There are long-held conventional ideas on religion, philosophy, Grail legends, science, and alchemy, which
present a cohesive narrative pointing to the existence of an ancient techno-spirituality of the Golden Age
whereby man can be imbued with a mastery of space and time: the Holy Grail, the Philosopher's Stone,
the True Process of Ascension. The present is a time of potential transition, an extraordinary opportunity
for individual and collective renewal: a quantum shift of awareness and perception which could see the
harvest of true creativity from the fields of science, art, and spirituality.

The idea that there was a time when man was directly in contact with the Celestial Beings, is at the root of
the myths of the Golden Age which have been redacted to the Grail stories of the 11th and 12th centuries -
such as Gilgamesh, Perseus, Odysseus, and Perceval. During this time of paradise, it is suggested that
communication between heaven and earth was easy and accessible to everyone. Myths tell us of a time
when the 'gods withdrew' from mankind as a result of some 'happening,' I.E 'The Fall;' the communications
were broken off and the Celestial Beings withdrew to the highest heavens. But the myths also tell us that there
were still those certain people who were able to 'ascend' and commune with the gods on the behalf of their tribe
or family. 'Man' in Persian means the quality transmitted by heredity and hence a distinguished family or race.
The word 'Sha' means head, both literally and in the sense of principal or chief. The combination 'Shaman' would
thus mean the chief repository of the tradition. The shaman, in his ability to achieve the ecstatic state inaccessible
to the rest of mankind, was regarded as a privileged being. 'Shaman,' for Don Juan, is another word to describe
the Warrior who practices to be free. A shaman is not a magician or a sorcerer.

Don Juan tells us that the Seers of ancient times were 'men capable of inconceivable deeds. They were powerful
Warriors, somber and driven, who unraveled the secrets' of existence at our level. There are two positions in the
study and understanding of awareness: Sorcerers vs The Warrior Who Sees. They both practice the same Seeing,
the difference is Intent. The Sorcerer practices to control others. The Warrior practices to become free. Those who
wish to control others are Serving Self, those who wish to become free and help others, who wish to become free,
are Serving Others.

The Warrior needs to learn to perform acts that require great sobriety. Seers come in all sizes and shapes....
There are scores of imbeciles who become seers. Seers are human beings full of foibles - or rather, human beings
full of foibles are capable of becoming seers. The characteristic of miserable seers is that they are willing to forget
the wonder of the world. They become overwhelmed by the fact that they see and believe that it is their genius that
counts.    A seer must be a paragon in order to override the nearly invincible laxness of our human condition.
More important than seeing itself is what seers do with what they see.

The hardest things for anyone to acknowledge is their own susceptibility to suggestion, manipulation, and external
control. No one wants to admit that their awareness can be manipulated. Yet, without exception, all of the Mystery
Teachings tell us that the first order of business in expanding awareness is to overcome the hypnosis, or 'sleep state'
in which man exists. And, without exception, all of the Mystery Teachings tell us that this is so formidable a task that
only one in ten thousand can achieve it! It is the one who realizes that all of his perceptions must be minutely scrutinized,
doubted, tested, examined and challenged who has the smallest hope of escaping the hypnosis!! And, to realize this is
but the first in a long series of steps to awakening. Remember, awakening is not the same thing as seeing!
Many can see in expanded awareness, but immediately go back to sleep and what they saw is interpreted by the standards
of the 'hypnotic sleep state' of ordinary awareness.

The effects of enlargement of the perceptual field is a combination of sheer joy combined with a frightening feeling of s
adness and longing. This is apparently because a full field of awareness includes all the opposites in perfect balance.
Whenever the boundaries of the known are broken, a mere glimpse of the eternity outside is enough to disrupt the coziness
of our controlled awareness. The resulting melancholy is sometimes so intense that it can bring about death.
The best way to get rid of melancholy is to make fun of it.

The necessary conditions of learning to truly SEE is to be able to bring the mind to focus on anything with uncommon force
and clarity. Yet, what is learned during these periods of focus is usually unavailable and imperceptible to normal recall.
Apparently the effort required to bring this learning to normal consciousness is staggering and impossible for most people
because they have no 'vessel of knowledge' prepared to receive it.

The pathology of the Shamanic path seems to be part of the means of reaching the 'condition' to be initiated.
But, at the same time, they are often the means of the initiation itself.     It has a physiological effect that amounts to a
transformation of the ordinary individual into a technician of the sacred. If such an experience is not followed by a period
of theoretical and practical instruction, the shaman becomes a tool for those forces that would use the Shamanic function
to further ensla [images] ve mankind.

At an early point in the life of a shaman, they have an experience that 'separates' them from the rest of humanity.
This relates to how the Native American 'vision quest' is a survival of the archaic understanding of the natural initiation of
the shaman who is 'called' to their vocation by the gods. A deep study of the matter reveals that those who seek the
magic-religious powers via the vision quest when they have not been 'called' spontaneously, generally become the
'Dark Shamans,'  or sorcerers; those who, through a systematic study, obtain the powers deliberately for their own
advantage.  The true Shamanic initiation comes by dreams, ecstatic trances combined with extensive study.
A shaman is expected to not only pass through certain initiatory ordeals, but they must also be deeply educated in order
to be able to fully evaluate the experiences and challenges that they will face.
Unfortunately, until now, there have been precious few who have traveled the path of the Shaman, including the practice
of the attendant skills of 'battling demons,' whom could thus teach or advise a course of study for the
Awakening Shaman.

In many cases, the 'election' of the shaman manifests through a fairly serious illness which can only be cured by the
'ascent to the sky.' After the ecstatic vision of initiation, the shaman feels MUCH better! After the response to the calling
of the gods, the shaman shows a more than normally healthy constitution; they are able to achieve immense concentration
beyond the capacity of ordinary man; they can sustain exhausting efforts and, most importantly, they are able to 'keep a cool
head' in the face of experiences that would break an ordinary person.    The Shaman must be able to be in full control
of their self even when in the ecstatic state!
(Trance channeling with no memory of what has transpired is not the activity of a fully fledged Shaman!)   
This ability to 'walk in two worlds simultaneously' demonstrates an extraordinary nervous constitution. Don Juan calls this
state being 'impeccable.'   This idea is also reflected in the archaic systems of the Yakut, where the shaman must be 'serious,
possess tact, be able to communicate effectively with all people; above all, he must not be presumptuous, proud,
ill-tempered.'  The true shaman emanates an inner force that is conscious, yet never offensive. At the same time, it should
be noted that a true shaman may evoke very negative responses from those who are under the domination of the Service
to Self polarity.

Being 'called' is not the same as being 'chosen,' or, more precisely, choosing.      'Many are called; few choose to respond.'
but, this choosing is a process. And it is a process of struggle and pain and suffering because, in the end, what is being
killed is the Ego. Many of you are struggling with the process of death of the Ego and striving for rebirth as 'the Shaman' -
those whose head has been purified. In any case, many of you know that this can be a process of many years and
many stages, sometimes including many illnesses, many accidents, and many assaults to the physical body as well as
the soul. The pivotal initiation of the Shaman occurs after a long  period of 'preparation.' In retrospect, many will see this
process after it occurred and have no idea that it was happening - that you were  just struggling through the illnesses, the
trials, the tribulations, the lessons and so forth that seemed to just be the path of life in generic  terms. You didn't see them
as tests, or that they manifested in your life as the 'call.'

It was only AFTER the 'choice' that you begin to make the discoveries that explained the process of your life.
Returning to this 'descent into Hell' and the sensation of being 'stripped of everything,'  yes, there had been other steps in
the process, other choices, visions and experiences - but none of them were like the moment of being completely stripped
to the bone of all belief in anything and everything you ever held as true, including all your beliefs and illusions about
your personal life and relationships, including your very self!

Let us be more clear, a Shaman is a Technician of Ecstasy.    The 'ecstatic experience' is the primary phenomenon of
Shamanism, and it  is this ecstasy that can be seen as the act of merging with the celestial beings - also known by the
merging of results from Forced  Oscillation which changes personal energy frequencies. Continued interaction with
Celestial beings is a form of Frequency Resonance Vibration.    More than that, in order to be in direct contact with the
Divine, the human being must be able to 'see the unseen.'    SEEING is the  capacity of human beings to enlarge their
perceptual  field until they are capable of assessing not only outer appearances, but also the essence of everything in
order to access the level of being that enables them to make choices that are capable of initiating a new causal-reality-
tunnel series.
Let us explain how this 'causal-reality-tunnel'  may envelope the Shaman's vision:

The essence of Creation is the fact that, beneath the empirical, observable 'real world' is the realm of potentials and our physical
world is manifested out of the underlying potentialities by our perspective. The 'gift of Free Will' by the Creator is our ability to
CHOOSE our perspective. We can choose 'living water' that becomes 'a spring of water welling up continually within,' to 'eternal
life/creation;' or we can choose the water from the 'well of Jacob the supplanter,' which will leave us thirsty again and again.
And it is in this choice that as awareness reaches levels higher than the toes, tremendous maneuvers of perception become
a matter of course.

Some are as ignorant of what is happening to them as a person could be, and it is only in retrospect that further maneuvers of
perception amount to the ability to make every choice based on 'seeing the unseen.'      Every time we choose, based on
knowledge/love, rather than chemical/emotional love, or  assumption/wishful thinking love, we are giving a push to the swing of
amplifying our Frequency Resonance Vibration. And such amplification increases our polarization and we 'grow.'

The problem is, in the beginning, when we begin to use discipline to try to 'see the unseen - the causal-reality-tunnel -' we are
like a blind man stumbling through a maze. We are Theseus in the lair of the Minotaur, guided only by the thread of Ariadne.
Our ability to perceive the Noumenal world, the activities of 4rth density, requires great attention, great discipline, and an ability to
'face with serenity odds that are not included in our expectations.' We have to learn the art of 'facing infinity without flinching.'
And it is this process that tells us that the Noumenal  world, the 4rth density realm, is not supposed to terrify us in the end -
it is supposed to wake us up to the odds that are facing us that are NOT according to our expectations.

A shaman learns to adjust their course gradually, learning what amplifies their polarity and what damps their polarity.
Obviously, great polarized strength is necessary here. SEEING is to witness the unknown and to glimpse the unknowable.
The unknown is veiled from
man but is within the reach of man's reason if he is sufficiently polarized and amplified!   The unknowable is the indescribable, the
unthinkable, and the unrealizable. It is something that may never be known to us is our human estate, but seers who are in the grip
of laxness and programming don't let THAT stop them!

The price to interact with the unknowable is to become drained or confused, open to oppression and possession. The bodies of
such seers lose tone, their reasoning becomes flawed, and their sobriety wanders aimlessly. This explains why a Shaman must
complete a renewal of their whole mind, body, and soul. Another meaning of the word Shaman is literally, 'those whose heads have
been purified.'   The reason for the renewal is for conferring better sight, tenderheartedness, and a mysterious light, which the
shaman suddenly feels in his body, inside his head, within the brain, an inexplicable searchlight, a luminous fire, which enables
him to see in the dark, both literally and metaphorically speaking,for he can now, even with closed eyes, see through darkness and
perceive things and comings events which are hidden from others.

Written by shd  ~  Esoteric Online
Note, some excerpts have been borrowed from Don Juan and Castaneda, The Fire From Within, 1984.