THE FOUR PILLARS OF SHAMANIC WISDOM ©
by Tira Brandon-Evans
Over the years many people beginning to study Celtic traditions have written asking what I teach and how my teachings may differ from those of other Celtic shamans.
Therefore, I feel I should explain the basis of all my teachings.
There are four pillars supporting all I teach.
1. Archaeology — this is the record of artefacts, of things our ancestors made with their hands. The archaeological record is open to interpretation and these interpretations may change from decade or even from year to year because there is always new information coming in from the field. What we 'know' today may be different from what we 'know' tomorrow. Nevertheless, we do have real hard evidence regarding how our ancestors lived, worked, played, died, and provided for themselves and their relations. However, we cannot discover from the artefacts alone what they believed.
2. Texts — these are the source documents, the manuscripts now residing in various libraries, museums, and private collections, written by our ancestors. Every single one of the texts is a time machine. As I say in "Our Time Machine"
"What are source documents? They are the documents written at the time, by people living in the time, to which you wish to travel. We may learn more of life in the early years of Victoria's England by reading Dickens than we will ever learn from reading a history of that era written by a modern writer. Why? Because a Dickens novel contains a wealth of tiny detail no history writer could ever include in a reference book.
"The stories we are reading are part of a great time machine. They are source documents. Although these stories were not written down at the time they were first told, and many of the elements in the stories come from periods later than the original materials, they are our windows in time. If we read these stories and carefully consider all the details and information they provide we will draw closer to the minds and hearts of our ancestors than we ever shall reading modern books written about them.
"And the more stories we read the more we may connect the dots and begin to draw a detailed picture of life in pre-Christian and early-Christian Insular Celtica.
"Of course, we must not search the details so carefully we miss the stories. That is why I read the stories as stories, just for the enjoyment of the tale, the first time I read them. Then I read them again for fun. The third time I take notes and begin to look at the details.
"In other words, don't allow your desire to draw information from the details to interfere with your enjoyment of the story itself. The two are one but the story comes first.
"After all, what is the point of owning your own time machine if you don't enjoy the magic?"
(Excerpted from "Our Time Machine" copyright © 2006 by Tira Brandon-Evans. All right reserved. Used with permission.)
3. Folklore — these are beliefs, customs, and superstitions that have survived over many centuries. During the 1800's and early 1900's anthropologists collected a huge amount of material by word of mouth from country people living in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, and Brittany. By reading and learning the folklore traditioned to us through our ancestors we may draw close to them in heart and spirit.
4. Journey — actual journeys we take with our ancestor and animal guides, during which we enter into the Shining Realms. In these journeys we often meet Inworld allies and undertake the Great Work. Journey also includes any paranormal state in which we encounter Otherworld beings or in which the veils between this and Otherworlds are lifted.
These are the four pillars on which all my work and teaching stand: Archaeology, Texts, Folklore, Journey.
I teach because it is my job. I cannot teach anyone to be a shaman. I can help you awaken the shaman sleeping within you if that shaman needs awakening. I can give you the tools to help you draw closer to your ancestors and to help you follow your path more easily.
Why do I do this? Because it is the task assigned me by Brighid. And because I simply love doing this.
To help others along their path, to encourage others to join in the Great Work is my joy.
What is the Great Work of the Celtic Shaman? To make and mend, to help and heal, to dwell in this perfect shining moment, in the heart of the mystic rose, and be love in action.
Tira Brandon-Evans is the Founder and Moderator of the Society of Celtic Shamans, editor of Earthsongs: Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans, and is, herself, a Faery Shaman. Her books, The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shaman's Handbook, Portals of the Seasons: A Celtic Wheel of the Year, Through the Unremembered Gate: Journeys of Initiation, The Labyrinthine Way: Walking Ancient Paths in a Modern World, and Healing Waters, are all published by Elder Grove Press. She is presently writing a book about the Ogham. You may contact Tira by email at info@faeryshaman.org.
The Four Pillars of Shamanic Wisdom copyright © 2010 by Tira Brandon-Evans, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Top of Page
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