Hank Wesselman, P.h.D.

The Authentic Shamanic Teacher

IIn several of our past columns, we have outlined aspects of the “general practice” of the shamanic healer—the one who is in service to others in their community. In thinking about this, it could be observed here (with appropriate fervor) that there are many paths on which one may encounter shamans. The way of the healer is just one of them.

There is also the path of the shaman as warrior or the shaman as priest/priestess. There is the path of the shaman as artist, the shaman as lawgiver, the shaman as sage, the shaman as the scholar… the shaman as philosopher.

All of these paths are valid and all are spirit-filled when approached through the positive polarity.

Eventually, our life lessons may bring us to the point where we are privileged to walk that higher road as the chief, the king or queen—a path on which the life-goal is mastery. Yet curiously, the life-role remains the same--to be of service.

When the ‘path of the chief’ is walked in order to contribute to the greater good, the shaman (as the politician, perhaps, or the enlightened ruler) may actually become a world redeemer.

The role of the inspired visionary cannot be underestimated, for when we take a good look at the current state of our world, it is quite obvious that many of our leaders have forgotten what it means to be an authentic ruler. How many of our politicians are authentic chiefs? And where among our various presidents, prime ministers and heads of state are the authentic ‘kings’ and ‘queens’?

In order to experience authentic initiation, it is not enough to simply master a body of knowledge and technique or put a series of letters after our name that imply the successful completion of a university degree. We also have to know who we are as well as where we are.

No teacher or guru, priest or politician, can reveal this mystery to us. They may point out the way and get us going in the right direction, but ultimately, we can only discover this for ourselves…

In the beginning though, many of us who walk on the spiritual path seek out a teacher. We do so because we are in search of knowledge, experience, and initiation. But how do we ensure that we will be drawn to an authentically initiated individual who will serve us well as our teacher?

Some of us decide to seek out teachers in the indigenous world, often through participating in travel groups or tours into remote regions. These tours are usually accompanied or led by an acknowledged (or self-proclaimed) expert, and these experiences can be intense, exciting, and life-changing. Yet they usually lack the long-term connection with a teacher necessary for authentic shamanic training.

Some of us seek out indigenous spiritual elders closer to home, yet we usually discover that there are very few now who know the old traditions and fewer still who may be inclined to share their wisdom with outsiders. Some of us are lucky though and find an indigenous elder who has chosen to extend their love and their knowledge to everyone, regardless of culture, race or ethnicity.

Then there are the growing numbers of spiritual seekers who become aware of the shaman’s path through the published works of individuals who have spent time with indigenous peoples and who have become shamanic practitioners themselves. Some seekers find their way into relationship with these teachers who offer knowledge as well as experiential training in seminars and workshops at conferences and institutes.

For non-tribal Westerners, the hands-on experiential workshop offers opportunities for intense immersion in the shaman’s worldview and practice. These structured settings provide tools and techniques designed to bring us into connection with our spirit helpers, our spirit teachers and our guides, in the process creating a good working foundation for our own practice.

In the shaman’s world, however, it is always understood that the true teachers are found on the other side of the mirror--in the inner levels of reality, awareness and experience. Only the spirits can convey true teaching as well as authentic initiation to the shamanic practitioner—and to the teacher.

The job of the authentic shamanic teacher is to facilitate this reconnection.

I might add here that there are no certificates or diplomas that are valid in the shamanic world, nor do authentic teachers offer them. Only the community can convey the mantle of validation to the shamanic practitioner, and this is based on the practitioner’s ability to be of service—to stand and deliver the goods.

Once the shamanic aspirant has been brought into connection with their inner teachers, the role of the outer teacher is essentially done and their job is then to get out of the way. Yet it is also true that many workshop participants return to work with a singular teacher in serial workshops in order to deepen their practice in specific areas such as soul retrieval, extraction work, or working with ancestral spirits.

In thinking about this, I should reaffirm something mentioned in previous columns. The ancient methodologies of the shaman, those technologies of transcendence that were developed across tens of millennia by our stone-age ancestors, are the birthright of all human beings everywhere, in every culture.

If we go back far enough, we are all descended from indigenous tribal peoples, Westerners and non-Westerners alike, and they all had great shamans. This means that it is not required that you be a Zulu or a Siberian, a Maya or Hawaiian or Native American to learn about and practice shamanism. The practice, the method, is much the same the world over. It belongs to all.

Allow me to share here some information for those who are in the process of becoming shamanic teachers, as well as those who feel drawn to do so. In doing this, I can only speak from my own experience.

I am now in the 24th year of my apprenticeship in this ancient tradition, a time during which I have studied with many teachers in the outer world, both Western and indigenous. During this period, I also studied with my inner spirit teachers, and under their guidance, I practiced the shaman’s craft for 12 years before I became a teacher myself.

At that point in my life, I did not simply create shamanic workshops based on what I had been taught and then start marketing them to my community, proclaiming myself as a shamanic practitioner and teacher. Rather, I was invited by my community to teach, and in looking back, I now suspect that this is the correct protocol in becoming a shamanic teacher.

Members of my community, hearing or knowing of my interests by word of mouth, began to ask me to speak at gatherings. Often these events took the form of one to two-hour talks accompanied by experiential journeywork, usually in someone’s living room on a Sunday afternoon, sometimes followed by a potluck meal. These informal events continued for several years until I published my first book Spiritwalker. Then the invitations to speak and teach began to come from conferences and institutes.

Yet even here, I never sent in my resume, so to speak, approaching this well-known institute or conference committee with a proposal for a talk or a workshop. I waited to be invited, and this remains my protocol to this day.

Slowly, over the next 12 years, the unique shape of my teaching took form, based upon my own practice, and today, I offer about 40 workshops and conference presentations every year across North America and abroad (in addition to my academic teaching, my scientific research, and my writing projects), with my wife Jill joining me as teacher at some of our longer retreats.

In my experience, authentic spiritual teachers are not interested in forming co-dependent relationships with their clients and workshop participants, nor are they motivated toward attracting crowds of fervent followers who believe they are god’s gift to the world.

Rather, we live in a time in which each person may claim the power that was once the exclusive territory of the organized priesthoods. And in doing so, we acquire the ability to become our own priest, our own chief, our own ruler. The shaman’s path is intensely democratic, and perhaps this is part of the reason why ever-increasing numbers of Westerners are being drawn to rediscover and practice aspects of this ancient tradition.

But the big question still lurks in the shadows for our consideration: how do you know when a shamanic teacher is authentic? How do you know whether this famous author, or that well-known person, or that unknown (yet fervent) individual has been authentically initiated?

One way is to ask others who have worked with them or experienced their teaching. Word of mouth with someone you know almost always rings true. Another way, of course, is to just go for it and experience their teaching for yourself.

As you interface with what they have to offer, you will notice that you either resonate with their teaching or you don’t—and that goes for the personality of the teacher as well. You can either identify with them and what they are all about or you can’t. This is about practicing discrimination, yes, but it is also about resonance.

But that key word “authenticity’ still haunts us because if there is one thing that spiritual seekers in the transformational community are looking for, it’s authenticity. And here, from my experience, are some pointers you might consider.

It is not enough for a spiritual teacher to come from a place of knowledge, nor in my experience does an authentic spiritual teacher ever call themselves a “master.” When someone is functioning as a teacher, their mastery of the subject matter is a given. It comes with the territory.

So what else should we look for?

The first thing that I look for in a spiritual teacher is humility. If someone stands up in front of a group and proclaims themselves as a shaman or a kahuna, that’s your first red flag. No authentic shaman (or kahuna) ever claims the title. It just isn’t done—ever. Rather, the title is given to them by their community, based upon their accomplishments.

The second quality I watch for is reverence. In this case, reverence refers to an active practice of respect, and this is extended to everyone and everything, regardless of who and what they are. If you find yourself in a group with a teacher who is autocratic, demanding, condemning or rigid, you might reconsider your commitment to that teacher.

The third quality I watch for is self-discipline. In this sense, if you have found yourself in the presence of a spiritual teacher who is arrogant, who expresses themselves through proclamation and pontification, you’re probably in the wrong place.

If you’re sitting in a room with hundreds of ‘devotees’, focused upon the presence of a spiritual teacher who is dispensing truth from some lofty place, expecting everyone in the room to be hanging on their every word, you may be with the wrong teacher.

If you hear through the grapevine that a well-published, well-traveled, and well-known teacher is a sexual predator who regularly sleeps with their students, you might look toward a more trust-worthy individual to help facilitate your spiritual growth. It’s simply not OK for a spiritual teacher to become sexually involved with their students. If they haven’t figured that one out yet, they have not experienced authentic initiation and they are not ready to be a spiritual teacher.

That said, allow me to put in here that I do encourage my students to work with as many accomplished and authentically-initiated teachers as possible. In addition to their teachings, these individuals bring us into enhanced connection with each other, creating community. Through interconnection and cooperation with others of similar orientation and training, our experience is broadened, our abilities sharpen to become more refined, and our knowledge deepens to become wisdom.

The bottom line is that there's always more power in a group. As we mentioned in our last several columns that were focused upon spirit medicine, when a half dozen or more are sitting in circle, connected to their spirit helpers, each can then serve as the bridge, conveying the power from their spirit allies in a healing capacity to the sufferer, if that is what is required.

As we all discover, the results can be immediate and dramatic… or they may also be subtle and cumulative.

Until next month, allow me to invoke Hale Makua’s exalted spirit and extend to each of you the Light and the Love of the Ancestors, The Source of Life, rejoicing in the Power and the Peace, braided with the cords of Patience, revealing the tapestry of the strongest force in the Universe, your Aloha.

--with warm thoughts--Dr Hank