit for hours watching pairs of Dragonfly dart\nabout as several Koi peeked out from under the lotuses. Frogs would\nsit waiting for the next insect to land on their lily pads. The pond\nwas a microcosmic world of its own, the world of the water spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nLife\nchanged as I grew older. My connection to nature diminished as I\nembraced a more materialistic view of the world. Other than an\noccasional zoo visit, or a Sunday evening spent watching Wild Kingdom\non television, the animal world was a distant thought or interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMoving\nto El Salvador in my late twenties changed that, as I became the\nkeeper of eighty acres of land on the slopes of a dormant volcanic\ncrater that held Lake Ilopango. I was handed my first machete and\nbought myself a good pair of sturdy boots, and with my civil engineer\nhusband, Tino, started to open a road through the peninsula that we\nowned. Months of adventure ensued as we darted to avoid Snake, peeked\nat Panther and Fox, helped Armadillos make their way, discovered an\naudience of Iguanas watching us from the trees, and enjoyed the\ncuriosity of a multitude of tropical birds. In the late afternoon,\nVultures would prepare for the hunt and Opossums would climb up the\npalm\ntrees for the night. Agoutis would feed on the tender vegetation and\nDuck, Egret, Kingfisher, Owl, and other creatures abounded on and\naround the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nEvery\nnight, Tino and I would drive our boat to a cliff where trees hung\nover the water to see the arrival of hundreds of birds who would\nsleep in its branches overnight. I was steeped in the circle of life;\nthe animal kingdom was my neighborhood. Our dedication to the\nprotection of this property evolved into maintaining a private\nsanctuary for many animals that were brought to us after being\nrescued from being offered for sale as pets in the central market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOur\nlove of wildlife took us on many other adventures. We traveled to\nYellowstone National Park in the United States\u2014another volcano!\n\u2014and had thrilling experiences there with Bear and Buffalo. In\nAlaska, we flew by helicopter to the top of glaciers and spent time\nwith Brown Bears that we discovered on Dog sleds as we ventured into\nthe snowy banks near Juneau. We watched Whales in Prince Rupert Sound\nand enjoyed Seals floating on chunks of ice. More travels took us to\nAntarctica where we saw pods of Killer Whale and Leopard Seal, and I\nspent a day sitting on the beach in the Falkland Islands with a\ncolony of Penguin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nShortly\nafter that, my husband and I took a trip that truly captivated me and\ndeepened even more my perception of the animal world. We went to\nAfrica. With local trackers for our guides, we went off the beaten\npath to find a male Leopard. Giraffe galloped alongside our jeep and\nRhinoceros and Water Buffalo often stood only a few feet away. One\nday I sat for hours watching a female Leopard and her two cubs\nplaying in the sunshine. During an outdoor lunch, my meal was stolen\nby a Baboon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\nmoment that was most profound was when seven Lionesses joined us,\nmoving stealthily alongside our open jeep as we moved along slowly. I\ncould have reached out and touched them, although that would not have\nbeen a good idea. As the Lions were in stalking mode, I sat insanely\nstill. Suddenly a Lioness took off perpendicularly to us, while the\nothers stopped in front of the jeep and waited. Moments later, a herd\nof Gazelle came running in front of us, right into the trap that had\nbeen\nset. One Gazelle couldn\u2019t escape the ambush and became the victim\nof a feeding frenzy that I reluctantly watched. When finished, the\nseven Lionesses all lifted their bloody faces from the carcass and\nwalked off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our next stop was Botswana, where I enjoyed watching Elephant swimming across the river from us with their trunks like snorkels peeking out of the surface of the water. Staying in a tent, a Hippopotamus decided to sleep next to us all evening, which made for a very nervous slumber party. We floated in a boat on the Okavango River for hours, watching the arrival of Zebra and observing how the massive Alligator in the river protected their babies, which would swim happily by our craft. The morning we arrived in Johannesburg for the return flight home, I got teary about leaving. I had just had three weeks of a major hakuna matata (no problems) moment and I would never be the same again. That trip was the ultimate immersion into another world, and I had the realization that there was so much more to the animal kingdom than I understood with my relative oblivion to the natural world beyond my garden walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI\ntook home with me from Africa to El Salvador the sacred wisdom that\nwhen something dies it gives a new life to another and that, from the\nsmallest insect to the largest mammal, each of us is participating in\nthe balance of nature. We are all connected. The animals understood\nthis, while we humans are the least aware of our role in this dynamic\nexistence. The insight that everything is connected including the\nminerals, trees, and plants shook my human foundation. My ego shrunk,\nbecoming\nsmall and insignificant. This was the first of many steps toward a\nspiritual awakening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAfter\na major shamanic initiation by ancestral spirits in 2010, I was able\nto see, hear, and experience animal spirits. At my home on the edge\nof Lake Ilopango my ordinary reality and perceptions cracked open and\nthe spirits of four Jaguar became my teachers through a challenging\nshamanic initiation. After that, a Haitian shaman performed a power\nanimal ceremony with me and blew a Lion spirit into my heart chakra,\nwhich, to this day, is my constant companion. This spiritual event\nwas the accumulation of a journey into the Lower World, the place\nwhere the spirits of animals reside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMy\nexperience with Lion has been more than remarkable. Its guidance and\nteachings have been beyond what any shaman or earthly being could\nhave ever taught me. Lion is constantly teaching; I never leave her\nschool. We have learned to merge, and I have come to accept her\npowers so that I may help people heal. This partnership continues to\namaze me. Lion\u2019s eyes are like x-rays into the body of the sick.\nLion\u2019s powerful spine supports me to take on negative energy,\nchewing it up and spitting it out of me and those who seek our\nhealing powers. Lion completely wipes away fear, as if with the flip\nof a switch. I am never alone. Our relationship is one of great honor\nand respect for both of us. Lion has learned my hardiness and my\nweaknesses and uses everything she finds to our advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAt\ntimes, I have called in other animal spirits to help me, such as\nCondor to give me a wider view of the world, Snake to transform\nenergy, Beetle to fine tune my psychic powers, and numerous Birds\nthat continue to arrive with messages from the deceased for their\nloved ones. I have had Hawk land on branches above my head, Fox\nappear after leaving a drumming circle, and Deer peer into my office\nwindow during a healing session. The spirit world is alive and well\nthrough the generosity and concern that the animals show for us as\nhumans, even if we do not yet see our role in the natural order as\nthey see theirs. By opening our hearts to Power Animals, we will come\nto know ourselves\nand\nour place in the dynamic circle of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals on Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAbout\nthe Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nLori\nMorrison<\/strong>\nis the author of The\nShaman’s Guide to Power Animals<\/em>.\nShe is a best-selling author, inspirationalist and mystic. She is\npart of a rare breed of lightning shamans who have received a\nspontaneous awakening of shamanic knowledge. Lori first journeyed\ninto the shamanic underworld in 2010 where she found the spiritual\nrealm of Power Animals. Her teachers were Mayan Ancestors who took\nher through a two year initiation with the spirits of four Jaguar.\nHer later intimate connection with Lion, given to her by a Haitian\nshaman has been an extraordinary experience and has enhanced greatly\nher healing powers. By merging and forming a sacred relationship with\nanimal spirits she is able to support her clients with insight and\nchange through her cutting edge shamanic counseling practice in\nSedona, Arizona where she resides. For more information, please visit\nhttps:\/\/lorimorrison.com<\/a>\nand follow Lori on Facebook<\/a>\nand Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals by Lori Morrison Excerpted from The Shaman\u2019s Guide to Power Animals. Published by Four Jaguars Press. Copyright \u00a9 by Lori Morrison. https:\/\/lorimorrison.com It was a rainy day in the Pacific Northwest. I lifted my five-year-old body into my father\u2019s delivery van. Our cargo was buttermilk pancake mix, maple syrup, bacon, potatoes, carrots, and canned goods. We were heading to my family\u2019s logging camp on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State in the early 1960s. The road narrowed after we got to the Quinault Indian Reservation. Because over one hundred inches of rain fall there each year, the fir trees towered above us like a cathedral as we drove between them. Moss hung like lace from their branches. My father slowed the vehicle to allow a family of Elk to cross the road. This trip is my first memory of being out in the woods far away from the bustle of civilization. Although dedicated to logging, my father\u2019s heart was so grateful for the forests that he was always proud of his efforts to ensure they were replenished after clearing the land. Many of the trees he planted on the Olympic Peninsula are mature and thriving fifty years later. His heart walked a tightrope between human development and preservation, a complicated balancing act in those early years of logging. Continuing down the logging road with its rain-cut crevices, we soon arrived at the camp. Young and old loggers smiled as we pulled up to the makeshift kitchen ready to provide them the ingredients for their next meals. My father jumped out the driver\u2019s side and called for some help to unload the van. After greeting us, the cooks checked items off the list of things they had ordered by radio a couple days before. Invited to sit down to a lumberjack breakfast, seven plate-size pancakes appeared on the table in front of me. I did my best to dig into them, but my stomach was swiftly overwhelmed. For his part, my father chowed down heartily. We\u2019d been driving for several hours. After breakfast my father took me by the hand and we walked along the banks of the Quinault River, me more successfully than him, as my weight was perfect to prevent me from sinking deeply into the clay and mud of the shoreline. Arriving at the edge, I was awestruck. Thousands of bright coral Salmon were in the water flip-flopping and struggling to make their way upstream to their spawning grounds. My father pointed upstream to a community of Bear engaged in a feeding frenzy. They had no interest in us as their focus was on the mass migration of Fish that was taking place. This was the first moment in which I realized that something greater and wiser than me existed beyond the walls of my colorful nursery full of stuffed animals. There was a natural power ready to be discovered out in the world. On the way back home, we bounced down the same dirt road and this time we saw a Duckling that was alone on the side of the road. I remember my mind wondering if this fluffy creature was a sign from nature intended for us. My father stopped the van and got out and, after much searching for Duck\u2019s mother, realized it had been abandoned. He picked up the tiny Duck, put it in an empty carton and handed it to me. I felt so blessed by this gift from the forest as I held the box with the Duckling on my lap all the way home. During my childhood I often spent time in nature alone. In those days, a young girl could venture about the bustling logging town of Aberdeen, Washington, on Grays Harbor in safety. Our neighbor had a large Koi pond where I would sit for hours watching pairs of Dragonfly dart about as several Koi peeked out from under the lotuses. Frogs would sit waiting for the next insect to land on their lily pads. The pond was a microcosmic world of its own, the world of the water spirits. Life changed as I grew older. My connection to nature diminished as I embraced a more materialistic view of the world. Other than an occasional zoo visit, or a Sunday evening spent watching Wild Kingdom on television, the animal world was a distant thought or interest. Moving to El Salvador in my late twenties changed that, as I became the keeper of eighty acres of land on the slopes of a dormant volcanic crater that held Lake Ilopango. I was handed my first machete and bought myself a good pair of sturdy boots, and with my civil engineer husband, Tino, started to open a road through the peninsula that we owned. Months of adventure ensued as we darted to avoid Snake, peeked at Panther and Fox, helped Armadillos make their way, discovered an audience of Iguanas watching us from the trees, and enjoyed the curiosity of a multitude of tropical birds. In the late afternoon, Vultures would prepare for the hunt and Opossums would climb up the palm trees for the night. Agoutis would feed on the tender vegetation and Duck, Egret, Kingfisher, Owl, and other creatures abounded on and around the lake. Every night, Tino and I would drive our boat to a cliff where trees hung over the water to see the arrival of hundreds of birds who would sleep in its branches overnight. I was steeped in the circle of life; the animal kingdom was my neighborhood. Our dedication to the protection of this property evolved into maintaining a private sanctuary for many animals that were brought to us after being rescued from being offered for sale as pets in the central market. Our love of wildlife took us on many other adventures. We traveled to Yellowstone National Park in the United States\u2014another volcano! \u2014and had thrilling experiences there with Bear and Buffalo. In Alaska, we flew by helicopter to the top of glaciers and spent time with Brown Bears that we discovered on Dog sleds as we ventured into the snowy banks near Juneau. We watched Whales in Prince Rupert Sound and enjoyed Seals floating on chunks of ice. More travels took us to Antarctica where we saw pods of Killer Whale and Leopard Seal, and I spent a day sitting on the beach in the Falkland Islands with a colony of Penguin. Shortly after that, my husband and I took a trip that truly captivated me and deepened even more my perception of the animal world. We went to Africa. With local trackers for our guides, we went off the beaten path to find a male Leopard. Giraffe galloped alongside our jeep and Rhinoceros and Water Buffalo often stood only a few feet away. One day I sat for hours watching a female Leopard and her two cubs playing in the sunshine. During an outdoor lunch, my meal was stolen by a Baboon. The moment that was most profound was when seven Lionesses joined us, moving stealthily alongside our open jeep as we moved along slowly. I could have reached out and touched them, although that would not have been a good idea. As the Lions were in stalking mode, I sat insanely still. Suddenly a Lioness took off perpendicularly to us, while the others stopped in front of the jeep and waited. Moments later, a herd of Gazelle came running in front of us, right into the trap that had been set. One Gazelle couldn\u2019t escape the ambush and became the victim of a feeding frenzy that I reluctantly watched. When finished, the seven Lionesses all lifted their bloody faces from the carcass and walked off. Our next stop was Botswana, where I enjoyed watching Elephant swimming across the river from us with their trunks like snorkels peeking out of the surface of the water. Staying in a tent, a Hippopotamus decided to sleep next to us all evening, which made for a very nervous slumber party. We floated in a boat on the Okavango River for hours, watching the arrival of Zebra and observing how the massive Alligator in the river protected their babies, which would swim happily by our craft. The morning we arrived in Johannesburg for the return flight home, I got teary about leaving. I had just had three weeks of a major hakuna matata (no problems) moment and I would never be the same again. That trip was the ultimate immersion into another world, and I had the realization that there was so much more to the animal kingdom than I understood with my relative oblivion to the natural world beyond my garden walls. I took home with me from Africa to El Salvador the sacred wisdom that when something dies it gives a new life to another and that, from the smallest insect to the largest mammal, each of us is participating in the balance of nature. We are all connected. The animals understood this, while we humans are the least aware of our role in this dynamic existence. The insight that everything is connected including the minerals, trees, and plants shook my human foundation. My ego shrunk, becoming small and insignificant. This was the first of many steps toward a spiritual awakening. After a major shamanic initiation by ancestral spirits in 2010, I was able to see, hear, and experience animal spirits. At my home on the edge of Lake Ilopango my ordinary reality and perceptions cracked open and the spirits of four Jaguar became my teachers through a challenging shamanic initiation. After that, a Haitian shaman performed a power animal ceremony with me and blew a Lion spirit into my heart chakra, which, to this day, is my constant companion. This spiritual event was the accumulation of a journey into the Lower World, the place where the spirits of animals reside. My experience with Lion has been more than remarkable. Its guidance and teachings have been beyond what any shaman or earthly being could have ever taught me. Lion is constantly teaching; I never leave her school. We have learned to merge, and I have come to accept her powers so that I may help people heal. This partnership continues to amaze me. Lion\u2019s eyes are like x-rays into the body of the sick. Lion\u2019s powerful spine supports me to take on negative energy, chewing it up and spitting it out of me and those who seek our healing powers. Lion completely wipes away fear, as if with the flip of a switch. I am never alone. Our relationship is one of great honor and respect for both of us. Lion has learned my hardiness and my weaknesses and uses everything she finds to our advantage. At times, I have called in other animal spirits to help me, such as Condor to give me a wider view of the world, Snake to transform energy, Beetle to fine tune my psychic powers, and numerous Birds that continue to arrive with messages from the deceased for their loved ones. I have had Hawk land on branches above my head, Fox appear after leaving a drumming circle, and Deer peer into my office window during a healing session. The spirit world is alive and well through the generosity and concern that the animals show for us as humans, even if we do not yet see our role in the natural order as they see theirs. By opening our hearts to Power Animals, we will come to know ourselves and our place in the dynamic circle of life. The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals on Amazon *** About the Author: Lori Morrison is the author of The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals. She is a best-selling author, inspirationalist and mystic. She is part of a rare breed of lightning shamans who have received a spontaneous awakening of shamanic knowledge. Lori first journeyed into the shamanic underworld in 2010 where she found the spiritual…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5781"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5655,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions\/5655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}