ONE MANS PATH

TO SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT

If we are to fully understand mankind’s place in Gods universe we must accept there are many paths that one can take to achieve spiritual fulfillment. Here is one such path narrated by a Shaman friend of mine named Four Hawks 

For as long as I can remember, I had always been seeking the truth about Spirit, God, the Afterlife, etc. I was raised a Roman Catholic, and I was as curious and supportive as anyone could expect of a youngster living in the 1950s and 60s (I was an Altar Boy for a few years.) Still, I knew there were huge gaps between what I was taught and what must be. 

There had to be more.  As I progressed through young adulthood into middle age, I wondered to myself over and over:  Did the Church Leaders have the answers, and were they holding those answers back so that parishioners only knew just enough to ensure that they would keep coming back week after week?  Or was the entire doctrine somehow just plainly lacking, or even wrong in critical areas. 

For me, Faith was not enough. There had to be evidence.  I found some answers in science, especially Einstein's famous equation showing mass and energy to be equivalent; that Spirit had to exist within more than just Humans. If it can happen with us, it has to be able to happen with other forms. I found myself thinking that for example, just because a chipmunk can’t comprehend human intelligence, it doesn’t mean that our much higher intelligence doesn't exist. For most of my life I wondered. Sometimes I would find myself staring at the intense blues and reds of a sky at sunset and asking myself; “what is the real truth?” 

One evening when my daughter and I were having a very rare dinner alone (mom was off somewhere), our conversation led to the subject of Religion and Spirit.  She told me she did not believe any power existed beyond what we experienced as humans. I told her she should not give up. I agreed most organized religions did not teach deeply enough for my or even her liking. But I told her I had seen a movie once where it was revealed that Native Americans believed that the Spirit lived in all things that the Spirits of their Ancestors were still around to offer guidance. I felt that this was probably the most reasonable viewpoint and she should check out their philosophy someday. 

The conversation we had together stuck with me and her birthday was coming up.So the next day at work,I asked a friend who seemed to be really connected to nature what book I could buy my daughter that one day she would thank me for, a book that would turn it all around for her. Within seconds, the answer came:“Spirit Healing” by Mary Dean Atwood.  I bought the book and gave it to my daughter. But, when she wasn't reading it, I was. I devoured it from cover to cover and when I was done, I knew I had found at last the Truth. 

I bought an authentic Pipe to pray with.I began getting gifts from nature at appropriate times. For the first time ever after my first Pipe Smoke, a Red Tailed Hawk flew right across my windshield.All its feathers where exposed, I took this as a sign for rewarding me for thinking a certain way and for doing certain things to help others. It was late 2001, during one of my special Pipe Ceremonies that I conducted for the aftermath of 9/11: A Hawk alighted in a tree right in front of me and stared at me for a while before taking off again.The Hawk is the symbol of my very being; even my pipe has the name Hawk inscribed in it.  I cried with joy, for this, as my readings had told me, was the kind of event only reserved for the Medicine Men or Shaman. It was my epiphany. My calling! 

In the intervening years I have learned so much more about Shamanism from different cultures across the world.  My own ritual practice has evolved from many Shaman traditions, including South American and Mongolian.  Many who follow the way of the Shaman are beginning to make their secrets available now, in order to organize as many Shamans as possible world-wide, to help reverse the destructive nature of Spiritless Technological advances and soulless Power/Wealth Grabs. 

I have taken so many journeys within the realms of the spirits at the request of both clients and myself.I have seen and reported things that could not have been known to me, except through my own personal experience of such journeys. As a channel I have seen the power of healing flow through me in such a way that defies Logic. I have been guided to follow the Shaman path and I am humbly thrilled to do so! Above all else I have found out, whom and what I am and now offer my ability to work within a higher realm to those that may need help.

If you would like to know about Four Hawk’s path to enlightenment; Click Here