What is a Shaman? Can energy medicine help me?

Lately I have been pondering how I can explain to people what I do in a way that makes sense and value to those who are reading/listening. There is a lot of concepts out there about Spiritual work and Shamanism that just aren't correct AND what's more it actually hinders people from there own healing.These images that are out there prevent people from exploring further whether or not a Shaman or Spiritual Guide can assist them on the path of Life. In this blog I hope to dispel some myths and explain how I can serve you.

Spiritual work is NOT black magick or evil, it is the direct opposite! Yes,there are people who are severely misguided and practice this type of thing, to their own detriment. I work directly with the Hierarchy of Light, who are beings of Light, such as Angels, Archangels, Ascended Masters, Elementals and God, the Hierarchy of Light can be considered service agents of the Light/God,they direct energy for us and creation. They guide us (for they have way more wisdom than we humans do) and assist in the great plan of creation. The Great Plan is the one that God has for us all and it is an eternal plan and you are an eternal being, you are here to learn about the Light and transcend your own limitations.

Spiritual energy work, readings, classes will not solve your problems, if you are looking to hand over everything to someone else (ie: me or any other spiritual advisor) then you are looking for a Guru, this is disempowering for you. Don't do this, I have heard horror stories of people who have gone to palm readers locally and had ALOT of money taken off of them and other stories, this adds to the above notion that spiritual work is dark. YOU will solve your problems, they are your lessons to learn from, think 'Gift' for your progression and if you have reached a place in your life where you are fed up with 'your problems, relationships, lost your purpose etc' then I can help you to help yourself, this is true empowerment. I use ancient Shamanic tools and teachings that will awaken you in Body, Soul and Spirit by shining the light and clearing obstructions to the light that you cannot get too. If you commit to finding the Light within you then Heaven and the Universe will assist you on your path.

A Shaman is not necessarily a native or indigenous person who works with Earth elements, there are Shamans who work this way within a lineage, these Shamans are deeply connected to the land of there origin and use Earth based tools. All Shamans MUST have a lineage and a lineage is what makes their work authentic,well that and there desire to serve the Light. A lineage is a known, traceable path of those who have served as keepers of knowledge and passed that knowledge on to others so that they too may assist in the Great Work. There are many who'claim' to be shamans and reading something from a book or creating energy work from scratch or as an add on to stuff they have learnt does NOT constitute Shamanic work, stay away from this as it will likely have little to no effect and may even cause harm, I have seen this too. I am a Shaman and Guide and I have two lineages that I am empowered to work with and through, I have been taught in the old way of doing things that work in our modern world, they are unchanged and they work, 3000 years of lineage proves that this is so. Please remember that modern medicine and psychology have only been around for a relatively short period of time and I think we can agree that we have more medical, psychological and emotional problems here on earth than ever before.Perhaps if this is your experience right now it is time to try a different approach? I work with Earth based healing's and I also work with a variety of other healing's that are connected to Angels, Egyptian magick,  Kabbala,  Galctic,Esoteric and more, I have many tools and each of them serve different functions,when we meet we can talk about what your goals are. I have been training in my field consistently for seven years and I continue to do so, so as long as some Doctor's! I am a Mother of two, a 3rd grader and a Freshman (Yikes!!) and I have been with my Husband for 21 years, we also run a commercial cleaning business. I am perfectly normal (whatever that is LOL) and I found my purpose through this work and it my passion to help you find yours!

How do I know if this type of work can help me? Easy, is what you are currently doing helping you or are you stuck? If you are stuck and don't know how to move forward then I maybe the one for you. I might not be, but I do know others who work within this area from Life Coaches to Addiction specialist's who bring a Spiritual approach AND lineage to their work, I am happy to refer if needed.But why don't we talk first and see what you feel you need.

How do you choose a Shaman/Spiritual Advisor? This is really simple, explore first, make the phone call and ask the questions. I have no judgment, nothing you could tell me would offend me. It is important to ask questions, this is how you get answers! This is true for whomever you are thinking about working with and the practitioner should answer you without agenda and in accordance to what you want and need. Ultimately you must trust your heart and soul to guide you to the right person, divine providence, some call it and if you feel listened too and receive a compassionate response to your questions then this.Shaman may be for you. You should NOT feel pressured to take a class or to receive a healing and your decisions should be based on what is balanced for you.

I hope that this goes some way to helping you make your choices, if I may serve you in any way then please call me at 239-272-5168 for a FREE 30 minute consultation.

Blessings on your journey,

Sam

My website offers much more info on who are what I do, please take a look, perhaps I can serve you?

Animal Medicine

Hi, My Name is Samantha Banks and as a Life Coach and Spiritual Guide it is my job to notice the signs in my life and to assist others in seeing them in their own. When we learn to read the signposts in the reflections of the world around us we can see how indeed our Soul and Spirit is communicating with us. These reflections help us to understand on a deeper level the nature of God and indeed our own divine nature, God teaches us through the animal kingdom and this has been called medicine by the anscestors. If we study it and pay attention then we will see that animals have a wisdom to be shared, this wisdom can help us in our own life. This past week I noticed on four different occasions that I was in the company of groups of Ibis's, usually I see them BUT not four times within a few days, this was my cue that I needed to pay attention. I meditated on this and asked Ibis to teach me her medicine and I wish to share it with you, Ibis shared with me my what I needed to understand and I believe that it is my duty to share it with you dear reader.... The wisdom of Ibis has much to do with community, community with yourself and others. I noticed that they always travel in groups, but even though they do this there is an individuality about each one. Often times they will stand on one foot, whilst some others will stand on both, this symbolism suggested to me that being a part of the group is important and that in our different communities we should srtive be our beautiful unique selves also. The standing on one foot represented being in the world, but not of it, so one foot on the ground and another in higher worlds. Standing on one leg and being stable is about balance, being focussed and being able to concentrate and hold ones mind even in the midst of a group. It takes trust and faith to be able to stand on one foot, to know that one might fall and to take a chance anyway, this faith comes from a connection to a higher power. Trusting that in life we MUST challenge ourselves in order to grow and that falling down is also a part of that process. This is how we learn to stand on our own two feet!!! Ibis spends alot of time pecking into the ground and standing on one foot although not at the same time, but it suggested an awareness of being physical (needing food and the Motrher Earth energies) and also an awareness higher consciousness as suggested earlier. This is a oneness with Father Sky and Mother Earth. Because I saw several large groups in different places and in fact twice had to wait for them to cross the street in front of me I meditated on the behavior and location of the communities of the Ibis's. Clearly when they crossed the road in front of me, I had to wait, I had to slow down, this was a teaching about patience ( I find myself being exasperated whilst driving lately LOL). It was also about having patience with others in our communities, people are moving at the pace that suits them and their soul always knows what it needs to get to the other side. We are individuals on the path and some of us are a little further ahead than others and yet, when one crosses the path we all do, we are in this together as one very large community. Know that wherever you go, you are a part of a community, whether it be the community of your immediate family, your friends, co-workers, Spiritual group or otherwise. Within our communities we have a chance to affect the consciousness of the group with our input (whether it be thoughts, words or actions) and our communities are linked to other communities through the human family community. This makes us responsible for each other and asks that we contribute to our communities with an understanding that when we do we affect the whole. The energy within our personal groups, we most notice this with our families is a microcosm, study this, you will learn much about yourself:) Are you nurturing your communities? Are you nurturing your own spiritual community within yourself, I speak of your Soul and Spirit, your connection to God? In Ibis communities there are sometimes dark colored one's, usually one or two only, although one group was nearly even numbered. The dark ones are not as aesthetically pleasing and yet they are more beautiful, they stand out from the crowd! This medicine was again about being ourselves, being unique and expressing our own unique qualities, no one can be YOU like YOU! I noticed these dark ones because they stood out and they represented the wayshowers , the teachers that we come across. Sometimes teachers are teachers in a more traditional way and othertimes they are teachers for us in understanding our own nature, reflections of our own shadow selves, that which seeks the purity of the white Ibis. As the saying goes, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it is important recognize that beauty in all things, even in our own shadow nature, when we can we 'see' where we need the Light. This can be a challenging part of Ibis medicine, but oh so worthwhile if we are willing look beyond immediate appearances. It is also about accepting ourselves and others, the good, the bad and the ugly and not judging, this will open us up to learning. When we have preconceived ideas we shut down. To summarize the Ibis medicine i will say this; It is good to be different, we are unique within our communities, we are an essential part of our communities, our personal ones and universal ones. Think human, animal, plant, dimensional etc. Sometimes we stand on our two feet and othertimes we need each other to lean on, we cannot do this journey without every single one of us. What we do affects everyone and everything, therefore we should be responsible, loving, good humans. I hope that you enjoyed this blog as much as I did writing it. Mother Nature has so much to share with us if we will only pay attention. Namaste Samantha Banks

One of the questions I am asked the most is how do I keep good energy around me and get rid of negative energy?

Well, all of us can relate to these questions as everyone has experienced being in a negative environment or around negative people or even just chaotic energy (think the mall at Xmas time LOL). This is something that we deal with everyday and it is unavoidable, but there are some things that you can do to help yourself and to clean up your aura and your physical space.  The first thing is to be aware of the energy that you are putting/sending out, your emotional and mental energy will ripple back to you and will also effect those around you. Only you can manage this and it indeed it is your responsibility to do so, that being said oftentimes we are not aware that there is negativity around us that is contributing to our 'bad mood' or 'irritability' or 'stagnation'. We are all connected to each other and our energy affects everyone, so once we start to be responsible and take action to clean up then we can start to be more aware of how we can 'hold' our own energy in check.

One of the best ways to clear energy is to use Sage and a specially made feather fan and abalone shell. Sage smoke  has long been used by Shamans to carry away low vibrations, all you do is place a few leaves of it in the Shell, the shell represents Mother Earth and the cleansing energy of water.  Once in the shell you use fire to create the smoke, fire represents transmutation or change and the smoke is the air carrying the low vibrations up to heaven for change. Use the feather fan to waft the sage smoke from the shell around you and around your space, the feathers are the wings of the bird carrying the energy up. You can say a prayer asking for the Light to clear you and your home/office etc. Pray for the highest good and Light to clear any unwanted energy. After you have done this you could also use some Sweet grass, again this has been used for eons and Sweet grass brings in good vibrations and attracts the Light. You would use the grass like the sage, waft it around yourself and then your space. So, with the Sage you clear and with the Sweet grass you bring in. I suggest that when you do this you open all the doors to your space so that the smoke can leave and take up your prayers. 

Take a moment afterwards to notice the difference, you may also wish to see your house bathed in a golden light. Take some time to sit and meditate and feel your own energy as you feel the Light vibrations filling you and surrounding you. 

I have included a link for my online store so that you may purchase your supplies from the comfort of your own home/office.  Click here.

Enjoy! 

Rev. Samantha Banks

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